Changing caliber
- Thread starter KMD
- Start date
.223 would be a bad choice for a conversion based on a 700 long action. Receiver is much longer than necessary, boltface is too big. Not worth the effort. If you want a centrefire .22, one using the same diameter casehead as the .30-06 would be possible. The action would still be longer than necessary, and magazine work would be required.
It'd be cheaper to buy a .223, different bolt face size, but any .30-06 based cartridge would only need a barrel change. Unless you go with a .30-06AI. That'd just be a ream and headspace job. You'll likely find a left hand Rem 700 would sell fairly fast.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
If you are looking for an excuse to build a custom rifle, this could be your opportunity. What everyone says above is correct, another off the shelf rifle will be cheaper than a custom rifle. But custom rifles offer advantages not seen in off-the-shelf rifles such as having the correct length of pull, a stock material that reflects you personal tastes, proper bedding, a high quality after market barrel, and chambering not only for your choice of cartridge, but also to match a particular bullet seated to a particular length. I was able to improve the performance of my target rifle significantly by having the lead cut so that I could seat a heavy for caliber bullet long enough that it will not extend into the powder capacity of the case. It all depends on what you want and what you are wiling to pay to get it. Seeing that I have been interested in a .22X64 for some time now, that would be my suggestion to you. The .22X64 can be made by simply starting with a .25/06 case and necking it down to .224, but not everyone wants to drive 45 gr .224" bullets at 5000 fps.
