To convert calibers. A few questions

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Bigdonkey

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In a nutshell, if a guy wanted to buy a used rifle and convert it to, let's say .308 what would be the smallest caliber of the donor action that could be used without causing issues?
What would a decent donor action be?
And does anyone know the ball park weights of said actions as the lightest possible would be benificial for my requirements.
Thanks.
 
I'm not totally sure what you are looking for but the easiest to convert would be something that was based on a .308 case to start with like a .260 Rem or a .243 Win so the bolt face is correct and the action is the right length.
Any short action will work but Remington 700's have the most aftermarket parts available and can be trued by a gunsmith to be quite accurate with a good quality barrel.

Not sure of the weight but I found this in another forum:
I hope someone has a Remington 700 short action laying around and can put it on a scale.
Click to expand...
I have a receiver group here and a postal scale. With the receiver, bolt, bottom metal, trigger, recoil lug and internal magazine it weighs 2 lbs 7.5 oz.
Click to expand...
 
Specification differences between the short action 700 and the Model 7 in .223 Rem.


Remington 700 short action & trigger weighed 493 grams. (17.4 ounces)
The bolt weighed 357.8 grams. (12.6 ounces)
The recoil lug weighed 21.6 grams. (.8 ounces)
The two action screws weighed 16.6 grams. (.6 ounces)
Total eight of the above components – 889 grams. (31.4 ounces)
The two action screw holes measured 6.5 inches center to center.
The bolt measured approximately one half inch longer than the Model 7 bolt.


Model 7 action & trigger weighed 435.5 grams. (15.4 ounces)
The bolt weighed 334.2 grams. (11.8 ounces)
The recoil lug weighed 22.7 grams. (.8 ounces)
The two action screws weighed 12 grams. (.4 ounces)
Total eight of the above components – 804.4 grams. (28.4 ounces)
The two action screw holes measured 5.875 inches center to center.
 
Well I’m looking for something that I can use and convert to .308. I like that caliber and seem there is always an abundance of reloading components available. I hope to find a fairly inexpensive donor that I can work on over the next few months to make a silhouette rig as im on a very tight budget that was imposed by the warden AKA my wife.
Thanks Silverback
Thanks for the info on the weights guntech
 
All you need is a "short action", with a "standard" size bolt face. Which is the (second?) most common combination out there, which will make your job easy.

If you want to feed from the magazine, it will make your conversion easier if you choose a caliber that has the same case characteristics (length, and body taper) as the .308W (so your first choice would be something that was originally a .243, .260 Rem, 7-08 or a .308). For example the .22-250 and the .30-06 both have more body taper than the .308W. I can load up the magazine of my M70 (it was originally a .30-06) with .308W ammo, but it won't feed reliably because it ends up tilting/cocking in the magazine because of the differences in case taper between .308W and .30-06.
 
rnbra-shooter said:
All you need is a "short action", with a "standard" size bolt face. Which is the (second?) most common combination out there, which will make your job easy.
Click to expand...

The "standard" bolt face is really a 0.473" bolt face, which is the case head diameter for all of the 30-06, .308 and x57 Mauser cases and their derivations.


Mark
 
I had the same issue. I did not know this, but Savage's convert well. I went from .223 to .260 new barrel, and swapped out bolt face for a .308 bolt face, and new extractor. Still could use my existing stock. Lot's of aftermarket Savage parts and gunsmiths who can help.
 
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