Long bolt short action

Have a question for you guys. I picked up a old flat back long bolt short action .308. This is a long action but the receiver is milled for short action calibers. I am going to build this into a wsm. Have been looking at a few chassis that accept aics mags. My question is regarding feeding. The chassis will have to be a long action bottom metal due to the action screw spacing and using long action aics mags but cycling the wsm case. Has anyone built a gun like this before? How do y’all think the feeding will be in this set up? Are there magazine blocks available to add to the long action mags to take up some of the space for the short action rounds?

The action you have has no support for what you want to do. Besides that, for a WSM you'll wanna large shank receiver.

Have talked to northlandshootersupply and a few others and all have said a wsm can be built safely on a small shank action. For a hunting rifle there will not be enough heat to cause issues.

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Originally Posted by bigred94

Have talked to northlandshootersupply and a few others and all have said a wsm can be built safely on a small shank action. For a hunting rifle there will not be enough heat to cause issues.

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umm...heat is not PRESSURE. yes the first wsm were small shank, then savage changed them. maybe like a seat belt when things go wrong, until then you don't need it?

Sounds like a J series. I know a guy that would like to have another one.

Since it has been documented on this sight by many members that a wsm can be safely built on a small shank (only .065 difference if I recall,) back to the original question. If you load your loads to specs and don’t hotrod them there should be no issues with high pressures. If I am wanting to shoot 4000fps I’ll grab my weatherby not a wsm.

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The action you have has no support for what you want to do

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Weatherby is a good idea.

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Originally Posted by wbm

Weatherby is a good idea.

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I read that but there is no explanation as to why. The action can be bolted in a long action chassis but since it’s milled for a short action how will this effect feeding? If I am wanting to feed a short action round from a long action mag can this been done without problems even though the action is long but is only milled for a short action round?

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Originally Posted by bigred94

I read that but there is no explanation as to why. The action can be bolted in a long action chassis but since it’s milled for a short action how will this effect feeding? If I am wanting to feed a short action round from a long action mag can this been done without problems even though the action is long but is only milled for a short action round?

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The purpose for Savage going to the larger thread was expansion and contraction making extraction difficult as the barrel cools grabbing the case. I learned this from Fred(Sharpshooter). He is a very knowledgeable gunsmith with Savage Rifles being his area of expertise.

Remington does not use a larger diameter(1 1/16-16) threaded barrel and they have WSM's. 16 TPI cuts even deeper into the barrel diameter than the 20-TPI of the savage barrel. So pressure is not an issue.

My opinion is never let someone talk you out of what you want to do. Everyone who has suggested to avoid using that action has been met with a countering position. Research your build. Use the classifieds of all the big forums and this one to find the parts you need. Practice safety, look for signs of pressure. Make sure you have primary extraction. Get 'er done.

In the end you will find out if the nay sayers were right or they were wrong. Lastly, i have spent a lot of money trying to prove them wrong and I have regretted it more than once.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

The purpose for Savage going to the larger thread was expansion and contraction making extraction difficult as the barrel cools grabbing the case. I learned this from Fred(Sharpshooter). He is a very knowledgeable gunsmith with Savage Rifles being his area of expertise.

Remington does not use a larger diameter(1 1/16-16) threaded barrel and they have WSM's. 16 TPI cuts even deeper into the barrel diameter than the 20-TPI of the savage barrel. So pressure is not an issue.

My opinion is never let someone talk you out of what you want to do. Everyone who has suggested to avoid using that action has been met with a countering position. Research your build. Use the classifieds of all the big forums and this one to find the parts you need. Practice safety, look for signs of pressure. Make sure you have primary extraction. Get 'er done.

In the end you will find out if the nay sayers were right or they were wrong. Lastly, i have spent a lot of money trying to prove them wrong and I have regretted it more than once.

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Thank you. That was my whole reason for the above comment about heat but blue avenger chimes in about pressure. My concern has never been with the pressures after talking to Reputable barrel makers. Heat has been the issue with case expansion but this will only see a handful of rounds a year so I think that will not be a problem. I just can’t figure out the feeding setup. A long action milled for a short action round feeding through a 3.8 aics mag and bottom metal. Is it possible? Who knows.

I would look into mags for sure,,, you may contact some mag manufacturer's and see if some custom ones could be made for the wsm cartridge and a type of spacer block at the rear of the mag.

Where you able to get a wsm bolt head for it? Curious because I have the same rifle except mine was a .243.
Good luck on your build!

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Originally Posted by DanSavage

I would look into mags for sure,,, you may contact some mag manufacturer's and see if some custom ones could be made for the wsm cartridge and a type of spacer block at the rear of the mag.

Where you able to get a wsm bolt head for it? Curious because I have the same rifle except mine was a .243.
Good luck on your build!

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after talking with Dean from this forum I got a long action magnum bolt head since this is a long action 308. I had to change the firing pin and retainer to the smaller diameter since on the older actions they use the larger size firing pins. It’s not a control feed action of bolt head.