Have you checked out the Montana Rifleman M1999 action?

It is worth taking a look at. It will feed a Dakota cartridge just fine. The price is very nice also - and the quality seems on par with the best.



(I have heard several that complain about soft brass in Dakota's cases. This has hindered them in acheiving the velocities you may get - close to/equal to .340 Wby and .338 Lap. Mag. I have heard of others that had no problems at all with the cases (acheiving what I mentioned above), so - the quality of the cases may be varying ...?).

This can be done, but, I do not consider it to be a very good idea. I have a Dakota 76 and I have owned 32 Pre-64 Mod. 70s in the past 36 yrs., I have 12 now. I do not think that the 70 has enough "meat" in the receiver for this.

I tried some .338 Rem. Ultra Mag. rounds in a Pre-64 H&H action I have and, even in a Sunny Hill drop box, they don,t feed reliably and there just ain't enough metal left to remove more.

I do not see any real advantage in the Dakota rounds, my 76 is a .338 Win. and shoots 250 Nossie G.P.M.F. bullets at over 2700 fps. from a 23" bbl. with less than MOA groups; I can't see any advantage in more than that, just more blast and recoil.

If, you HAVE to have a Dakota cartridge, get a Model 97 which will be factory fitted for the extra girth of their cartridges and will work much better.

I've heard they work great.
Find a smith with experience doing this conversion (e.g., John Ricks) and you'll have no problem.
The Ultra is way too long for a pre-64, but the Dakota is the same legnth as the 30-06, and only .009" wider at the base than the 300 Win Mag, etc.
John says he's done a few 416 Howell's on pre-64 (2.5" Jeffery case, same as Dakotas), and says they work great.
I'd bet you could get three down with just a bit of work if any.
I say go for it, just find a smith that will see it thru.
Keep in mind that the cost of Dakota dies is about the same as a custom set from CH4D, and John Ricks will split the cost of a wildcat die with you, so it only adds $75 onto your cost to do your own. I would go with a straight 308-404x2.5 and use a Norma case for the specs. The brass will be around a lot longer than Dakota (at least in volume.) He may even already have the reamer.
The other route would be to do the same with a 2.5" improved RUM case. Much cheaper, though long-term availability is still suspect.
As for the advantage over the 338 Winnie, say, then I guess it all depends on what you want. a 250g going 2850 from a 23" bbl sounds just fabulous (though I'd make it 26 myself.)
On the other hand, there's a growing cult of 338-06-ers saying the same thing about the 338 Win Mag: just more blast and recoil.
It's your money.

If I were to re-chamber My pre-64 Mod 70 to a Dakota cartrige, do I only get two in the box....can it be modified to hold three? I would be willing to put in aftermarket bottom metal (Blackburn?)