I'm looking to build a handy little hunting rifle on a short M70 action with a standard (.473) boltface. Is there a .308-length, 7mm cartridge out there that'll give me .280 Remington performance from a 22"-24" barrel?
The 7-08 AI maybe? A .284 Win might fit the bill but I think it's too long to fit in a short action.

The 284 in a M70 may do the trick. It will not fit into a Remington short action.

Not to be negative, but you can pick up a Ruger in 7mm SAUM for a song. Fix the trigger and make a few modifications, and you have a pretty decent rifle with off the shelf components.

It would probably cost much less than the project that you propose. Just a thought.

My most accurate 140gr loads for my 7-08AI cross the Oehler 35 between 2940-2970fps from a 22" 11 twist #2 Shilen, with groups in the high 4's and low 5's. It does that easily with several powders. It's not difficult to achieve velocity over 3000fps with this cartridge with a 22" barrel. I can get 3075fps with H414, but accuracy is better below 3000fps. With a 24" barrel, I could probably wring out a little more velocity and the bullet might drop about 1/2" less at 400 yards (not that a deer would be any deader).

I am getting 2900 out of a 20" barrel with the standard 7mm08 with a 140TSx and .5 groups.

Cossack2,
I have a 22-284 in a Remmy SA. Even using the 80gr VLD bullets it feeds like a champ. Unless you use some really long 7mm bullets you should be fine.

Rich
NRA Life Member
DRSS

Idaho,
I should have been more specific. The 284 will fit into a short Remmy, but will limit bullet seating options. Since I shoot mostly long for caliber Barnes TSX's, the Remmy short action requires them to be set quite deep to fit the magazine. My 6/284 is therefore built on a Remmy long action.

Unless you really have your heart set on something wild, take a look at the Kimber Montana in 7/08. Using 140 gr Barnes TSX and Varget, I'm getting a chroned 2900 and great accuracy in a lightweight rifle (6.5 scoped, slung and loaded with 5) that handles like a wand. I shoot a 284 and 280 for comparison and can honestly say that Barnes TSX's make them very comperable in terminal performance.

The short M70 can be easily modified to handle cartridges about 3" long. There is a block in the back of the magazine that can be removed. Cut the bolt stop back and there it is. I would seriously consider the 284 in the lengthened magazine.

not really what you asked about but i like my m70 fwt 7mmWSM Its a bunch of gun in a light package.

Wyatt makes a extended magazine for the rem and win short actions allows the bullets to be seated out further. www.brownells.com has them in stock.

I would definitely check out the 7 SAUM as it duplicates .280 Ackley ballistics from the short action.

Rifles, ammo and brass are all available, as least for now.

jim

7x6.5 Rem Mag! Brass is everywhere.

If ever anyone has directly asked for a 284 Winchester, this is it.

It's a great cartridge, and it's factory!

quote:

Originally posted by Marc:
The short M70 can be easily modified to handle cartridges about 3" long. There is a block in the back of the magazine that can be removed. Cut the bolt stop back and there it is. I would seriously consider the 284 in the lengthened magazine.

No disrespect intended, but it's not quite so simple. If you just cut the bolt stop and remove the magazine block, you will not be able to feed from the magazine as the ejector will block the base of the case from coming up and out of the mag box. To do the conversion completely involves also shortening the ejector to correspond to the bolt stop and milling the ejection port back to WSM dimensions. In addition, going to the .284 will require fiddeling to get things to feed OK.

I would do the standard 7mm-08 and be done. Feeding will be A+ and it kills just fine. I would far rather have a rifle that feeds perfectly than one 100 fps faster with iffy feeding.

No disrespect inferred. I forgot about the ejector and never thought about cutting the port back. Still not a show stopper. The ejector is easy. Opening the port is a little more work. I will have to look at that closer.

I have a 7-08 that seems to feed 284 brass just fine. It wouldn't feed reloaded 7mm-08 ammo when I bought it. It might have fed factory ammo OK but it has never had a round of factory ammo in the chamber so I don't know. I worked the box over and it feeds fine now. I would not be worried about getting the 284 to feed and I keep thinking about reaming this one to 284.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Marc:
it has never had a round of factory ammo in the chamber so I don't know. QUOTE]


BTW, after I posted previously, I thought about it and your conversion would work perfectly for a push feed short 70. The classic version however requires the work I mentioned.