long action vs short action rifles

S

Scratch

New member
Now that I can't use my AR for shooting squirrels in the PRK I need to find a bolt action varmint rifle. Not being into bolt guns I always thought that a long action rifle was for longer rounds (22-250) andthe short action was for shrter rounds (.223).
Well after looking at the savage web page last night they have both calibers in both long and short actions. Whats up with that?
All the calibers were the same in both short and long action rifles.
Are there advantages to a long action over a short action or vis versa?
I'm looking at the Savage and starting to look at Howa (i'd like to find more in info on these anyone know a web page)

Thanks
Scratch
 
All the major companies have thier own idea of what length "short" and "long" actions should be, so thier is some cross over into what will fit into what. Some cartriges like the 6mm and .284 fit into short actions but more performance is available to handloaders (who seat thier bullets out for more case capacity) in long actions.

You could do the same thing with 22-250's and .223's but if your not looking at using very heavy bullets of 70 grains or more I don't see any advantage in going to a long action.

Good Luck, Blue Duck
 
Scratch:

For most companies the .22-250 and .223 will come in the same sized action.

Short actions are generally defined as those for rounds in the .308 Winchester length while long actions fit the .30-06. Therefore the .22-250 is considered a short action round compared to the .223 which is even shorter. I know that Remington and Tikka .223 rifles use the same action as the .22-250 and believe that Winchester, Weatherby, Savage and Browning do the same.

Sako makes an action specifically for the .223 length cartridges and CZ might also as well.
 
extra long

Then there's the magnum lenght actions for the 300 Wby, 375 H&H, 375 Ultra, and all those super zappers that are gathering a following these days.

Lobo
 
Scratch, the short action will be a bit lighter, if that's a needful consideration.

As for centerfire .22 cartridges, if you expect shooting mostly inside 300 yards I'd go the .223. If you legitimately expect to play Ma Bell to 400 or more, I'd say go with the .22-250 or the Swift...

Art
 
Don't think that you can come to any meaningful conclusions about action lengths by observing what Savage does. Savage used a cumbersome, unwieldy long action, even for short action calibers, until fairly recently.

There's no advantage to using a long action for a short action caliber, except for production economics.
 
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