Most powerful -06 length cartridge

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BoogieMan

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I have a spare long action laying around sAvago 110 or rem 700. I want to build the most powerful (100-200yd) cartridge that will fit in the action. This leaves out most of the magnum length cartridges. I am thinking obnoxious recoil and blast.
9.3x64 is what I'm coming up with. What other choices are there that will fit the bill and fit in the action length. I can mod the magazine within reason to make them feed.nothing is off the table as long as it fits the action safely.
 
Most of the Magnum cartridges today WILL FIT in a .30-06 length action. They were expressly made to do so.

The ones that won't are the ones based on the .357 H&H case. The .375 & .300 H&H, the Weatherby series of rounds, and things like the .300 Ultra Mag are all too long to fit in a standard 06 action. By about 0.3" COAL of these rounds is ~3.600"

The .30-06, 264WinMag, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, .338Win Mag, and .458 Win Mag all have the same COAL. 3.340"

I would say the "most powerful" of that bunch is the .458 Win Mag.

If you choose the .458, pay careful attention to properly bedding the action, in a suitably robust stock.

The .458 has a history of cracking what seemed to be adequate stocks, until they failed. Stock strength is not the place to shave weight on a .458.:D
 
.416 Ruger would be another top contender for most powerful in a 06 length action. I think it would definitely give the .458 Win Mag a run for its money. The most powerful cartridge based off the .30-06 case would probably be the .400 Whelen. I have a buddy who built one on a 1903 action, Michale Petrov loaned him his personal reamers to chamber the rifle right before he passed.
 
Do you want to keep the standard bolt face?
A "short magnum" will fit the action length but a belted short magnum or one of the cartridges on the .404 head diameter will require opening up the bolt face on the Remington or replacing the bolt head on the Savage. Even the 9.3x64 Brenneke will.

On the standard head diameter, the .411 Hawk looks like about the most fun you can have.
 
Opening the bolt face on the rem is certainly doable, but the easier way to go may be to pick up a mag bolt face for the savage. That way the extractor shouldnt need any re-work. The rem is a wood stocked adl so I could likely bed that and cross bolt it to withstand the 458, savage is a composite stock and may require a new stock. But no matter what I do with the savage the stock will likely go. One of these will be a obnoxious mag and the other 6.5swede.
Looks like there are a lot more ammo options with the win mag. Is feeding an issue with belted cases? 416 ruger has a smooth higher capacity cartridge.
 
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Like 44 AMP says, it's the action length that matters. The '06 uses a standard Long action. Magnums are built on Long or Short Magnum actions.
"...the most powerful (100-200yd) cartridge..." For that look at ballistics tables for 200 yard energy, not the bullet diameter.
 
BoogieMan if you're relying on factory ammo I wouldn't build either thr 416 Ruger nor .458 Win. You'll have to change out the magazine on both rifles but you shouldn't have any feeding issues with either cartridge. I'd build the Swede on the Remington and your obnoxiously loud fire breather on the Savage for simplicity of switching parts. If you do do a large magnum have a second recoil lug added to the barrel.
 
I think you're on the right track, especially if you want to use the same bolt face. The truth is that NOTHING between 30-06 and 375 mag is significantly better on game, especially at close to medium range. Some of the 300 and 338 magnums carry more energy at extreme ranges.
 
I custom built a 9.3x64 out of an 03 Springfield. It made a great African rifle. RWS ammo is top notch, even the steel jacket.
 
I will reload after I shoot a few boxes of factory ammo and harvest the brass. I'm sure this won't be a high volume shooter. Might get a run at moose or bear but likely more to get attention at the range or wherever else I pull the trigger. I think the 458 will be the ticket on the savage action. That way I will be able to take advantage of the higher quality parts of the Remington to make the 6.5 tackdriver.
Taylor force- where would be the place to add a recoil lug on the savage?
 
A .458 Win Mag. is extremely overkill for anything on the N. American continent except for the Great Bears. It is really overkill for them in most situations. I would not add an extra recoil lug to the Savage, but I would use a forged recoil lug.
I would say the most powerful 06 length cartridge in production would be the 26 Nosler.
 
It's not uncommon to add an extra recoil lug to the barrel. It is added by cutting a dovetail into the the underside of the barrel for the extra lug to fit into. If I wasn't on crutches I'd go downstairs and pull my .375 Ruger out of its stock and take pictures for you. It is about 2" in front of the factory recoil lug, and my rifle has two crossbolts as well to keep the stock from cracking under recoil.
 
.458 is no fun to shoot and for short range large African game. It's not even particularly good for that.
 
.458 is no fun to shoot and for short range large African game. It's not even particularly good for that.
Click to expand...

Fun is a personal matter.

And, while I will readily admit that there are other rounds that perform better for large African game, I think saying the .458 Win is "not particularly good" is a baseless slander.

Kind of like saying the .308 is not particularly good for deer hunting.



This is my .458 WinMag. Note how it is not built as an African DGR (Dangerous Game Rifle)

Picked it up at a gun show decades ago, no idea who had it built, but it is a very uncommon .458. Mauser 1909 Argentine action. (standard length action)

Loaded well above .45-70 but still below .458 "elephant load" levels it is not uncomfortable to shoot, and quite effective on North American game.

I have recovered 400gr cast slugs from over two feet deep in an old tree, I think penetration is ..adequate.;)
 
Taylor, the two recoil lug system in the Savage is not extremely uncommon. I have never seen a need for it assuming one uses a quality forged single recoil lug and one uses a quality stock.
 
A second recoil lug is never a bad idea on big bores and while most are usually reserved for larger than .458 Win it isn't expensive. So I look at it as cheap insurance against damaging a stock, I think it added $50 to the price of my M70 in .375 Ruger. I also like crossbolts on my big bores.

Second Recoil Lug
Generally cartridges above .458 Winchester Magnum require a second recoil lug on the barrel in order to spread out the transfer of force from the barreled action to the stock and reduce the chance of splitting the stock. Adding a second recoil lug to a barrel is not expensive and should not be skipped in any big bore project.

Cross Bolts
As a rifle moves rearward during recoil, the recoil lug exerts a force longitudinally on the rifle stock. That force tends to push the wood of the stock outward laterally much the way an axe splits a piece of firewood. Cross bolts in the stock tend to keep the grain of the wood compressed and reduce the ability of the wood to move, also reducing the chance that the wood will split.
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My secondary recoil lug looks similar to this picture.

Model-70-Safari-Express-MID-535116-x1m.jpg
 
I shot an eland with the 9.3x64, dead one shot. He had long ago been shot in the gut with a .458 solid. The wound had healed and we recovered the bullet!
 
.458 is no fun to shoot and for short range large African game. It's not even particularly good for that.
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...Entirely a matter of opinion.

My family has been known to use .375 H&H, .375 Ruger, .458 Win Mag, .416 Rigby, and .450 Nitro 3.25" ... for squirrels and rabbits. (Aside from .270 Win, '06, 8x57mm, 7.7x58mm Jap, 7.62x54R, .338 WM, .300 WM, .300 Wby, 7mm Rem Mag, .340 Wby, and on, and on...)

.458 Win Mag doesn't even make my top five list of "stuff I'd rather not shoot again, unless my life depends on it." (Small hint: A light weight .450 Nitro with max-load 480 gr bullet is #1.)

I would rather shoot .458 WM in the average rifle suitable for the cartridge than .358 Winchester in the average rifle chambered for the cartridge. (One of my brothers may come along shortly and take offense to that.)

Actually....
I'd rather shoot .458 WM in the average rifle suitable for the cartridge than the .35 Whelen that I'm hunting deer with tomorrow. (It's a little on the light side, with less-than-stellar ergonomics, loaded to 'full power' by me, and, therefore, fairly mean to the shooter. But I still love that Whelen. :D)

About 15 years ago, my father had some "hot" 350 grain and mild 500 grain loads that he wanted to "get rid of" for one of his .458 WMs. Though the 500s were a two-or-three-at-a-time proposition, I ran 40 rounds of the 350s through the rifle in a single session without complaint. (From a sitting bench; and after 40 rounds of .270 Win in a 6.5 lb rifle, 60 rounds of .30-06, 100+ rounds of 8x57mm, and 20-30 rounds of .44 Mag [revolver].)
 
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