Thread: Changing a Remmington 700 from .270 to .308

The US experimented with this with their M24 sniper rifle, in the form of being able to either use .308 (7.62x51) or a magnum caliber (.300WM springs to mind) on the same basic action and stock platform, just swapping the barrel and bolt out. In the end they elected not to do this, and the M24 has remained a 7.62x51 platform on the long action.

There are a few possible considerations with running the .308 length round on the longer action - including being able to seat the projectile out minimising the lost case volume when reloading with heavier projectiles which run into magazine length issues with the short actions. You can almost get up to .30-06 results with not losing case volume to the arse of the projectile. Also, the scope mounting can be slightly further apart on the long action as well, or you can possibly shift the scope further forwards if that's an issue. As well, due to the fact that a lot of the magnum rounds or long range rifles are on long action platforms there are often more choices for accessories in the long action size which is nice.