Remington 700 bolt gun for Ohio

[johnnywadd]

Wanta build a remington 700 bolt gun for Ohio deer season thought of a 375 win in a 788 but 788 are high thought of a 450 Marlin any thoughts appreciated and yes I have several smokelss muzzloaders and slug guns just want a bolt gun

[backwoods]

I think it would be good set up.
Seems like if you could find a donor rifle with a magnum bolt face you would be set.
Should have plenty of energy and perform well.

[johnnywadd]

Just looking for best options I have access to a 300wsm 700 action just wanting the best caliber for bolt gun the 788 is possible too I want something that will shoot 300 yards accurately

[rossman40]

375 Win is doable but the reason the 788 is ideal is that the 375 has roughly the same dimensions as a 30-30. So if you get a 30-30 788 it is just a barrel swap, no bolt problems and the 30-30 mags even work. Not very many bolt rifles in a rimmed cartridge. You can get a 230-250gr bullet zipping in the 2400fps range, you just do not have the case capacity to get more out of it.

The 450 Marlin is rimless so as long as you get a 700 with a magnum boltface your good to go. If you can find you a Savage/Stevens 10/110 that is also very doable.
The biggest drawback is if you want to use Lukes 310APB, you have to go long action or feed each one separate (the round will not fit into a SA mag).

Supposedly the accuracy secret for both rounds is the throat. Both rounds were designed for lever actions with tube magazines so short, fat, flat nose bullets were the norm. If you want to shoot pointy high BC bullets the throat or freebore and leade angles need looked at. There are two guys around here that have .375 Win Encores with chambers cut with Mike Bellm's reamer so they can stick the bullets farther out for more case capacity

[johnnywadd]

If I would use a wyats mag extension would that give enough room in a short action that's a additional .100 I think

[rossman40]

The shortest I was able to get the 310 APB in a 45-70 (same case length as a 450 Marlin) IIRC was 3.1" and still keep a decent "jump". Your looking at a empty case length of 2.1" and just the nose on a 310gr APB is like .9". A 700 Remy SA in .308 your less then 2.9" max length. Also the Wyatt mag box allows you to stretch it out to just under 3.0 and you have to do some serious grinding on the action.

The 325gr Hornady FTX is still a pretty awesome bullet, there are the Barnes SOCOMs, and if you feel the need for speed the 250gr Monoflex which some guys say they are getting up in the 2500fps range.

There was a guy back in December that posted on Gunbroker that he had a 788 already switched over to .375 and in a laminate stock for like $1000. He lived down between Ironton and Jackson Ohio not too far from our cabin.

[johnnywadd]

Would a long action magnum work for the 450 Marlin or would it feed right

[rossman40]

I've done quite a bit of research on this. It all depends on what bullet you want to use. The highest BC .458 bullet available right now IMO is Luke's. SAMMI spec for cartridge overall length is like 2.550". One guy told me he can reload the 325 and still get a roll crimp and it comes out at about 2.600 which is still less then the 2.860 which is the max length on a short action factory 700 magazine. In a lever action you get the cartridge length a hair over 2.55" and you have loading problems.

Now you can still use Luke's but you would have to single feed. One of the problems you face is when build a rifle for a single loading is you loose re-sale appeal. I would go with a short action and use Hornady's off-the-shelf 325gr load as the go-to standard. That would let you load just about any factory ammo. You then could experiment with the 250gr Monoflex and Luke's APB. If Lukes APB turns out to be a performer at longer range then the 325gr FTX then you might contemplate building a LA for that bullet. You could always single feed the first shot like some of the lever action guys do. The 325gr FTX factory load coming out at 2225fps should be good out to 300yds. You should be able to get 400yds out of the APB if you launch them at about 2400fps. The only problem is if you run out of case capacity. Another thing that people miss is that while the 450 Marlin looks like a magnum, max chamber pressure is like 43ksi not in the 60s like real magnums.

[Deleted]

One might wonder if a specially built 700 in 450 marlin would be capable of the higher pressures similar to when using ruger only loads? Even current production lever guns lack the beef of a custom 700.

[Deleted]

May 23, 2016 20:34:08 GMT -5 @cmcfirearms said:

One might wonder if a specially built 700 in 450 marlin would be capable of the higher pressures similar to when using ruger only loads? Even current production lever guns lack the beef of a custom 700.

Buy one and find out.
www.cabelas.com/product/Remington-Custom-MARLIN/1788922.uts

[johnnywadd]

Is there a advantage of a 375 win built on a rem 788 other than better bullet selection

[rossman40]

With the 375 Win and 450 Marlin you just can't add as much powder as you like as you do with a ML. Your dealing with cases that are a bit on the small side when looking at capacity. You can probly fill the cases with anything slower then 4198 and never reach the 43ksi max pressure of the 450 Marlin. So if you want the bullet to go faster you have to look at faster powders which in turn means higher chamber pressures. Then if you go with a heavier bullet that means more bullet in the case which also decreases case capacity.

Yes the 700 action can probly take higher pressures then most lever actions BUT you have to look at the weakest link in the system. The case has a SAAMI max of 43ksi. You going to trust Steve Hornady and his crew designed and then made the case to take 60ksi. It is like the 10lb in a 5lb bag syndrome.

If I was going to build a break action I would go with a 375 Win but go with a custom reamer to handle longer bullets like the 250-270gr. With the 788, it would be interesting but the ideal bullet for it, the Hornady 225gr spire point, is not available and might not ever be made again. So the 450 Marlin looks pretty for a bolt action. It would still out do the 450 Bushmaster and the 458 SOCOM if those ever became legal in Ohio. There is a guy making a AR-10 upper for 450 Marlin.

[Deleted]

If I thought I was adding powder to my SML I would have posted it in the smokeless section.... If you believe that ruger only loads are to saami spec, you're mistaken.

[rossman40]

Maybe that is why they are Ruger only loads, easy to do when you have a fully supported case.

[Deleted]

How much of the case is unsupported in a Remington 700?

[rossman40]

How much of the case is in the bolthead? Or are you one of those that believed the "3 rings of steel" advertisements Remington did. By the time you add a bevel on the barrel you could have over 1/8" hanging out unsupported even on a tight chamber. You might say it is just the case head but..

[Deleted]

I don't think a ar15 bolt with a flexy extractor is the same cup of tea. There is no way to tell the whole story on that blown case either. Any Joe Bob can buy a reloading press.

[Deleted]

I thought the OP wanted to build off a Remington 700?

[markb317]

Check out " The Dresden Gun Company" on Facebook he has built a few straight case rifles on bolt actions.