[Twpbaseball10]

I am going to make a custom rem 700. I was going to start with a used gun and strip the barrel and action apart and get a new barrel and so on. I found many cheap used rem 700 in 7mm rem mag but i am going to make mine in a .308. Do I need to get a new bolt for it, and also would that action work for it as well or do i need an original .308 gun?

[jeepcreep927]

Putting a short action round like a 308 in a long action is counter intuitive to me. I'd hold out for a short action donor rifle.

If you absolutely must have a long action 308 then you find a 30-06 donor so the bolt face matches the 308 (.473"). The 7mm Rem Mag has a larger rim diameter. You could, I think, scrounge a long action bolt with a .473" bolt face and since you're rebarrelling the headspace would be reset anyway or have the larger bolt face of the 7mm mag welded and re-cut. Either route quickly become much less cost effective.

[jpattersonnh]

If all you could find is a long action, I would consider a different caliber. As stated above, I would hold out for a short action for the .308.
For a long action I would really consider a 6.5-06. What it comes down to is its' use. What will it be used for??
For me, a nice 9.3x62 would be perfect.

[cpttango30]

What they said. Other than the 6.5-06 I would go with 25-06. That is just me I think it is the best all around medium game cartridge out there.

[rifleman55]

When you decide what caliber you want, send it to Savagegunsmithing and have the gunsmith Scott put a threaded barrel and nut on the action just like the Savage has. That way you can easily change out the barrel when it gets shot out and it makes the gun far more accurate.
Scott is one of the few Master Gunsmiths left and does fantastic work and prices are reasonable.
It's a neat conversion. You can talk to him about what you are thinking about doing 208-313-1570. He will answer any questions you have. Just talking with him for a short while, you will quickly see that he knows his stuff.
I'm a retired gunsmith and was a darn good one, but Scott is much better.
He has a web site SavageGunsmithing if you want to look at it.

I just hate to see anyone get gun work done by a less than perfect gunsmith. There are many good smiths out there and just as many gun hacks, so you have to be very careful who you send your weapon to.

John K