does anyone have a list of what i would need to buy and what i would need to do to change a 30-06 remington 700 to a 300 norma mag
and or tips . it would be greatly appreciated
The OEM bolt can be opened up to accept the .590" dia bolt face cartridges. I do this (not often, but on occassion) and Remington does it as well on the 338 Lapua Magnums.
Chambering is chambering. No different from any other barrel install.
Should you? It's a debated topic although its not come up in a long time that I can remember. The .590 bolt face stuff are high "horsepower" cartridges. Most companies anymore use a .750" diameter bolt body for these. The reason is the head of the bolt is stiffer.
Basically, stand on a 2x4 that's 8' long supported on each end by two bricks. Flexes when you put your weight in the middle right? Now move the shit inward to half of that. Much stiffer and it'll hold you up with less distortion.
Same thing here. Your lugs are the 2x4 and by growing the body OD of the bolt, you make the bolt stiffer.
If you were to pursue this, your likely going to see some pressure issues sooner than most. X2 with heavy pills. The front ring on the receiver is prone to stretching during the firing event. The HS of the case basically grows as the powder charge tries to push the bolt rearward simultaneous to pushing the barrel away from the bolt face. Then the thing settles down and it all snaps back to normal.
Except your brass. Brass is not so springy so it gets squished (think Luke in the garbage compactor in the Start Wars Movie) between bolt face and chamber shoulder. You feel this with a heavy bolt lift and a "tick" at the top of the PE cam, yet when you pop the case out there's no smashed primer, no ejector swipe, no web growth.
But your shoulder is longer than the gauge line on the shoulder to bolt face length (your head space) says it should be.
In the late 90's, early 2000's I built a 338 Ackley on a 700 and we leaned on that thing HARD. Never blew the gun up, but it was a problem child from the start for all the reasons listed.
Most in today's world go ahead and coin up for the bigger actions built to a more robust level. 1.450" receivers and 3/4" bolt bodies.
Caveat Emptor...
Good luck.
C.
