Convert Rem 700 from .30-06 to .308?

Question

I have a Remington 700 XCR in .30-06, and I'm wondering whether it would be simple/inexpensive enough to convert it to .308 -- and whether it would be worth the increased long-range accuracy & decreased short-range power. (I also don't mind that .308 ammo is cheaper.)

Which parts would need to be changed? Would I need to go to a gunsmith?

How much of an advantage does .308 have over '06 when fired from a Remington 700? (As much as I'd like to avoid starting another ".308 vs .30-06" debate, I think this specific question is relevant.)

About my shooting needs: I spend most of my time shooting at targets. The largest animal I'd hunt would be wild hogs. I do not reload my own ammo.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Answer 1

It would take rebarreling and might still have feeding issues with the short cartridge in the long magazine. There's no significant difference in the accuracy you can expect, either. Much too much has been made of that issue, but a good part of what truth is in it is the advantage of the short action, which would not be changed in your situation. The shorter powder column plays a role, but it'll be lost in a host of other factors and turn out to be negligible. You'd do better to work up handloads in your 30-06 and get the accuracy and savings in that way.

Answer 2

These other people obviously don't know the facts.  All you need is a chamber adapter, and the .308 will fire safely from the existing barrel.  

http://www.mcace.com/adapters.htm

I've used these on several rifles.  You may have to experiment with getting the ammo to feed reliably from the magazine, but the gun will shoot, and it will shoot safely.  

Accuracy is not a given, though, since the .308 bullet is .002" smaller in diameter.  For most rifles that I've tried, the accuracy in .308 did NOT suffer, but there are always exceptions.

Answer 3

You need a new rifle.  The 308 is a short action, the 30-06 is built on a long action.  You can't simply fill the missing metal in on the chamber.

Most competition shooters can perform just as well with either caliber.  The 06' is an older caliber and the 308 came into being during the 1950's when Winchester introduced their new line of smokeless ball powders.  

Today, the big difference between the two is cost.  That, and militiary brass can found quite cheap - and sometimes loaded military ammo can be found quite cheap or free.  

Considering the amount of work to change your rifle - so many parts would require change out - the cost of local labor to do it would be more than a nice new 308.  The choice is pay more and end up with a b*****d rifle, or, pay less and own two nice rifles.  Go with the new one my friend.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

It is not worth the $$.  You would likely need a new barrel as the .308 is a smaller casing round than the .30-06. If you were to get a new barrel, it would be a very expensive barrel if you wished to retain the XCR coating on it.   You will never see the difference in accuracy potential difference between the 2 rounds with the factory XCR barrel and the factory XCR stock.  The .308 has no advantage in your application.  .30-06 surplus ammo from the CMP is cheaper than any .308 ammo currently available.    You can get factory 200 and 220 grain rounds for the .30-06 for hog hunting which are not available in a .308 factory round.

Answer 5

The convertion is not possible because the .30-06 is a long-action and the .308 is a short-action.  The case length of the .30-06 measures:  63mm; the .308 case length is: 51mm

To change over you would have to change not just the barrel but the entire action as well.  Then the new action would not fit you old rifle stock so you're better off just buying a new .308.

H

Answer 6

Better off to sell or trade your current rifle in towards a 308. otherwise all  you'd need to do is re barrel it to .308

Hawaian yes I know about the adaptors and have a few they do not however lend themselves to accurate target shooting since there is a length of free bore due to the difference in cartridge length.  And since the asker stated he was interested in target shooting that automatically excludes the adaptors

Answer 7

you would need to get a completely new barrel. and also switch out the action because 30-06 is long action and .308 is short action. the floor plate magazine would need to be replaced too. the only thing you could keep would be the stock and trigger assemble. at that point i would just buy another rifle.

here are the ballistics of 3 bullets. .300 Win. Mag. on top, .308 in the middle, 30-06 at the bottom. http://www.remington.com/products/ammuni...

keep in mind though that different bullets and different rifles have different trajectories.

Answer 8

I gave the Hawaiian a good rating, because he knows adapters, but he doesn't know bullets. .30-06 and .308 bullets are the exact same size.

Back when the military still had M-1 rifles they had a chamber adapter to shoot 7.62 x 51 NATO rounds. If you wanted to shoot .30-06  again a stuck case extractor was used to pull the adapter.  

Since the .308 and .30-06 are nearly identical ballistically there would be no advantage.

The .308 round being cheaper is the only advantage.

Following the link given, it appears you can be fixed up for $35.00.

Answer 9

1) I'm not sure about the adapters.  I might consider buying another rifle in 308.  Don't re-barrel your 30-06.  It's not worth it.

2)  308 and 30-06 are pretty much identical ballistically.

30-06 has a longer case, but has a lower case pressure of 60,000 psi.

308 has a shorter case, but has a higher case pressure of 62,000 psi.

30-06 has one advantage that it can use 220 grain bullets.  200 grain bullets are plenty in my opinion.

Answer 10

1 it would be simple, but still fairly spendy to convert it

#2 your accuracy will not increase any.  Comparing match grade ammo, there is no accuracy difference.  Getting a load your barrel likes is much more important than what cartridge you are using.

The 308 has NO advantage of the the 30-06 except for being in a more compact case, and the avialiability of surplus ammo is better.

Honestly, the most economical thing would be to sell your 30-06 and buy a 308

Answer 11

The 7.62x51mm NATO is a rifle cartridge developed in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among NATO countries. The 30-06/7.62x63 has been around since 1906; I believe there is a reason for that. They are two different actions; the .308 being a short action, and the 30-06 being a long action. It is certainly possible, because the military converted a bunch of their 30-06 M1’s to 7.62x51/.308 WIN; the reason they did it was mainly because the members of NATO were using it, and it was decided it would be good to have the ability to interchange ammo if necessary. The round itself offers similar ballistic performance in most firearms to the round it replaced in U.S. service, the .30-06 Springfield. While the cartridge itself is shorter, the actual bullet and loadings are about the same (muzzle velocities on the order of 860 m/s (2,800 ft/s) for both). Due to more modern propellants, less volume could be dedicated to holding them in the 7.62x51mm cartridge than was needed in the .30-06. The smaller case uses less brass, and firearms that use the round can be smaller, but the reduced size limits flexibility in civilian use, hindering performance with heavier bullets and slower-burning, lower-density powders. I know you didn’t want to get into this, but you did ask if it was worth converting it from 30-06 to .308; it is impossible for us to know who started the rumor that the .308 is a better cartridge because it , but it is just not so, the ballistics don't lie. The 30-06 has a greater velocity, more stopping power, and shoots flatter. Do yourself a favor, and familiarize yourself with the truth; below are 5 cartridges I listed and the site I used to research those ballistics, I could have listed more, that attest to the fact that the 30-06 is a better cartridge than the .308. If you are into reloading, it might be advantageous to convert it to .308, because it uses less powder and the brass is cheaper. Otherwise, I would just leave the gun chambered in 30-06; it’s a great gun as it is, I speak from experience. Besides all of that, you could probably buy another REM700 in .308 for the price it would cost you to convert the one you have.

180 GRAIN PMC BOATTAIL SOFTPOINT

180 GRAIN STANDARD SOFTPOINT

168 GRAIN SELLIER AND BELLOT BOATTAIL HOLLOWPOINT

123 GRAIN LAPUA JACKET HOLLOW POINT

150 GRAIN STANDARD SOFT POINT

http://www.handgunsmag.com/ballistics/?u...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62x51mm_N...