Arc nucleus/ barloc, swapping from 300WM to 223

[4066.5]

feel free to skip to the bottom for the real question ..butfuckit I'm sitting down with some good nightcap tobacco, a nice pipe and a glass of whiskey, I'll give some background .

BACKGROUND/RAMBLING
I'm pretty new to ELR. Comfortable going out to 1200 or so with my 6.5CM but I'm constantly wanting to stretch my legs out further and further.
I shoot everything from paper-steel- pdogs- elk ( still waiting on my moose tag). I should shoot more paper to get down on user error but I am pretty fortunate to have access to 1000's of acres of pdog and predator access. Hints my current ratio is 84% varmints/ predators ,9% paper and steel, 4% big game, and 3% going for a walk with my rifle kicking myself for not shooting the 4x4 I saw on opening.


I have been debating on just buying a ~1moa cheap tikka in 300wn and 223 cover my pdog and hunting needs and keeping my 6.5CM build for everything under its transonic range. If I ever wanted to ring steel at 1500 or 1700 I can do so with the 300. But that would be violate my "buy once cry once " motto. I feel like I'd be sacrificing on barrel, action, and glass for two rifles. Not to mention I'm not a huge fan of "hunting profile"stocks. I'm too comfortable behind my MPA . I'd prefer to pack in the weight of a comfortable rifle then sacrifice the weight for comfort.

REAL QUESTION
I ran across PVA and them offering barreled actions with the arc nucleus w/ barloc . It says it can swap bolt faces , but does that apply from the extremes like a .540 bolt face down to a .384 with only changing the bolt face and barrel utilizing the same chassis/ bottom metal/ magazine? Sending an email off to PVA and some other companies Tomorrow, but I figured somebody else on here has to have done what I'm talking about.


If not experienced in the PVA set up, has anybody else done a switch from a 300WM or RUM to a 223, and if you have , what to do use?


Thanks !

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

I have a Nuke and I am 99% sure that the bolt face is interchangeable as you would like.

Where you may run into issues is the length of a .223 vs the length of a long action magnum as I don't think you could get a 223 to feed in a long action.

I could be wrong. It happens all the time.

 

[Longshot85]

.223 is gonna have issues in a long action simply by no options even existing for .223 in "long action"

So if you're wanting to run magazines for .223, scratch a long action off the list. Now.....its not the end of the .300WM option in a short action.........you can do it BUT you will have to single feed it.


So bottom line you need to prioritize .223 use vs .300 wm and then also determine whether or not you would want to single feed.

I have talked to Josh at PVA before about magazines and he can modify magazines for a long action to run short action .308 bolt face caliber flawlessly. He has several customers running long action Big Horn actions running .300wm and 6.5CM. PVA is a fantastic business so dont hesitate to ask them questions.

PM me if you want an overview of a build that can run .223 to .338LM using unmodified magazines just swapping barrels, bolts and magazine pieces. I'll say though, its expensive and involves a heavy chassis.

Lastly, I am building a switch barrel setup using a BARLOC and I will be running .223, .308, 6.5cm and lastly .338 Norma Mag put of a short action. The .338NM will be single feed

 

[Longshot85]

I'll also add that unless you are wanting to run a Lapua faced action......a short action will fulfill all your needs with short action cals like 6.5 SAUM, 7 SAUM, .300 WSM and .300 PRC theres really no reason to even buy a long action

 

[Ledzep]

300 prc will not run in a short action out of a magazine. In fact you might get unfired rounds stuck in the action for not having a long enough ejection port.

But yes, all the SAUM/WSM cartridges will be fine in a short action. 6.5 prc too. The 6.5 PRC and 300 prc are very different lengths.

 

[Longshot85]

I stand corrected on .300 PRC, sorry for any incorrect info

 

[jd65]

I’ve been working towards the same type of setup with my short action nucleus. The two cartridges I plan to start with is 6.5cm and 300wsm. With something like this, can I run a hinged floorplate or is it best to use AI style mags and use the correct mag for the cartridge in use?

 

[leftyk82]

If I were to run long action cartridges in my short action, I'd use this:

 

[4066.5]

Thanks all, looks like it's time I take my own advice and "buy one cry once" .

There's no shortcut to quality. Looking over priorities, I'll do a TL3 short action with barlok first that will run my 223/ future SA builds.
Then build up a .540 to do my ELR / elk hunting ( hopefully complete it prior to November ). If not I always got my trusty '06 that hasn't done me bring yet as far as hunting goes ..

Thanks everyone