Thread: Bolt face Diameters - Cheat Sheet

Found this useful when looking at what boltface is compatible with others when thinking or re chambering etc.

Stolen from here - Bolt face diameter and calibers - for easy barrel swaps | The Outdoors Trader

Bolt face diameters cheat sheet
Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .384 +/-
17 Remington
204 Ruger
222 Remington
223 Remington


Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .470 +/-
225 Winchester
22/250 Remington
6mm Norma BR
243 Winchester
250 Savage
260 Remington
6.5/284 Norma
7/08 Remington
284 Winchester
300 Savage
308 Winchester
338 Federal
35 Remington
358 Winchester


Short actions with a bolt face .Dia of .540+/-
223 WSSM
243 WSSM
25 WSSM
7mm Remington saum
7mm WSM
300 Remington saum,
300 WSM
325 WSM
350 Remington Mag.


Long actions with a bolt face .DIA of .470 +/-
220 Swift
6mm Remington
240 Weatherby Mag
257 Roberts
25-06 Remington
6.5x55 Swedish
270 Winchester
7x57 Mauser
7x64 Brenneke
280 Remington
30/06 Springfield
8mm Mauser
338/06 A Square
35 Whelen


Long actions with a bolt face .Dia of .540 +/-257 Weatherby
264 Win Mag
270 weatherby Mag
7mm Remington Mag
7mm Weatherby Mag
7 STW
7mm Remington Ultra Mag
300 H & H
300 Winchester Mag
300 Weatherby Mag
300 RUM
303 Brit
8mm Remington Mag
338 Winchester Mag
340 Weatherby Mag
338 RUM
375 H & H
375 Weatherby
375 RUM
416 Remington Mag
458 Winchester Mag
458 Lott


Long actions with a bolt face .Dia of .585 +/-
30/378 Weatherby
338 Lapua
338/378 Weatherby
378 Weatherby mag
416 Rigby
416 Weatherby Mag
460 Weatherby Mag
470 Nitro Express

Handy to know.

Handy as

Still handy as

That's a handy chart.

No listing for 6.5creedmoor, well I guess there is no point turning a perfectly good rifle into a man bun gun.

same as 308

Originally Posted by 57jl

same as 308

Thanks, but im not planning on Creedmoor.

We tend to think of action lengths in terms american cartridges or NATO standard:

223 length
308 length
3006 length
375 H&H (300win Mag)
338 LM

The Sako 85 actions match those.

Do the Europeans have different standard sizes ?
Youd think ones like the 7/8x57 and 6.5x55 would originally come in actions between 308 and 3006 length ?

The cheat sheet needs updating every month at the rate new and totally unnecessary cartridges are hitting the market place
manufacturers can't supply components for the common calibres already in use Hornady has just released the 7mm PRC how do they
plan on marking ammo then they can't supply popular ammo as it is.

The cheat sheet needs updating every month at the rate new and totally unnecessary cartridges are hitting the market place
manufacturers can't supply components for the common calibres already in use Hornady has just released the 7mm PRC how do they
plan on marking ammo then they can't supply popular ammo as it is.

@Dorkus

Originally Posted by Bagheera

We tend to think of action lengths in terms american cartridges or NATO standard:

223 length
308 length
3006 length
375 H&H (300win Mag)
338 LM

The Sako 85 actions match those.

Do the Europeans have different standard sizes ?
Youd think ones like the 7/8x57 and 6.5x55 would originally come in actions between 308 and 3006 length ?

Well that is a very valid point. While the Europeans had created the x57 and the 6.5x55 range of cartridges, the Americans were onto their longer 30-03 and 30-06 long action cartridges quite a few years later . Although the 250 savage served as a basis to later create the 22-250 and the 300 savage ( from which the 308 evolved more or less) ,that round was first used in a lever action.
And except a few custom creations on some Mauser Kurtz or alike, I believe it is remington with the introduction of their 722 action that started the short action trend in the USA. Winchester with their pre 64 actions at the time was still using a reduced length magazine well on their long actions to accomodate anything from 222 to 308 to 264 Winchester…
Sako on their side had already created some short action to accomodate the 308 family of cartridges.

Fast forward to the years 2000 , and we have the short magnums cartridges coming out, squeezed like fat girls with a tight corsets into short action magazines not quite designed for them originally , and since long heavy bullets can’t stick out too much, specially with Winchester range, well the Winchester solution is adopted : push them in deep! (Take a look at the original 284 Winchester and the 300 win mag ).
With the release of longer and higher bc projectiles for tackling the longer range shooting, the only way those fat short cartridges can have their maximum potential exploited was by using long actions and custom throated chambers.
It is only in the last three or four years that some custom action manufacturers like defiance came out with what they call the XM action length which is intermediate between the short and long action .( although what we call short in 308 is classed as medium for some manufacturers , and they call short what can accomodate the 223 range of cartridges, just to help with the confusion).
And we have now gone full circle in the space of a 125 years roughly.

Just as a note, bsa were chambering their 308 and 7x57 in the same medium action length…they were already onto it then :-)

Originally Posted by Bagheera

We tend to think of action lengths in terms american cartridges or NATO standard:

223 length
308 length
3006 length
375 H&H (300win Mag)
338 LM

The Sako 85 actions match those.

Do the Europeans have different standard sizes ?
Youd think ones like the 7/8x57 and 6.5x55 would originally come in actions between 308 and 3006 length ?

There's basically the main 5 sizes:

Midget (custom short for the Hornets and the like - BRNO ZKW465 etc)
Short
Long
Magnum
F**k my shoulder (dinosaur calibers and chamberings that are usually mounted on ships, tanks or aircraft).

There have been a few Intermediate length actions, notably Mauser M96 Swedish small ring and M48 post war large ring actions but to my knowledge no one manufactures this length currently.