What is the diffrence between a long action and a short action? I'm guessing jsut that (size) , but is it...

Question

certian caliburs or what thanks!

Answer 1

Varying cartridge lenghts are the reason rifles have short or long actions. A .223 (5.56) is a short action cartridge so the bolt in rifles designed for them is shorter than the bolt for a .30/06, which is long action.
If you have access to them, put the bolt from a .223 beside the bolt from a .30/06 or a .300 Win. Mag. and you will see the difference.

Answer 2

Cartridges come in different lengths (bear with me here). The 30-06 was the standard cartridge for the US military for a long time, and the action of the rifles needed to be long enough that when it opens it'll pick up a cartridge from the magazine and push it into the chamber. In the 1950's, the US changed to the 308 cartridge, which is shorter. Because of this, the M-14 rifle action could be made shorter and still function properly. The same principle holds true for all cartridges, and in general when you read about these, the "short action" is one made for cartridges the length of the 308, the "long action" one made for cartridges the length of the 30-06, and the "magnum action" is made for cartridges the length of the 375 H&H. Each manufacturer decides exactly how long they are, of course, and in fact Sako used to make five different length actions. It's nice not to have the action too long for the cartridge, because of the general slop involved in cycling a short cartridge in an action that's unnecessarily long, but the shorter action is also stiffer and in theory may be able to produce better accuracy. On the other hand, many a 257 Roberts has been built on a short action, and it works with some loads, but if the magazine's marginal, you may not be able to use some of the longer bullets in the cartridge. People also make something of the "short bolt throw," with the short actions, and cite the problem of not pulling the bolt all the way back on loading the second shot under stressful circumstances, but I've never talked to anybody who's ever short-stroked one, so I don't know that it's a real consideration. Mostly, it gives the gun writers something to write about.

Answer 3

It has to do with case length. A .30'06 is a "long action" caliber. A .308 can be considered a "short action" round. In theory the 06 and 308 are both .30 cal with similar preformance, I call the .308 a "short action" 30'06 - the case is shorter, requiring a shorter action to operate the firearm.

Answer 4

Just millimeter differences