Remington 798 question

[Bnhpr]

Does anyone know the magazine dimensions of the Remington 798?

Or at least what version of the Large ring Mauser they have copied, so I can figure out what the max COAL will fit in the magazine.

I ordered one of them in 300 mag, and was thinking about rebarreling one of them in 7mm STW. But I need to know this before I order the reamers and gauges.

I am a machinist, and have rebarreled Mausers previously.

 

[axlenut]

They use the Zastava Arms (Serbia) actions, same as the old Interarms Mark X and the more recent Charles Daly. I have two Interarms Mark X's a standard magnum and .375 H&H magnum length.

The .375 H&H action has a slightly longer magazine well and a bullet clearance notch in the front receiver ring. Because the standard OAL for the .375 H&H is 3.600" and the same for the 7mm STW, you would need the action specifically for the .375 H&H. The H&H action will go 3.650" but OAL is limited to 3.600".

My standard length magnum action is barreled for a wildcat where I have used cartridges loaded to 3.380" - with 3.400" being the magazine length. These won't work for the 7mm STW without modification.

Alternative is the Montana Rifleman action with the same dimensions, or their Professional Hunter action with a magazine length of 4.00" although they are usually back ordered on their products.

Usually I have to do feed ramp polishing to prevent cases from being scarred up on the Zastava actions. Also the extractor needs to be modified to allow cartridges to be single loaded into the chamber without working through the magazine (just in case).

 

[Bnhpr]

Thanks for replying, I didn't think anyone was going to bother.

The people on the gunsmithing corner have all but talked me out of a 798 action. The pre64 and 700 and customs are what people really are encouraging me to work with. I have handled a lot of mauser customs, but the Zestava action is really discouraged there.

I'm also quite excited about the custom actions, they seem to be in high regard. I still think I'm not where I want to try that yet.

 

[axlenut]

There isn't anything wrong with the Remington 798 action, except that you may have to purchase an entire rifle to get one. My .375 Epstein was barreled with a Shilen sporter barrel by R.C.B.S. (when Huntington owned it) then stocked by CP Donnley. It's a nice looking and shooting rig, shooting sub MOA groups. It resembles the old Browning Olympia.

The other action was barreled with a Hart #5 contour chambered for 7mm Remington Magnum. The action and bolt face were trued and the lugs lapped. That sucker will shoot under .5".

Those folks in Zastava have been making Mauser actions for a long time and they do a great job. Use the same scope bases as for the FN Mauser not the '98, these actions are copys of the FN commercial action. There are a lot of accessories for the Remington action, and the Winchester is good but expensive (and pretty much a copy of the Mauser). You can put a M-70 type safety on the Mauser, but I prefer the slide safety of the Remington type. You won't do wrong going either way.