Tikka - Long action magazine with shorter cartridge

[EastHumboldt]

I just swapped the barrel on my brother’s Tikka T3xl from a 30-06 to a 7mm-08. I took it out to the range and put a few shells through it forgetting all about the fact that I’m now running .308 length cartridges through a long action magazine. It seemed to work just fine with no issues, although I ran less than ten rounds through it.

Is there any downside to doing this, other than stroking the bolt an extra 1/2” or so? Will it lead to failure to feed or jams in the magazine in the field? Easy enough to fix by buying a couple .308 family magazines, but do I need a short action bolt stop for it?

 

[Ucsdryder]

I use a 7saum in a “long action” tikka…long bolt stop. No issues.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I use a 7saum in a “long action” tikka…long bolt stop. No issues.

Are you using short action mags? (Not familiar with the 7SAUM.)

 

[Ucsdryder]

LA mags

 

[HandgunHTR]

Easy enough to fix by buying a couple .308 family magazines, but do I need a short action bolt stop for it?

Nope. No issue cycling the bolt back a little bit extra. The only danger with using the LA mags with a SA cartridge is that they pop out of the mag a bit sooner than they would if using a SA mag. Not really an issue with a centerfeed mag like the Tikka. Causes some issues with stagger-feed mags, however.

 

[Pharmseller]

I put LA bolt stops on all the 7mm-08s I load for. I can chase the lands instead of being constrained by the magazine length.



P

 

[Jamr]

I use long action mags for my 7-08 with no isues.

 

[Bado20]

I have a 280 AI that I’ll swap to a 243 sometimes. Feeds just fine from the LA magazine, no issues with the longer bolt stop either.