OK ,ladies and gentleman. IF , IF, I were to build a custom 338 rcm would a stanard rem 700 short action work ??

This would be my first custom build. This is going to be a rifle for my wife . Mostly for elk, moose, caribou. :action-smiley-099

forgot to add wife shoots a 25/06 for the smaller stuff.

Yes, they are basically the same except the wsm is a little bit bigger. IMO, i would go with wsm because of availability of brass and a little better performance, unless you have rcm brass stockpiled or shooting factory ammo. But kudos to you for choosing the short mags.

thank you good advise

whats your thoughts on 338 fed ? If you limit shot on elk to 250yrds

Awesome elk round for the distance your thinking however my co-worker has one in a ruger hawkeye and said it's a little hard on deer.

338 fed on deer, hits hard and I don't think it's hard on deer unless you do a shoulder shot then it might be but then so is anything else. I use the 200 speer with excellent results