Coup De Grace Savage Small Shank Barrels

[ChadJamesR]

I purchased a CDG action based on all of the positive reviews here and although I haven't been able to shoot it, it does seem like a top tier action. My one challenge with the action is finding barrels readily available. I have a 6.5 Creed being spun up by a smith, but not sure when that is going to be completed. Additionally there are some other calibers I would like to try in this action but don't feel like dropping $800 on a new barrel each time when there are other cost effective options in the market.

While mocking up my rifle, I installed a Proof barrel from an Origin action I have, and head spaced it based on a go gauge (I know I'm not going to fire it this way, just test fitting). For fun I decided to see how it would feed and chamber a .308 round. When playing with it, it worked without a problem and without a coned barrel. I then installed a 6 dasher barrel and tried the same thing and it would feed and chamber without a problem.

Now granted, this rifle will mostly be used to shoot 6.5 creed and the barrel I'm having made for it will be coned, but I wanted to check in here to see how many people have had success using a standard Savage small shank barrel and barrel nut on their CDG and what calibers work or didn't work with which magazine types, stock, etc. If the CDG does in fact work with Savage small shank barrels, then it opens up the doors for me to try new calibers, different weight barrels, and different calibers for my annual Prairie Dog hunt.

 

[godofthunder]

Tenon threads for CDG and Savage small shank are the same (1.0625 x 20 TPI), according to the drawing on ARC's website.

 

[AllenOne1]

I purchased a CDG action based on all of the positive reviews here and although I haven't been able to shoot it, it does seem like a top tier action. My one challenge with the action is finding barrels readily available. I have a 6.5 Creed being spun up by a smith, but not sure when that is going to be completed. Additionally there are some other calibers I would like to try in this action but don't feel like dropping $800 on a new barrel each time when there are other cost effective options in the market.

While mocking up my rifle, I installed a Proof barrel from an Origin action I have, and head spaced it based on a go gauge (I know I'm not going to fire it this way, just test fitting). For fun I decided to see how it would feed and chamber a .308 round. When playing with it, it worked without a problem and without a coned barrel. I then installed a 6 dasher barrel and tried the same thing and it would feed and chamber without a problem.

Now granted, this rifle will mostly be used to shoot 6.5 creed and the barrel I'm having made for it will be coned, but I wanted to check in here to see how many people have had success using a standard Savage small shank barrel and barrel nut on their CDG and what calibers work or didn't work with which magazine types, stock, etc. If the CDG does in fact work with Savage small shank barrels, then it opens up the doors for me to try new calibers, different weight barrels, and different calibers for my annual Prairie Dog hunt.

If it head spaces and feeds, it works.

I spun a Savage small shank 6.5C Proof barrel on mine and it fed fine. I didn't shoot it because I didn't have a spare barrel nut. However, I have a small shank Krieger 6.5C barrel with a low round count on it that will get put on this action at some point. I'm running a Bartlein 6.5C with the coned breach at this point.

 

[ChadJamesR]

Yes, the threads from my Origin action are perfect for the CDG. I know it will thread up alright, just seeing how many people have done this and their results. I saw another post where a guy said he used a Savage small shank 6.5 Creed in his CDG without issue, but didn't know if this was the norm or the exception.

 

[laker415]

I have yet to run a conical breech barrel on my CDG and haven't had an issue. I am currently running a shouldered arc nucleus flat breech barrel in 308 and it feeds fine. Ran a 6 creed flat breech prefit before that without any issues. I can only imagine how smooth feeding will be with a conical breech

 

[czgunner]

What are the chances my Shilen Savage prefit will work (allow chambering) with the CDG? Really torn between this (lefty) and the Origin Lefty.

 

[AllenOne1]

What are the chances my Shilen Savage prefit will work (allow chambering) with the CDG? Really torn between this (lefty) and the Origin Lefty.

If it's a 308 based case I would think it's a good bet that it works. Smaller calibers no so much. You could always get it rechambered a little deeper and have the coned breach added, but that is extra money spent.

 

[czgunner]

If it's a 308 based case I would think it's a good bet that it works. Smaller calibers no so much. You could always get it rechambered a little deeper and have the coned breach added, but that is extra money spent.

.260 Rem.

 

[ChadJamesR]

What are the chances my Shilen Savage prefit will work (allow chambering) with the CDG? Really torn between this (lefty) and the Origin Lefty.

If .308 feeds without a problem for me, I don't see a reason why .260 would have a problem. I don't have a small shank .260 barrel, but I do have some hand loads I could test to see how it feeds into my .308 small shank barrel. Let me know if this would help. FYI, I'm running my CDG on a MDT elite chassis and with the AISC Magpul mags.

 

[czgunner]

If .308 feeds without a problem for me, I don't see a reason why .260 would have a problem. I don't have a small shank .260 barrel, but I do have some hand loads I could test to see how it feeds into my .308 small shank barrel. Let me know if this would help. FYI, I'm running my CDG on a MDT elite chassis and with the AISC Magpul mags.

Oh, awesome. I'm using 140 SMK's, from MDT AICS mags, and MDT chassis. Thanks.

 

[ChadJamesR]

Tested out my CDG action with a Proof Origin .308 pre-fit loading .260 140 Nosler CC set to max mag length and it feeds without a problem. In fact it was very smooth no matter the bolt speed. Granted it isn't a .260 chambered barrel, but I don't think that is going to make a difference.

I've ordered two small shank barrels to run on my CDG based on these test. A .308 and a 6 dasher. Worse case if they do have any problems on the CDG, I'll run them in my Origin actions, but so far this seems to be a good solution for lower cost barrels. PVA has a sale on Rock barrels right now with Savage small shank threads which I couldn't pass up. They are available in .223, 6mm, and 6.5 rifling and several different chambers. I still have to see if the .223 will feed without a problem, but I don't have a barrel to test on right now.

 

[czgunner]

Tested out my CDG action with a Proof Origin .308 pre-fit loading .260 140 Nosler CC set to max mag length and it feeds without a problem. In fact it was very smooth no matter the bolt speed. Granted it isn't a .260 chambered barrel, but I don't think that is going to make a difference.

I've ordered two small shank barrels to run on my CDG based on these test. A .308 and a 6 dasher. Worse case if they do have any problems on the CDG, I'll run them in my Origin actions, but so far this seems to be a good solution for lower cost barrels. PVA has a sale on Rock barrels right now with Savage small shank threads which I couldn't pass up. They are available in .223, 6mm, and 6.5 rifling and several different chambers. I still have to see if the .223 will feed without a problem, but I don't have a barrel to test on right now.

Thank you very much for checking!

 

[giumau1]

Thanks @ChadJamesR, let us know how the Origin Dasher prefit will work for you in the CDG…

 

[ChadJamesR]

The Dasher barrel isn't an origin pre-fit from PVA, it will be a Savage small shank. Will be a few weeks before they have it spun up for me, but I'll keep the thread updated.

Speaking of origin pre-fits, I noticed that if someone came up with a spacer/collar that fit on the origin barrel with the right dimensions, it should headspace on the CDG without issues. I don't know if there would be too much tolerance stack, but it would basically be like a recoil lug without the recoil tang. If companies make different thicknesses of recoil lugs to get proper head space, I don't know why this wouldn't work.

 

[iMarvin]

I have yet to run a conical breech barrel on my CDG and haven't had an issue. I am currently running a shouldered arc nucleus flat breech barrel in 308 and it feeds fine. Ran a 6 creed flat breech prefit before that without any issues. I can only imagine how smooth feeding will be with a conical breech

have you ever tried a Savage small shank with flat breech?