E.R Shaw barrels.

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Kachok

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I am thinking about doing a caliber conversion on a savage and while looking around I came across these barrels on Midway USA, they are priced right for sure, does anyone have any experence with these barrels, are they chrome lined for high performance calibers? I am a long time 6.5mm guy and want a high performance 6.5, They offer 6.5-284, 6.5-06 (AI) 6.5 rem mag, and 264 Win mag. I would perfer the 6.5 Rem mag but I think I would have to change the bolt face in addition to the barrel to convert a short action Savage, if that is a major expense I might be better off buying a Long action and going with the 264 or 6.5-06 AI. I have never done a rifle build before so any input would be helpful. Am I missing anyting?
 
I've been doing barrel swaps for Savage rifles for about a year now. Started out w/a 22-250 on a .243 action. It snowballed from there. I now have 2ea .223's 1, sporter & 1, varmint contour, 2ea 22-250's same contour's as 223's, sporter .243, .221 fireball, 20 practical, .308 sporter, & 7mm-08...it get's outta hand if you're not careful. Here's a group buy going on for ER Shaw barrels now if you don't mind the wait.
http://www.gunshack.com/65ERSHAW
savageshooters.com has some reviews on the ER Shaw barrels, lots of good reports on them.
 
I have an ER shaw barreld 700 (they did all the work also), love it one of my most accurate rifles. If your going to convert a short action savage from standard to 6.5 rem magnum, youll need the bolt head and some work on your magazine box (i dont know about that but it seems like it might work better to use a WSM box then trying to adjust the stack in a normal mag). Do you have an older one, with the magbox attached to the action? or is it the new style with it attached to the stock?
 
I don't have a Savage at the moment, my friend just bought mine, I could get a bare action or buy a used Savage from a pawn shop, or even one of those super cheep Axis rifles. So I am open to all kinds of ideas.
 
I used a prefinished Shaw for a build last fall - 257 Roberts sporter on a short Savage. I had a few fliers during load development and breakin, but it settled down to consistent groups a little under 1". I was just changing from a .243 so I had no issues with bolt face or magazine.
 
I think the 6.5x284 would be the easiest....you just by a savage factory rifle :p

Id probably go with a 6.5-06Ackly or the .264WM on a long action, you can buy all the stuff you need to just bolt one of those together, for a reasonable cost. Another idea I thought would be neat, but would cost a pretty penny would be a 6.5 WSM with the shoulder pushed back, kinda like a big 6mm BR.
 
I would do a little research before buying a donor rifle to make sure you’re getting something standard where aftermarket parts are available. There are some oddballs out there; I suggest getting the bolt spacing measurement and call a stock manufacturer to make sure it is typical. The Axis may be a different animal; I’m don’t know. A Stevens is said to be the same as the comparable Savage action for less money. Northland Shooter Supply (Jim Brigs ?) may have parts cheaper than Midway. He does, without a doubt, know the Savage rifles and will discuss your build with you.

Good Luck!
 
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LoonWulf said:
I think the 6.5x284 would be the easiest....you just by a savage factory rifle :p

Id probably go with a 6.5-06Ackly or the .264WM on a long action, you can buy all the stuff you need to just bolt one of those together, for a reasonable cost. Another idea I thought would be neat, but would cost a pretty penny would be a 6.5 WSM with the shoulder pushed back, kinda like a big 6mm BR.
Click to expand...
Problem with the 6.5-284 is that brass if as rare as frog fangs. It seems to be getting more popular as it is spilling over from the benchrest world, but it is still a rare sight. The nice thing about the 6.5-284 is that I can use a regular .473" bolt face and a long action so basicly I should be able to rebarrel any Savage 30-06 or 270. People think that the 6.5-284 is a short action, and technicly the wildcat is, but you will rarely find it in said short action, because to keep from cutting into powder capasity the bulllets are not seated much deeper then the base of the neck, the long bullets sticking out make it a long action.
The 6.5-06 AI and 264 have a higher performance threshold, but the 264 is a pain in the butt to get brass for much like the 6.5-284. I have never necked up brass or done any fire forming, but I am confident I can figure it out easy enough.
 
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ive used 5 of theyre barrels, my 2-7mags, 308win, 270 of my brotherin laws and a 300winmag. ive went through ershaw for all mine except the 270 because they were custom barrels and the 270 was a heavy magnum contour. they all shoot very good, even my break in shot surprised me. and remember that 6.5-06 is only going to last you 1200 rounds or so. its alot of boom but i think that you could get a better, longer lasting round. the turn around on barrels from ershaw is right about 6 months
 
i dont know about the axis rifles to be interchanged with the 110? i would look at a used action or a pawnshop gun just look for an G or E series gun.
you can also find the stevens 200 rifles laying around for 250 or so, then you just need an 85 dollar trigger and glass for it. just remember to get a MAP torch and heat the barrel nut well before you try to break it loose, i twisted an action on a build because i never have needed to before. i own one now. and also if you get a used rifle check the screw holes under the front scope base. if the wrong screws were put in the front holes the threads on the barrel will be marred and youll need to hit them with a drill to take the edge off or youll chew up the threads on the inside of your reciever when you try to unscrew the barrel. the reciever tap cost about 90 bucks from brownells, ask me how i know that one lol.
 
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One of the reasons i thought a WSM, or even a WSSM, based 6.5 might be neat is you could shoehorn it into a short action and probably still get near x284 capacity. Getting it to feed correctly would be a whole nother beast tho lol.
Brass forming from the 7mm or .338 to the .264 should be as simple as running it thru your dies and triming. Bolt heads for the savage action are cheap, 30 bucks tops, so changing from a standard to magnum to WSM faced bolt its pretty inexpensive and takes about 5 mins. As has already been suggested, the stevens 200 or an older G/E (I have an E based .300wm) action would probably be the easiest to build from. The newer actions dont have as many options in stocks.
 
The 6.5 WSM has been done many times before, they are pretty well known amongst the 6.5 cult, they are a real screamer. I don't know who builds their barrels for them though, I know E.R Shaw does not chamber it. I figured we would have a few Savage nuts in here that would know more about the older actions vs newer ones. Despite not likeing the look of the Axis that actualy is a pretty sweet gun for what they cost.
 
Shilen cuts a 6.5xWSM. They also make drop in (full chambered/threaded) Savage barrels. One thing I'm not sure about is the use of the 'fat' short mags in a regular Savage action. Savage factory short mags have a larger dia barrel and action (Large Shank). FYI: Northland will sale you a select match Shilen barrel for about the same price Shilen sells their standard barrels.
 
I was aware the WSM had been necked down to the 6.5, but to run 140s long i was under the impression that you were going to need a long or atleast longer action in most cases.
 
I have two 6.5 Leopard rifles (WSM necked to 6.5 as originally developed by Jim Carmichael)) that I use in 1000 yd competition. One if these is built on a short 700 Rem action, but there is no problem using 142 gr Sierras seated long as I single load anyway. The only problem is ejecting a loaded round, in which case it is necessary to release the bolt stop and pull the bolt back a bit further. The bolt stop could be replaced to eliminate even this small problem, but not worth the bother as it happens so rarely
 
it would be nice to be able to use the magazine. I was thinking it would make a neat hunting round.
 
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I just bought a new Savage 110 long action package (30-06) it was a little more money then the Axis, but it already has a nice trigger and I figure everything should be compatable with the 110, besides I can use the Bushnell scope it came with on a .22 or something :D
 
I am still thinking I might go with the 6.5-06 AI, but to be honest the 280 AI is tempting too. I thought about 25-06AI too but it might be a touch overbore, still doing my homework on it. The belted magnums provide great performance too, but brass would cost more and require me to change the bolt face too.
 
how long a barrel were you thinking of installing? I like the idea of the 6.5-06AI, but i also like the idea of the .280. If i didnt already have my 7mm rem thats what I would want lol.
 
I want a 26" barrel, I am not worried about a compact woods rifle because I already have my Tikka for that.
 
I like the sound of a 6.5-06. You may want to consider a .260 and 6.5x55 as well. I'm not looking at specs, but I have some .308 & 6.5x55 brass sitting here and the head dia's look the same.

I assume the x-wsm's and x-284 would be some real barrel burners.
 
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