DIY with Shilen DGR Action

[Hondo64d]

Stopped into Shilen Barrels today on the way home from a business meeting. Very nice folks. They gave me a tour of their facility, showing me the entire procedure for making a barrel, from a piece of bar stock all the way to a finished barrel. It was extremely interesting and I learned a lot.

While I was there I checked out one of their DGR actions. The Shilen DGR and DGV actions are built by Stiller to Shilen's specs. It is essentially a Stiller Predator threaded for standard shank savage barrels. it uses a barrel nut and comes with a dual pinned recoil lug, so fitting your own barrel is a snap.. Also has the floating bolt head, which allows perfect lug contact. The machine work and finish is superb. I had a Predator a couple of years ago, and while it was great, it appears that they are getting even better.

I've been wanting to pick up one of these for a while. Remington 700 footprint with DIY barrel fitting and custom action tolerances makes this a great candidate for a budget DIY build. Top quality prechambered and threaded barrels are available from numerous sources in the $400 to $450 range. Any pre chambered and threaded barrel for a standard shank Savage will work on the DGR. I'm figuring on putting it in a Manners with their DBM mini chassis or maybe bed it in a McMillan with Seekins DBM bottom metal. Best guess it that it will take me less than 20 minutes to get it all put together and I bet it will shoot... Very well... Additionally, quick mental math tells me I'll be saving about $450 in chambering and bedding costs. I remain very surprised folks haven't caught on to this in greater numbers yet. More to follow...

John

 

[shawnb]

Very interested in this build. Ive been wanting one of those actions for a while but keep ending up with something different haha.

Specs on what your building? And the action itself please.

 

[tbrice23]

Im in.
Love to try their hardware.

 

[Hondo64d]

Very interested in this build. Ive been wanting one of those actions for a while but keep ending up with something different haha.

Specs on what your building? And the action itself please.

I'm hoping for a really great shooting DIY rig that is relatively in expensive. Was initially going to put it in a Manners with DBM mini chassis but found an HS Precision with PT&G Stealth bottom metal which saves me a pile of $ and will still work for proof of concept. !st barrel I will go with will be one of the commonly available prefits for a Savage action. The DGR action was designed for this which is a large part of the appeal. It will be a 6.5x47 Lapua initially but I will eventually add a .308 barrel and a 22-250 barrel.

Not sure what action specs you're looking for. The Shilen DGR and DGV actions are built for Shilen by Stiller. They are essentially a Stiller Predator action with a savage type floating bolt head. It's a 700 footprint and will take any trigger made for a 700 and fit any stock made for a 700 provided the recoil lug recess is big enough for the lug. It comes with a dual pinned .300 recoil lug. The barrel threads match the small shank Savage threads. Matching Picatinny rails are available and shown in the above pic. Mine is a 20 MOA rail.

Here's a few more pics of the action:

I like the small firing pin and ejector. Great for the 6.5x47, which will be the first barrel I put on it.

Pic of the pin for the floating bolt head.

Can do single or multiple pins for the recoil lug if you like. With both pins provided, no reason to not use both.

John

 

[Hondo64d]

I've got a varmint weight criterion barrel chambered for 6.5x47 in route from Northland Shooter's Supply. The freebore Criterion sends them is .167, which should work for the bullets I'm using. Was a tossup between a prefitted Shilen and the Criterion. I mainly went with the Criterion because the freebore was closer to what I wanted. Also ordered a NSS trued barrel nut and appropriate wrench.

I have an HS Stock with PT&G Stealth bottom metal that I picked up off the classifieds on the way and a Timney 510 thin trigger from Midsouth.

Going to initially shoot it in the aluminum bedding block without any epoxy bedding. Very anxious to see how good a DIY bolt together rig can shoot.

John

 

[tbrice23]

I've got a varmint weight criterion barrel chambered for 6.5x47 in route from Northland Shooter's Supply. The freebore Criterion sends them is .167, which should work for the bullets I'm using. Was a tossup between a prefitted Shilen and the Criterion. I mainly went with the Criterion because the freebore was closer to what I wanted. Also ordered a NSS trued barrel nut and appropriate wrench.

I have an HS Stock with PT&G Stealth bottom metal that I picked up off the classifieds on the way and a Timney 510 thin trigger from Midsouth.

Going to initially shoot it in the aluminum bedding block without any epoxy bedding. Very anxious to see how good a DIY bolt together rig can shoot.

John

I'm sure you will love your Criterion barrel.
I have 3 Criterion (bolt-on) barrels. I love everything about them except they're only offered in 24" from Jim's in stock supply without custom ordering.

 

[tbrice23]

I've got a varmint weight criterion barrel chambered for 6.5x47 in route from Northland Shooter's Supply. The freebore Criterion sends them is .167, which should work for the bullets I'm using. Was a tossup between a prefitted Shilen and the Criterion. I mainly went with the Criterion because the freebore was closer to what I wanted. Also ordered a NSS trued barrel nut and appropriate wrench.

I have an HS Stock with PT&G Stealth bottom metal that I picked up off the classifieds on the way and a Timney 510 thin trigger from Midsouth.

Going to initially shoot it in the aluminum bedding block without any epoxy bedding. Very anxious to see how good a DIY bolt together rig can shoot.

John

How's the build coming along ?

 

[ShtrRdy]

I'm interested in how this worked out.