.223 Stevens 200 suprise

[shjf]

After reading about the Stevens 200 rifle on this site thought it would be a fun project gun.Was going to only keep the action and trash everything else but I had to see how the thing shot,couldn't help myself .The rifle is shooting MOA to sub MOA groups at 100 yards consistantly with factory 55 GR. Remmington Premier Accutip.Not bad I thought for a $260.00 rifle with a tupperware stock.Was shooting over two inch groups with 55GR.Hornady V-Max Molys though.

All that has been done to this rifle was clean out the barrel chanel on the lefthand side where the barrel was touching to free float it (5min. job with a dremel), and adjust the trigger down to 4 Lbs. ( couple seconds with screw driver).Now it looks like I'm going to have to see what bedding the action ,and polishing the crown well do .

Used bore cleaning paste and Butches bore shine to clean the barrel after every three shots to break the barrel in faster ,didn't care if I ruined barrel,but it seemed to work because it shot a three shot clover leaf teazer group,you know one of those groups you wished the rifle would shoot all the time.Only went through 40 rounds to get there so the abration action from the bore paste must of helped smoothed out the roughness from the rifling.

Being that it wears a 1 - 9 twist barrel was thinking of reloading some Sierra 69 gr. HPBT-Match King bullets for thier high B.C..Any sudjestions on powder to use,BL-C(2),Benchmark,Varget?Curious about whats everyones pet load for thier .223 Stevens and how well do they group?

This rifle sort of suprised me on how well it preforms didn't expect it,being these groups where shot from a 6 1/2 pound rifle with a sqeaky clean and cool barrel and POI not changing from group to group,it'll be my goto groundhog gun this summer.The model 200 is an easy to accurize rifle,would be a good rifle for a beginer to start with , cheap and easy to upgrade.Thinking of getting another one,308 maybe, see if I can get it to shoot well (MOA or less).If it dosn't preform well all I need is the action for my next project gun so theres no waste there .

shjf,

[sell33]

well sounds like you got a great gun, i have heard good about those 200's. Bro in law just bought one in 22-250 but has yet to shoot it, i hope his performs as well as yours does.

[Zen900]

I put a RifleBasix trigger on a model 200 in .223 to get a 28oz trigger pull. I have a Model 200 in .270 that is very accurate as well. The model 200 w/RifleBasix trigger is as accurate as anything made and there is very little you need to do to it. One day though I am going to put a beautiful wood monte carlo style stock on it and then it will be perfection. I'll put it up against a Remington 700 any day of the week. The 28oz trigger will hit a dime at 100yds.

[gasgas]

What model or models of savage stocks will fit a stevens 200.???

[Minionsram]

I beleive that any long action savage stock will fit

[felix cortinas]

I got one in 7mm-08 with a Nikon 3x9x50 on it and have shot a couple of boxes thru it but still aint got the pattern I know it should. I got 3 other Savage rifles and all are tack drivers. everything seems OK, the barrel is freefloating, I think the trigger pull may be my problem. I plan on carrying it in the brush cause where I hunt is mesquite, brush and cactus country.

[shjf]

sell33 hope his rifle shoots well if not thier easy and fun to tinker with.

Zen900 was the trigger a SAV-1 or the SAV-2, was looking at the SAV-2 myself just because I could crank it down to 4oz. for target shooting or put her back up to 3lb. for hunting ,I know the SAV-1 just goes from 1lb. to 3lb. adjustment.Id say if your hitting a dime at 100 yards consistantly little over a 1 1/2 lbs. trigger pull is perfect for your shooting style.Hopefully I'll get this rifle to that level of preformance.

gasgas the Savage 110 stocks fits the long action Stevens and the Savage 10 stocks fits the short action Stevens.

felix cortinas make sure the rear tang is free also.And with this rifle I started at 20 inch pound of torque on the action screws and worked up to 28 inch pounds where it preformed the best,the groups halfed in size.Also Ive noticed how rough the barrels are on these Stevens thats why I used the bore paste agressivly to break the barrel in faster.Ive read somewhere that it takes around 100 to 150 rounds down the tube to calm things down,Im to impatient for that to get peak preformance results .

Been working alot of hours so I havnt done much with the 223 Steven just slapped on a ACCU-RISER molded cheek pad for instant line of sight with the scope ,and a Remington version of the CLAW sling that I had laying around.May skip the bedding job for now and just try to work up some loads using the Barnes Varmint Grenades and thier Triple-Shock X-Bullets.Need to get in gear for those sod-poodles you know.
Well have fun with those Stevens!


shjf,

[7mmremmag1995]

i have one in 22-250 and it is a tack-driver

[Deersniper]

If it is a center feed, with the mag in the stock and measures 4.4" between action screws, you may have to wait for a while for a stock. Choate and a couple of others are working on a stock for them. You could call Savage and see if you could get a Savage model 11 thumb hole vented stock for it. They will fit.

[Zen900]

Originally Posted by shjf

sell33 hope his rifle shoots well if not thier easy and fun to tinker with.

Zen900 was the trigger a SAV-1 or the SAV-2, was looking at the SAV-2 myself just because I could crank it down to 4oz. for target shooting or put her back up to 3lb. for hunting ,I know the SAV-1 just goes from 1lb. to 3lb. adjustment.Id say if your hitting a dime at 100 yards consistantly little over a 1 1/2 lbs. trigger pull is perfect for your shooting style.Hopefully I'll get this rifle to that level of preformance.

Dunno Sav1 or Sav2. Mine says range of 1.5lbs to 3lbs. I got the RifleBasix hunting trigger not the target trigger. 28ozs is as low as I will set a hunting rifle trigger. My model 200 in .270 is not the tack driver that my model 200 in .223 is. There is something special about the 22caliber centerfire model 200 by Stevens They are untouchable as far as accuracy. It's one of the best buys on the gun market today.