Stevens .223 review

[jsthntn247]

I got a stevens .223 a few weeks ago. Before I ever shot it, I removed the trigger, bedded the action, reinforced the stock with two steel rods and devcon, and duracoated the action, barrel, and stock. Getting the trigger back on turned out to be a little harder than expected but I did manage ( will not try again). Also if you bed one, the action sets higher and you have to adjust the box magazine so it feeds properly. I finallly got it assembled over the weekend and took it out with a few handloads. I used 69gr matc kings and 25, 25.5, and 26.0 grains of Varget. I seated five shots at book max COAL and then five at .015 off lands for each powder charge. The first group came in just shy of .5 inches and clocked in at 2880 fps. I couldn't believe it because none of my guns shoot that well. Next, I shot the 25.0 group loaded to .015 off lands. To my disbelief the group measured .27 inches with an average speed of 2940. The 25.5, and 26.0 groups both were over 1" so they were ruled out. I loaded up 20 rounds and went back out and shot another group around .25". I moved back to 400, adjusted my scope up 7 moa, and fired three rounds on my steel target.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy293/jsthntn247/2231.jpg
TO SAY THAT I AM HAPPY WITH MY SUB 300 DOLLAR STEVENS WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

[r29l20]

Gotta love them rifles. :)

[wigoschnig]

Hi,
I am gong to try to reinforce my composite Savage stock as you did. Can you tell me how rigid you believe your forearm now is? Can you give me a step by step procedure that you followed? Also, how did you specifically adjust your magazine for the increased height of your receiver? Did you fill the forearms nooks and crannies? How much heavier is you rifle now?

Best regards, John

[jsthntn247]

I got one 5/16" steel rod and cut it to fit the stock. I dremmeled out the stock down the edge on either side for the rods to set in. Where the sling stud comes up, I had to grind the rod down to fit around it so the rod would go to the forend. After getting the rods set, I sanded the smooth inside of the stock down with the dremmel. I then applied jb weld over the rods and smoothed it out as best I could. After that dried, I bedded the action with Devcon. I have a centerfeed magazine that stays in the stock so I took it out. The magazine has a metal clip on the rear side of it that sets over the rear action screw. After bedding, this clip will not fit. Here is where the real technical engineering comes in. I cut the off top part of the clip ( right in the bend) with a dremmel. The magazine fit, but would not cyle ammo because without the clip, it set too far down in the stock. I then got sand paper and cut it out to the shape of the bottom of the clip and set layers of the sandpaper in the bottom of the stock until the clip was high enough and would cycle ammo. The clip is actually a hair to high rigt now and will catch the ammo after it is fired causin it not to eject. All I need to do is remove one layer of sandpaper to get it just a little lower where the ejecting brass will not catch the tip of the clip after fireing. Hope this helps. You can find details on how to bed a Savage on snipershide gunsmithing section, it is a sticky on the top of the page. I found a link on this site that described how to cut the metal clip on the stock after bedding. The sandpaper was all my idea ;D. The gun is not heavy enough now and I plan on adding some lead bass weights and expanding foam in the but stock.

[GaCop]

Excellent work and ingenuity!

[thomae]

Ignorant question here:
I am afraid I don't understand why the action now would sit higher in the stock?
I thought bedding (in essence) only filled the existing nooks and crannies so that the action sits in a perfect 3 dimensional mirror of itself so that it (the action) can't move relative to the stock.

When one beds the action, doesn't one tighten the action screws to pull the action into the same position it was prior to bedding?

Perhaps I am missing something. I thought I understood bedding (although I have NOT actually done it myself) and want to make sure I truly do understand so when I do, I don't make mistakes.

Thanks in advance for your patience.

[jsthntn247]

Make sure you read the entire post on Snipershide about bedding rifles. It shows pics of allot of guns and explains some of the differences in them. The first part explains why you don't tighten the action screws, because it might induce stress. Basically, you just want to line the ejection port where it is level with the stock along the side, making sure the tang is still floated. You do this by adding tape around the barrel. The tape also floats the barrel. My barrel, like allot of Stevens, was contacting the stock at the left tip. After bedding it in this manner, it was centered in the stock and floating to the barrel nut. Before bedding, the ejection port was setting below the stock and the barrel wasn't floating all the way. Ligning the port up raised the action just a little and caused the feeding problem.

[thomae]

jsthntn247 :
Got it. Thanks for your patience and a good explanation.
All the best,

[dfwbob]

I have two of the Stevens 200's in .223 one is center feed the other is stagger feed. The center feed shoots better for some reason. I really like both of them. The stagger feed was a little under $ 300.00 and the center feed was under $ 200.00, both were new in the box. The only thing I did to them was add new triggers.

Thanks for the range reports and the loading data.