Stevens 200 7mm 08 to 284 win

[Hillbilly327]

Hi,

For several reasons I am going to re-chamber or re-barrel my Stevens 200 7/08 to .284 Winchester. I already have the dies, brass, bullets and a Win 100 in 284 and love the cal. I am building a light nasty wx stalker. I would appreciate any ideas on methods and sources. I am quite handy with weapons and have repaired many for my friends and built about a dozen ARs. Questions: Will the bolt work since the rim size is the same though the 284 is rebated. Is there a source to rent the vice and barrel nut tool? Where is a good source to get a decent hunting taper barrel? I have found two sources to rent the reamer and gauges. Is this something a handy person can do ( I rechambered 6.8 SPC to SPC II in the past which was minor reaming but 7/08 to 284 also appears to be minor).

Thanks for your help.

Roger

[stangfish]

Bolt will work. How much cash do you want to spend on a barrel. if you plan on doing a chamber on your own you might want to do your homework. Snipers hide gunsmith topics might be a good place to start.

[J.Baker]

There are two problems with trying to rechamber a factory barrel to another cartridge.

1. On factory barrels the taper starts immediately at the end of the shank threads. This makes it impossible to set the barrel back at all.
2. Cutting the new chamber square and true is very difficult as you have nothing to guide the reamer until it gets up into the old chambers neck/throat area. This typically results in an egg shaped chamber.

[Hillbilly327]

Thanks--what I was thinking about keeping the reamer centered. I have a local gunsmith, if I buy the reamers, who will do the job for me for $80. If I can find a good hunting barrel for under $300, I will probably do that and sell the 7/08 barrel. I will eventually add a barrel for an 8mm/284 or something like that for elk and moose. I currently use a 325 WSM Camou Win 70 but want to go to one basic rifle with one really nice scope--if I find that the barrel change and head spacing are relatively easy.

[Hillbilly327]

Good news is that I found a nice 284 Win barrel on line. It is a 20" Shaw with a matte finish. Perfect for hunting. With the incredible help of Jim from Northland and his barrel nut wrench, it was a snap to install. I cannot say enough good things about the help and service from Northland. They are my go to guys for any future needs.

[65impala]

Sweet! That should be a good hunting combo, any pics?

[Hillbilly327]

She shoots pretty well--just under 1/2 inch at 50 yds. I will glass bed the stock and then work up a good hunting load. I will be happy with a 1 inch group at 100. I will be using 139 Grain Hornady's at about 2900 fps. I do not know how to upload a pic.

[Hillbilly327]

Had her under 1/2 at 50 yds with 55 and 56 gr of H4350. Finished bedding and put her back together. Shot her at loads between 55 and 56 gr at 100 yards and best group was about 4 inches! I am thinking of taking her down, re-torque barrel, check bedding, replace scope mounts with one piece, and upgrade the rings. Or, it could be the Nikon pro staff BDC ? Any ideas

[JW]

Did you bed any in front of the recoil lug?
If so, you might remove that so barrel is free floated all the way to the front of lug and try some groups
Also insure that the tang is free floated
You probably already know all this, (it was first to come to mind when I read your post)
Good luck
Thanks
Jack

[BillinWI]

Hi, I registered here awhile back but don't recall if I've posted before. I currently own three Savage rifles and they are certainly a lot of fun to work on and shoot.

Did you bed the area under the tang? If so, I would recommend to remove the bedding in this area and ensure the tang is floating.

This made a large difference with a 110 L/H I had installed an Adams and Bennett 7x57 barrel on a few years ago. Initial groups after bedding a new stock were only so-so. I made the mistake of bedding the tang. Once the tang was floated, groups sank immediately. With 139 Hornady SPTs it will put 3 shots under an inch at 100 yards consistently.

[Hillbilly327]

I removed the glass in front and to both sides of the lug. Now barrel is floated up to the lug. I put on a one piece scope mount and will try to get out this week to see if the groups are tighter. Thanks for the information!

Roger