Stevens .223 MOD 200XP Varmint barrel

[fla9-40]

Been gone from the forum awhile, good to be back!

I have a Stevens .223 with a heavy Varmint barrel on it. I bought this from Gander Mountain that someone traded in over a year ago.
I started a thread on here awhile back but cannot find it.

This is what Savage has for this gun:
MOD 200XP 223 REM VARMINT BLK OX - Manufactured: 06/04/2009

I could not get it on paper when I bought it (about 4ft to the left and 3ft low) so I took the barrel off and put a 300 black out on it for a while.
In the interim I did a chamber cast and it appeared to be right on spec.

I just could not give up on it so I re-installed it back on its original action and just got back from the range and again it was off the paper but this time it was 3 ft. high. I have tried 3 or 4 different scopes on it also. You site down the bore and see the red dot on the paper and look up at the scope and it was only about an inch off elevation and windage was dead on!

I guess my question is instead of using this barrel for a tomato steak, what could/would it be able to re-chamber in without spending the same amount for a new rifle?

[scope eye]

Welcome back here are a few practical chambers, and some wildcats if you reload
223 AI
22-250, and 22-250 AI
220 Swift
22 BR
22-243
22X55 Swede

Dean

[Ranger3]

Sounds like a bent barrel to me, or a bedding contact point

[jonbearman]

First see if it is fre floated by sliding a dollar bill under the barrel and see if it is free all the way back to and under the barrel nut. If it is free that is not an issue. If it isn't free then you need to take a round piece of dowel with 80 grit sand paper and get to work sanding it enough so you have plenty of clearance. Then check the front base screw that holds the scope block on and see if it bottoms out before the block gets tight enough so it doesn't move. What scopes did you actually try? Then take a look at the trigger and make sure it isn't so heavy you jerk the rifle just to get it to fire.If it is an accutrigger then that solves that issue. Next is bedding,does the action move in the stock? If so it needs to be bedded. The quick trick would be to have the bore of this barrel scoped for bad imperfections. When the barrel was off did you try rolling it on a flat surface to see if it wobbles. Lastly send it back to savage and tell them you have been trying to make it shoot since you bought it and you want them to rebarrel it under warranty regardless of how old it is. This is a common problem but it does happen when they build a rifle with a bad barrel. When you look straight on from the muzzle does it look like the bore is centered.

[legi0n]

If the point of impact changed when re-mounting the barrel, it's reasonable to suspect a bent barrel or bad crown.
The cheapest course of action is to have a gunsmith inspect the barrel.

[gotcha]

Why would the barrel shoot any better if re-chambered? Judging by your description of bore sighting the barrel is bent/warped or the bore is not parallel. Try Jons idea of rolling barrel on flat surface. However, if barrel is straight and bore is not plumb you won't be able to see any run-out. Check the lands & grooves at the crown under magnification. Any burrs, flaws or imperfections can be corrected with a brass lap & 600 grit lapping compound. Otherwise send the BBL. back to Savage they have the equipment to properly diagnose your problem.

[fla9-40]

Here is what I have so far:

1) Free floating barrel: I ran a piece of .010 card stock between barrel and stock and it ran all the way to barrel nut with ease
2) Rolled the barrel on flat surface and it rolled smooth no oscillation that my old tired eyes could see.

3) The five scopes I have used (Thought there were but only 3 forgot about the Viper and Bushnell)
3a) Vortex Viper, and Crossfire II
3b) Millett LRS
3c) Simmons Whitetail Classic
3d) Bushnell (???)

4) Scope screws do not bottom out before getting tight and not protruding into the action.
5) Trigger pull is a constant 3lbs… checked with a Rifle Basic tool.
6) Looking straight on from the muzzle it look like the bore is centered as best I can tell

I plan on taking it to my smith I use and let him scope it and see if he see’s anything. I have also thought about trying it in another action just to rule out the auction which I have my doubts it’s that…

I thought about calling Savage, but have been told Savage probably would not touch it since I have done a chamber cast and taken it off the auction. But if I don’t ask, the answer is already no, right!


I do have some pic’s that I don’t know if this proves anything or not:

Chamber End Left and Right







Muzzle End Left and Right






Stock

[sharpshooter]

Your'e right.. it doesn't prove any thing other than being out of concentricity. I done the math and it only amounts to less than 1.5 moa.

[short round]

If the 300 black out shot OK, you pretty much proved its not the action. Bore scope it & problem should be obvious.

[barrel-nut]

It sure sounds like you have a bent or otherwise defective barrel. I wouldn't spend another dime trying to make it into something it's not. As expensive as ammo has become, it's not hard to waste enough $ on ammo fighting a lost cause, that you could have just bought something better. Cut your losses and buy a new or new-to-you barrel. They're frequently available at very reasonable prices here on the forum. I've been where you're at, and that tomato stake still resides on a shelf in my reloading room. I couldn't even bring myself to sell it, because I wouldn't want to pass on that kind of trouble to some other member here. But it took me wasting $200 worth of factory ammo before I finally decided to give up on a $60 barrel.

[earl39]

I agree with barrel-nut. Another thing to think about is geometry. It seems everyone has been skipping school lately. If you have to use lots of windage by whatever means then you have a useless rifle except for short range. Draw a line 2 inches long. Now draw two lines starting at two different points on that line going to either side but intersecting lets say 6 inches away. Continue the lines for another 6 inches and you see that in windage you only cross the line of sight once. If the problem was with elevation that is not a big deal as you would cross the line of sight twice with the bullet arc. Ditch the barrel and start with something good.

[barrel-nut]

When you put the 300 blackout barrel on this action, scope, and stock, did the problem go away? If so, that rules out everything but the barrel. Do yourself a favor and ditch it.

[fla9-40]

Hey thanks all for the input.... I swear I hate to give up on this!

To add to the mystery I did get a big piece of cardboard and put it on another target stand to the left of where my POA was at and it was hitting 3ft to the left and about as high but did group @ about 1 MOA or less????

The 300aac did very well in this action as asked above....

[tomme boy]

Put the barrel back on and send it back to Savage and tell them how it is shooting. They will probably replace the barrel. Don't mention anything about the barrel being pulled by you.