Help on Stevens 200 Rebarrel job - please

[Brem]

Hello All,
New here and this is my first post. I need help and wanted also to share some of my trials and tribulations.

I have owned several savages from an old J series single shot in 25-06 to an early 110FP 308(most accurate rifle I have ever owned) and in 2001 bought one of the first model 16s in 300 WSM. I decided to build a 6.5 WSM on a Stevens 200 that came in .243. The barrel is a 24" #1.5 contour chromemoly blue Shilen pre threaded and chambered(small shank) and went on wonderfully easy .I ordered the magizine parts, WSM bolt head, and a set of go no gages. well as we all know the CRF bolthead wont work in the PF stevens right, learned that to use it I would need the standing ejector in the reciever.
So now what well i call SSS and they tell me that I need a LA Magnum bolthead, so i order it. Weeelllll that one is to long , learned that. So I call Scott Null at S&S Gunsmithing for help. He says that Savage has now gone away from the CRF bolthead for the WSM and it is now PF. he had one and I ordered it. Well that one wont work either. Am I correct that I would need a new firing pin as well as baffle?
Long story short I have three different boltheads(out $100), none of which will work. Then I found this site!!!!! From you fine people I found out that by shortening the LA Magnum BH shank .190" that my problems are solved and I can finally get this project finished. Please respond if I am correct here.
My goal here is to have the perfect dual purpose light weight hunting rifle. It will sit in a Lone Wolf stock with Burris optics. Weight with that and a full mag is just over 7 lbs. I hope to drive the excelent high BC 6.5 140's @ 3100-3200fps, 130's @ 3200-3300, and 120's @ 3300-3400 fps. Those should cover every thing from varmints to moose.

[EFBell]

Yes, they did do away with the CRF bolt design with the centerfeed magazine. If your stevens has a stagger feed magazine you will need the CRF bolt head and the standing ejector etc. If it were me I would just look for an early WSM rifle and build it from there. For 12 bucks you can join the site, find what you need in the classifieds and sell what you don't need in pretty short order.

FYI, I built a 257WSM on a model 16 WSM action and it's my go-to deer rifle now. A wicked fast round that is shooting 110's at 3400+ FPS. I think you will find the 6.5 to very intersting.

[EFBell]

Oops, I see you already have the barrel so a large shank action would not help you. Sorry.

[Brem]

That is correct. Barrel is on and headspaced with my go no-go gauges. I did the bolthead work today, shaving of the .190". Went together perfectly. Was worried about FP protrusion so i tested on a primed case and all is good.

[EFBell]

Good deal, let us know how it shoots and I'm particularly interested in load data and velocity.

[Dano5001]

That is correct. Barrel is on and headspaced with my go no-go gauges. I did the bolthead work today, shaving of the .190". Went together perfectly. Was worried about FP protrusion so i tested on a primed case and all is good.

Can you give me more detail on shaving the bolt, I am considering a WSM build on a short stevens 200, Did you use a lathe? I have a small metal lathe and basic skill with it, any pics of the modified bolt?

any help is appreciated

[Brem]

Nothing that fancy, I used a bench grinder, file, some fine emery cloth and a buffing wheel. There are several photos on this site that show a comparison of short action, long action magnum and a shortened long action magnum.