Talley lightweight mounts on a Stevens

[68injunhed]

Anyone using the light Talley mounts, the ones with the mount and bottom ring half made as one piece? Any issues with the mounting holes in the top of the receiver lining up properly?

I use those on my Vanguard, and love them, so I was wanting to get some for this rifle as well, as long as the QC is there on the mount location.

[82boy]

I use them on my guns and I love them. No problems but all my actions are T&Ted

[johnnyrambo]

+1 on the Talley mounts. They have been great so far on my 7mm WSM. 200 rounds or so.

[68injunhed]

Good deal. Like I sad, I have them on my .243 Vanguard, and they are great, just wasn't sure how reliable the drill\tap versus the bore axis was on a rifle this inexpensive. I didn't want to have to crank 30-40 MOA to get it shooting straight.

Never owned a Stevens before, but the trigger was beyond simple to modify, and I think it is at least as nice as my Vanguard now. I spent about another $20 in paint and epoxy to help the stock look and function better, and from what I've read about the inherent accuracy of the design, I can't wait to get some glass on this thing and see what it will do. I grabbed one of those ridiculously priced 7mm-08's from Academy. Hell, you can't hardly buy a decent .22LR for $180, much less a CF rifle.

[johnnyrambo]

My Talley mounts are on a Savage rifle in 7mm WSM. I needed very little adjustment to dial in a zero and have maintained it through one and half "rough and tumble" hunting seasons.

Like you, I also bought one of the bargain Academy/Stevens rifles in .270. The Talleys were not available so I tried the DNZ Game Reapers in one piece. I don't think they look as good as the Talleys, but they seem to be very stout and were spot-on with very minor adjustments required to achieve zero.

The fact that both rifles were spot-on using this type of mounting system is an endorsement of the quality control at Savage. Of course, YMMV.

I would not hesitate to use either again and recommend both.

[68injunhed]

Good to hear the positive experiences with the QC on the receiver holes.

I'm bidding on a Nikon Team Primos 3-9x40 to sit in some Talley's. Should be a deer slaying machine! ;D

[68injunhed]

WooHoo! ;D

Won a NIB Nikon Team Primos 3-9x40 for the 7'08. I can't imagine better glass for it for $200 shipped. Even with a set of Talley's I'll have a complete rifle for about what I gave for a bare Vanguard. And no I'm not cheap, but I am frugal. 8)

[johnnyrambo]

That's exciting stuff! A quick reminder on the Talley Mounts: make sure the front-most mounting screw seats properly in the action. The screw can and will bottom out into the barrel threads before tightening properly on the mount. Check the clearance first and shorten the screw length if necessary.

[68injunhed]

Will do, thanks for the heads up. I'll measure the thread engagement without the mount in place, take some other measurements, do some math, and make sure I have a couple pitches of clearance at the bottom. Is it just the very front most screw that can be the problem child? Or is it both of the front screws?

[johnnyrambo]

My experience is that the front-most screw only is the problem child.