Finally had a chance to get to the range with some glass mounted on the 300F short barrel Stevens in .22 today. I just wanted to let folks know how they shoot, and some of the issues you may encounter when mounting a scope.
Unfortunately, the rifles don`t come with Savage supplied bases, so you have to get your own. Acceptable Weaver bases are as follows:
Weaver 12, height 0.155 for diameter 0.925
Weaver 24, height 0.271 for diameter 0.900
Weaver 68, height 0.399 for diameter 0.916
With the Stevens receiver diameter at 0.920, I opted for the thicker Weaver 68 bases. When mounted, although thick, you still have a sighting picture over the bases to see the front and rear sights. One problem though, is the screws that come with the bases are too long, and interfere by protruding into the bolt way in the receiver, and not allowing the front base to tighten properly on the front of the receiver (they are blocked by the barrel). Another forum suggested using a dremel tool to reduce the length of the screws. I had never done it before but with some patience I was able to use the Dremel with the flat face of the cut off wheel to trim the length of the screws from 0.348 total length to 0.330 total length which worked well for bolt clearance on the rear, and proper tightening depth on the front.
Now on to rings. I`ve had good luck with the steel Burris Zee rings and opted for a set of medium height rings to allow for clearance of the rear sight. I was going to use a 3-9x Leupold with a 40mm diameter bell but didn`t want to have the scope too high for a proper cheek weld. Problem two was that I had forgotten that if I removed the rear sight elevator, I could have gotten away with a set of Burris low rings instead. The pic below shows about a one quarter inch gap between the front bell and the rear sight with the elevator removed.
For those of you who have had issues with bolt handle clearance on the CZ and Norinco copies, and have had to use high or extra high rings, it is not necessary on the Stevens and you can pick something more suitable (and comfortable) for shooting. This pic shows the healthy clearance available.
Well, on to the range with my 300F - set up at 50 yards I was pleasantly suprised with the results. Although battling a gritty, creepy trigger with about a 6 pound pull, I was able to produce these groups with inexpensive ammo:
Average groups were in the one and a quarter to one and a half inch range, however the Winchester 333 hp ammo went five eighths inch for it`s best, followed by the Win Wildcat and Fed 525 at one inch. The Win 37 grain hp regular box ammo went 1 and 1 eighth inch best for the day. I think with a better trigger and some playing with the bedding this rifle could shoot even better. The hang tag states from the manufacture that the accuracy should be acceptable at a 25 yard range and the rifle was designed for ``trapper`` work. Hopefully you won`t be put off by that tag and do purchase one of these fine rifles. They certainly hold their own in the accuracy department while wearing a sporter weight barrel.
My 300F and 305F were purchased at Gagnon Sports near me in Oshawa. The fellows were nice enough to order some in, as well as offer me my pick of the litter to choose from. They even sent me home with an assortment of screws to get the base screw length issues sorted out.
The .22 performed flawlessly for firing, feeding and ejection during the range test. Even got some looks from some folks on the firing line. There were no hiccups feeding hollow point ammo whatsoever.
Now, I`ll flip the scope and rings onto the 305F in .22WMR for next week - should have a range report for you then.
Back from shooting this week, the 305F checked out well, with groups as good or better than the 300F above. The CCI 40 grain JHP were preferred over the Winchester JHP and FMJ ammunition as the groups show here. These are at 50 yards with the same Leupold 3-9x mounted in medium Burris steel rings. With number 12 Weaver bases, this worked very well for clearance with the 40mm objective.
Feeding was good for the most part, but as mentioned with other posters, once in a while when a mag was inserted, it took a wiggle or two to seat the mag in the mag well properly. Aparently a bend of the mag tab forward will fix the issue.
As for today, I went to check out some other rifles and decided I would buy another Savage mark 2 G to switch the stock for my synthetic off of the 300F. With ordering one from the States and getting the trigger guard and screws for it, I though this would be easier. In the middle of the swap, I noticed that there were no differences in the two receivers and the accutrigger was interchangable with the Stevens 300F. So, below there is a pic of my new assembly, 300F in a Savage mark 2G stock with accutrigger. This should be easier to glass bed the action and wring out some more accuracy from the package. I`ve posted the donor Savage on the EE - it`s new in the box except the trigger and synthetic stock off of the Stevens.
Unfortunately, the rifles don`t come with Savage supplied bases, so you have to get your own. Acceptable Weaver bases are as follows:
Weaver 12, height 0.155 for diameter 0.925
Weaver 24, height 0.271 for diameter 0.900
Weaver 68, height 0.399 for diameter 0.916
With the Stevens receiver diameter at 0.920, I opted for the thicker Weaver 68 bases. When mounted, although thick, you still have a sighting picture over the bases to see the front and rear sights. One problem though, is the screws that come with the bases are too long, and interfere by protruding into the bolt way in the receiver, and not allowing the front base to tighten properly on the front of the receiver (they are blocked by the barrel). Another forum suggested using a dremel tool to reduce the length of the screws. I had never done it before but with some patience I was able to use the Dremel with the flat face of the cut off wheel to trim the length of the screws from 0.348 total length to 0.330 total length which worked well for bolt clearance on the rear, and proper tightening depth on the front.
Now on to rings. I`ve had good luck with the steel Burris Zee rings and opted for a set of medium height rings to allow for clearance of the rear sight. I was going to use a 3-9x Leupold with a 40mm diameter bell but didn`t want to have the scope too high for a proper cheek weld. Problem two was that I had forgotten that if I removed the rear sight elevator, I could have gotten away with a set of Burris low rings instead. The pic below shows about a one quarter inch gap between the front bell and the rear sight with the elevator removed.
For those of you who have had issues with bolt handle clearance on the CZ and Norinco copies, and have had to use high or extra high rings, it is not necessary on the Stevens and you can pick something more suitable (and comfortable) for shooting. This pic shows the healthy clearance available.
Well, on to the range with my 300F - set up at 50 yards I was pleasantly suprised with the results. Although battling a gritty, creepy trigger with about a 6 pound pull, I was able to produce these groups with inexpensive ammo:
Average groups were in the one and a quarter to one and a half inch range, however the Winchester 333 hp ammo went five eighths inch for it`s best, followed by the Win Wildcat and Fed 525 at one inch. The Win 37 grain hp regular box ammo went 1 and 1 eighth inch best for the day. I think with a better trigger and some playing with the bedding this rifle could shoot even better. The hang tag states from the manufacture that the accuracy should be acceptable at a 25 yard range and the rifle was designed for ``trapper`` work. Hopefully you won`t be put off by that tag and do purchase one of these fine rifles. They certainly hold their own in the accuracy department while wearing a sporter weight barrel.
My 300F and 305F were purchased at Gagnon Sports near me in Oshawa. The fellows were nice enough to order some in, as well as offer me my pick of the litter to choose from. They even sent me home with an assortment of screws to get the base screw length issues sorted out.
The .22 performed flawlessly for firing, feeding and ejection during the range test. Even got some looks from some folks on the firing line. There were no hiccups feeding hollow point ammo whatsoever.
Now, I`ll flip the scope and rings onto the 305F in .22WMR for next week - should have a range report for you then.
Back from shooting this week, the 305F checked out well, with groups as good or better than the 300F above. The CCI 40 grain JHP were preferred over the Winchester JHP and FMJ ammunition as the groups show here. These are at 50 yards with the same Leupold 3-9x mounted in medium Burris steel rings. With number 12 Weaver bases, this worked very well for clearance with the 40mm objective.
Feeding was good for the most part, but as mentioned with other posters, once in a while when a mag was inserted, it took a wiggle or two to seat the mag in the mag well properly. Aparently a bend of the mag tab forward will fix the issue.
As for today, I went to check out some other rifles and decided I would buy another Savage mark 2 G to switch the stock for my synthetic off of the 300F. With ordering one from the States and getting the trigger guard and screws for it, I though this would be easier. In the middle of the swap, I noticed that there were no differences in the two receivers and the accutrigger was interchangable with the Stevens 300F. So, below there is a pic of my new assembly, 300F in a Savage mark 2G stock with accutrigger. This should be easier to glass bed the action and wring out some more accuracy from the package. I`ve posted the donor Savage on the EE - it`s new in the box except the trigger and synthetic stock off of the Stevens.
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They do feed easily enough one at a time, but I was really hoping I could just keep a spare mag of them in my pocket for times when I need to shoot quietly. With CB longs, it's not much, if at all, louder than a pellet gun. 
