.308 Stevens 200?

.308 Stevens 200 Worthwhile?

  • Yes - Works fine out of the box - Just add optics.

    Votes: 92 56.8%

  • Yes, but needs tweaking to be ideal.

    Votes: 42 25.9%

  • Okay, but you get what you pay for.

    Votes: 20 12.3%

  • Stinking excrement, nearly as poor as Norincrap.

    Votes: 8 4.9%
  • Total voters
    162
nelly

nelly

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I know, it's probably been beaten to death, but I have never had any luck with the search function, so apologies in advance....

I have just started to "need" an inexpensive but reliable .308 rifle. I am intrigued by the interweb reviews of the Stevens 200, as is seems to fit the precise bill (No fancy bells and whistles, but WORKS)...

Looking for Canuckians who have actually used one, to chime in as to whether or not I have to start new negotiations with the Chief Financial Officer of my household...

Merci!
 
If I bought a new one I'd get it glass bedded, trigger done and something done to the forend to stiffen it before even shooting it.

Add a set of Weaver bases, Burris Zee rings and a used Bushnell 3200 3x9 from the EE and you're good to go.



.
 
Adjust the trigger, bed the action and tweak your handloads. Down the road you may want to swap out the stock. Being that it is a SA you have a lot of stock options, so find what you like.
 
I adjusted the trigger as much as I could but would like it lighter and less creep so I'm looking for a piece of .045" spring wire and I'll do a bit of fitting on the trigger one of these days. I plan to stiffen the forend by epoxying in a piece of 3/8 keystock, the forend is so flexible that if the the shooting rest is at the front of the forend I can see the crosshairs move down as I start to pull the trigger.

But I still think it is a good rifle for the money.
 
My kid has one and its OK. Of course, for the money, its a nice rifle and very accurate. Can't like how it looks but its his 'beater' anyhow. There's really not much competition for it in that price range? I haven't heard a lot good about the ATR. Maye just the XL7 can compete with the 200 in the price bracket?
 
I've got one in 22-250, lightened the trigger, bedded it, scoped it and it shoots under 1" with cheap winchester white box ammo all day long.

I would not hesitate to reccomend these rifles for someone on a budget.
 
I've had a 223 and now have a 7mmRm in the Stevens 200. I think I would like a 7mm-08 for a light hunting, tracking, bush pushing, treestand gun. Something that I am not worried about scratching or dropping, but will still hit hard and be reliable. I have a 3x9 Bushy 3200 lying around that would top it off well.
 
I have owned a bunch of them, three in 308. They all shot very, very, well, right out of the box.

Still own one in 308, and been tempted to bed it, but it shoots close to minute of angle all the way out to 300 meters, so why bother? :D

Ted
 
I had one in 308 and it was great. Just lighten the trigger add optics and go. The stock was pretty crappy. I sold it and bought one in .223.
 
whats this norincrap business ?

anyways, yeah ive got a 200 in .308 .. epoxy a couple carbon fiber or steel arrow shafts into the forend of the stock and dig them into the front pillar ( to stiffen up the front end ) , and a good bedding and it will improve it by miles. ( not that it isnt already a fine firearm out of the box )
cheap to do also
 
My Stevens 200 in 308 is under an inch at 100, no modifications.

Steel rings & bases.
Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40

Worth EVERY penny!!!

Cheers
Jay
P.S. My wife has the SAME setup, just in 243...
 
Fenix.NZ said:
whats this norincrap business ?

Ah, allow me to elucidate: Norinco, in my experience with three of them, sells nothing but rusty wheel barrows turned into guns, which don't work out of the box, never work any better after modifications, and yet allegedly work well for some people out there. I have a three strikes rule, and as I have been disappointed by Norinco on three occasions, I like to try to warn my shooting brothers and sisters to stay away from them - based on my experience. Strangely, the chinese budget guns have this weird, cult like following, and I have been labeled a racist, an elitist, a gun snob, a liar, and all sorts of other things for daring to question the quality of the pieces of poo that I have owned / tried that were stamped with the North China Industries logo. I guess I should have drunk the packet of melamine-laced kool-aid that came in the package with the 1911A1, THEN I would have been a believer.... :bsFlag:

Sorry: I digress!

I was hoping that the Stevens had a better quality rating than Norinco, and this seems to be the anecdotal evidence coming from my poll here.

Thankyou all, for your input! :wave:

Neal
Click to expand...
 
My 9 yr old can shoot 2" groups at 300yds with his Stevens 200 in .243.

He has a VXI 4x12x40 Leupold on it. The only thing we did is camo his stock.

I don't think we will sell that gun any time soon.
 
thats fair enough. my experience with norinco has been at the opposite end of the scale to yours.

3x M14s and 3x 870 knock offs all functioned flawlessly and were very accepting of modifications
all of them at a fraction of the price of their springfield and remington counterparts.

i guess thats where the cult following comes from.


but for your main question.. the stevens 200 is worth the money. good little rifle



nelly said:
Fenix.NZ said:
whats this norincrap business ?

Ah, allow me to elucidate: Norinco, in my experience with three of them, sells nothing but rusty wheel barrows turned into guns, which don't work out of the box, never work any better after modifications, and yet allegedly work well for some people out there. I have a three strikes rule, and as I have been disappointed by Norinco on three occasions, I like to try to warn my shooting brothers and sisters to stay away from them - based on my experience. Strangely, the chinese budget guns have this weird, cult like following, and I have been labeled a racist, an elitist, a gun snob, a liar, and all sorts of other things for daring to question the quality of the pieces of poo that I have owned / tried that were stamped with the North China Industries logo. I guess I should have drunk the packet of melamine-laced kool-aid that came in the package with the 1911A1, THEN I would have been a believer.... :bsFlag:

Sorry: I digress!

I was hoping that the Stevens had a better quality rating than Norinco, and this seems to be the anecdotal evidence coming from my poll here.

Thankyou all, for your input! :wave:

Neal
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Fenix.NZ said:
thats fair enough. my experience with norinco has been at the opposite end of the scale to yours.
Click to expand...

Ah, jolly good that they've worked for you; I have never said that it CAN'T happen, I have just been absolutely amazed by the fervent folk who poo-poo my opinion based on a three for three failure rate, and my buddy who had similar experience, and all the people who are having Norc/Grizzly shotguns fall apart on them as being HERETICS!

It's kinda funny, really! People get oh-so-defensive about their Norcs here, dunno what it's like in the antipodes?

Based on my reading of the interweb juju, I would extrapolate that about 75% of people have positive experiences with Norinco products, and I was just plain dumb unlucky. That said, 1/4 failure rate is still far too high - And I am glad to hear that the Stevens rifles are NOT in this kind of statistical world.

I buy my jeans at costco for $17, and my shoes at wal-mart for $11, so I am certainly all about spending reasonable amounts of money, as long as the product works, no matter where it comes from...

I think I'll be perusing the riffel shoppe's wares today....

Cheers! :cheers:
 
after seeing how well my 22-250 shoots (5 under an inch at 200yrds) and my friends 223, i'm considering one in 308 as well.other than the "standard complaints" about the stock and trigger, i honestly can't say a bad thing about them, especially for the price
 
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