I need help with a rifle decision as I'm in over my head.
The problem is a while back I bought a Stevens 200 in 22-250. I bought it on a whim in while walking through the local gunshop. I have since become hooked on getting it to shoot as accurate as possible.
This is a new thing for me and I'm not sure where to go.
I don't have a ton of cash to blow so I've pretty much went as cheap as possible. I bought a Bushnell banner 6-18X50 for it. I bought a cheap reloading kit from Lee.
It shoots good. I consider good an average of about 1" at 100 yards. I would like to shrink the groups more.
I feel I've found a good consistent load for it and now think that the rifle itself is what is holding me back. I've noticed some things that I need to do to it.
First of all the stock which is made of plastic seems a little soft and when I rest the rifle on the forestock, either on bags or bipod, it contacts the barrel and I lose consistency and POI changes.
Second the sporter barrel gets hot very quickly. I can't put 3 shots through it before it gets hot and needs to cool. The barrel also seems to copper foul quite quite quickly.
Third the trigger pull is fairly high. Even with tweaking it still hovers around the 4.5lb mark. The good part is there is almost no creep.
Lastly I have concerns that the cheap scope may not be up to par. I have the mounts and rings tight but I still seem to be adjusting it every 50 shots or so.
As far as I'm concerned the rifle is good for what I paid for it but it just isn't quite suited for what I'm looking for. I could put some good hard work into it and some money and get it to where I want it to be or I could sell it and start over.
I admit that In my short time shooting rifles that I have not cared too much on accuracy. I have just started getting into long range varmint shooting and precision target shooting and am finding I'm way over my head.
What do you guys think?
The problem is a while back I bought a Stevens 200 in 22-250. I bought it on a whim in while walking through the local gunshop. I have since become hooked on getting it to shoot as accurate as possible.
This is a new thing for me and I'm not sure where to go.
I don't have a ton of cash to blow so I've pretty much went as cheap as possible. I bought a Bushnell banner 6-18X50 for it. I bought a cheap reloading kit from Lee.
It shoots good. I consider good an average of about 1" at 100 yards. I would like to shrink the groups more.
I feel I've found a good consistent load for it and now think that the rifle itself is what is holding me back. I've noticed some things that I need to do to it.
First of all the stock which is made of plastic seems a little soft and when I rest the rifle on the forestock, either on bags or bipod, it contacts the barrel and I lose consistency and POI changes.
Second the sporter barrel gets hot very quickly. I can't put 3 shots through it before it gets hot and needs to cool. The barrel also seems to copper foul quite quite quickly.
Third the trigger pull is fairly high. Even with tweaking it still hovers around the 4.5lb mark. The good part is there is almost no creep.
Lastly I have concerns that the cheap scope may not be up to par. I have the mounts and rings tight but I still seem to be adjusting it every 50 shots or so.
As far as I'm concerned the rifle is good for what I paid for it but it just isn't quite suited for what I'm looking for. I could put some good hard work into it and some money and get it to where I want it to be or I could sell it and start over.
I admit that In my short time shooting rifles that I have not cared too much on accuracy. I have just started getting into long range varmint shooting and precision target shooting and am finding I'm way over my head.
What do you guys think?
