I would only suggest up-modelling within the Savage line as Jerry says. There is no guarantee that a $1300 Remington will shoot better than a $350 Stevens - none, especially if you are using factory ammo.
Stevens 200 in .223
- Thread starter FlyingHigh
- Start date
I would only suggest up-modelling within the Savage line as Jerry says. There is no guarantee that a $1300 Remington will shoot better than a $350 Stevens - none, especially if you are using factory ammo.
Sorry, but what you really need to do is adjust your expectations.
Standing straight up a gopher is 2 - 2.5" wide. Laying down it's 2 - 2.5" tall. Depending on it's orientation, that means aiming at it's center of mass leaves you with only an inch in either windage or elevation before it's a miss. You could have a $10,000 full on custom and still not be able to hit gophers at 500-600 meters. You would need a rifle that shoots less than 1/4 MOA, a high quality (ie: very expensive) scope, and a whole lot of skill to do that. Undoubtably you'll come across people on the net claiming they can hit gophers at 500 yards with their 22LR, iron sighted Cooey during an extreme wind storm, but that doesn't make it true.
Buy the Stevens and a good quality scope. Try your hand at bedding the rifle or pay a smith to do it for you over the winter. As the budget allows, upgrade the gun (trigger, stock, optics, barrel). In the meantime, practice shooting, developing loads and enjoy nailing gophers at 200-300 meters.
Standing straight up a gopher is 2 - 2.5" wide. Laying down it's 2 - 2.5" tall. Depending on it's orientation, that means aiming at it's center of mass leaves you with only an inch in either windage or elevation before it's a miss. You could have a $10,000 full on custom and still not be able to hit gophers at 500-600 meters. You would need a rifle that shoots less than 1/4 MOA, a high quality (ie: very expensive) scope, and a whole lot of skill to do that. Undoubtably you'll come across people on the net claiming they can hit gophers at 500 yards with their 22LR, iron sighted Cooey during an extreme wind storm, but that doesn't make it true.
Buy the Stevens and a good quality scope. Try your hand at bedding the rifle or pay a smith to do it for you over the winter. As the budget allows, upgrade the gun (trigger, stock, optics, barrel). In the meantime, practice shooting, developing loads and enjoy nailing gophers at 200-300 meters.
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- Location
- Grande Prairie, Alberta
thanks for all the advice folks. i think i wil go with the stevens, that way i can practice my gun smithing without the worry of screwing up an expensive gun. i do have some questions regarding terminology i don't understand. bear with me, as i'm pretty new to the whole gun upgrading/modification process.
MOA - does this mean Minute Of Adjustment? what exactly is it?
bedding the action/barrle nut - what is it and how do i do it?
free floating - what is it and how do i do it?
tuning trigger - i'm guessing this relates to how much pressure is need to pull the trigger. how do i go about tuning one?
opening forend - mysticplayer mentioned this, i don't fully understand what he means.
OAL - what is this? i'm guessing it relates to the size of the cartridge.
inserts on rings - what is meant by inserts? are these a line that sit between the ring and scope to reduce impact?
thanks alot for the info. it's real useful.
i may have to try and find some junker rifles to try some of this stuff on. i have yet to read mysticplayer's articles, but are there other links/sites that have a "how to" section of this kind of stuff?
MOA - does this mean Minute Of Adjustment? what exactly is it?
bedding the action/barrle nut - what is it and how do i do it?
free floating - what is it and how do i do it?
tuning trigger - i'm guessing this relates to how much pressure is need to pull the trigger. how do i go about tuning one?
opening forend - mysticplayer mentioned this, i don't fully understand what he means.
OAL - what is this? i'm guessing it relates to the size of the cartridge.
inserts on rings - what is meant by inserts? are these a line that sit between the ring and scope to reduce impact?
thanks alot for the info. it's real useful.
i may have to try and find some junker rifles to try some of this stuff on. i have yet to read mysticplayer's articles, but are there other links/sites that have a "how to" section of this kind of stuff?thanks for all the advice folks. i think i wil go with the stevens, that way i can practice my gun smithing without the worry of screwing up an expensive gun. i do have some questions regarding terminology i don't understand. bear with me, as i'm pretty new to the whole gun upgrading/modification process.
MOA - does this mean Minute Of Adjustment? what exactly is it?
bedding the action/barrle nut - what is it and how do i do it?
free floating - what is it and how do i do it?
tuning trigger - i'm guessing this relates to how much pressure is need to pull the trigger. how do i go about tuning one?
opening forend - mysticplayer mentioned this, i don't fully understand what he means.
OAL - what is this? i'm guessing it relates to the size of the cartridge.
inserts on rings - what is meant by inserts? are these a line that sit between the ring and scope to reduce impact?
thanks alot for the info. it's real useful.
Get your Stevens and then tackle one job at a time starting with a good scope. That way you can also guage the impact of the work. Some things are very easy, others are a little more involved , but none are hard. As you do them guys here will give you all the info you need.
Maybe trigger adjustment, bedding, stock improvements in that order , followed by a nice paint job. Thats before rebarreling or other jobs involving parts replacement.
- Location
- Grande Prairie, Alberta
can't make the link work. yes, i typed www instead of 3w...
that's kind of my plan now. i'm thinking of a Bushnell 3200 10x40mm tactical style. wholesale has them for around 260 bucks. would this fit the bill?
http://bushnell.com/general/riflescopes_elite3200_32-1040m.cfm
Actually thats what I put on mine. I think its pretty good for a mid level optic. Good reviews etc . I like the reticle and brightness. Solid as a rock with a great warranty. Quick adjustments are easy to accomplish with it. You could spend more (and maybe you should), but for a beginner or anyone else the Stevens and the scope are 2 keeper pieces of gear IMHO. If I ever shoot beyond 500m or so maybe more magnification would be in order, but for now its good. I put medium weaver grand slam steel rings on it. I like the rings but they are a little low. I will likely use those on a hunting rifle and put high GS rings on instead. good luck
BTW my 3200 was $244.00 at Italian in stock
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Suggest a Nikon Buckmaster 4X14 or 6x18 side focus, Bushnell Elite 4200 4x16 or 6X24 w/mildots. All of these are around the $400 new and used.
The Elite 4200 tactical is a nice scope that has many features you can grow into. The Elite 3200 10X is a workhorse but you will soon outgrow the lower mag and resolution. This scope should cost around $225 (frontier taxidermy and the many mail order houses carry this)
There are lots of used scopes that will give you great performance for the money. You don't need to spend thousands but getting into the $400 to 500 range will give you a scope that can last a lifetime. Read my LR articles in my sig line.
You might find it useful to read through the many posts in this and other sections like the OPTICS section. Your questions will get answered and you will also gain insight into a whole bunch of other areas.
don't worry that it takes a while to get a handle of all this. It has been over a decade for me and I am still learning.
Best thing is to get a rifle, some Win varmint ammo (white box bulk) and get shooting. Save the brass and reload. Might surprise you how well this ammo works in your Stevens.
Bedding is critical and if you don't know what it is, best left to a gunsmith. Same goes for trigger tuning. There are lots of info on 6mmbr and savageshooters that can help fill the gaps. You want the action to be level and unstressed when the action screws are hand tightened. The bedding under the barrel nut helps support the weight of the barrel off the action. The recoil lug should be fully bedded to ensure it cannot move in any direction during firing (most often done wrong in my opinion).
MOA is a measure of group size vs distance. Simple terms, 1min or MOA is equal to 1" at 100yds, 2" at 200yds, etc. We use it to give an idea of group size, and scope adjustments.
Free floating the barrel is ensuring that it cannot touch the forend during firing. The bigger the gap the better with these plastic stocks if left unreinforced. Think 3/16" gap between barrel and stock.
You get this gap by putting some coarse sandpaper around a big dowel and sanding the forend channel larger. Just keep removing stock along the sides of the barrel.
Visit Burris optics and look a their Sig rings. They have eccentric plastic inserts that can be used to shim the scope to aid in LR shooting and windage adjustment. I use these rings exclusively cause they work, give me lots of options in set up and never marks your scope (more technical stuff here for a later time).
OAL is indeed the overall length of the cartridge. Get a reloading manual and read through the intro and all this will come clear. Reloading is the single best way to get the best accuracy out of your rifle.
How's that for a start?
Jerry
The Elite 4200 tactical is a nice scope that has many features you can grow into. The Elite 3200 10X is a workhorse but you will soon outgrow the lower mag and resolution. This scope should cost around $225 (frontier taxidermy and the many mail order houses carry this)
There are lots of used scopes that will give you great performance for the money. You don't need to spend thousands but getting into the $400 to 500 range will give you a scope that can last a lifetime. Read my LR articles in my sig line.
You might find it useful to read through the many posts in this and other sections like the OPTICS section. Your questions will get answered and you will also gain insight into a whole bunch of other areas.
don't worry that it takes a while to get a handle of all this. It has been over a decade for me and I am still learning.
Best thing is to get a rifle, some Win varmint ammo (white box bulk) and get shooting. Save the brass and reload. Might surprise you how well this ammo works in your Stevens.
Bedding is critical and if you don't know what it is, best left to a gunsmith. Same goes for trigger tuning. There are lots of info on 6mmbr and savageshooters that can help fill the gaps. You want the action to be level and unstressed when the action screws are hand tightened. The bedding under the barrel nut helps support the weight of the barrel off the action. The recoil lug should be fully bedded to ensure it cannot move in any direction during firing (most often done wrong in my opinion).
MOA is a measure of group size vs distance. Simple terms, 1min or MOA is equal to 1" at 100yds, 2" at 200yds, etc. We use it to give an idea of group size, and scope adjustments.
Free floating the barrel is ensuring that it cannot touch the forend during firing. The bigger the gap the better with these plastic stocks if left unreinforced. Think 3/16" gap between barrel and stock.
You get this gap by putting some coarse sandpaper around a big dowel and sanding the forend channel larger. Just keep removing stock along the sides of the barrel.
Visit Burris optics and look a their Sig rings. They have eccentric plastic inserts that can be used to shim the scope to aid in LR shooting and windage adjustment. I use these rings exclusively cause they work, give me lots of options in set up and never marks your scope (more technical stuff here for a later time).
OAL is indeed the overall length of the cartridge. Get a reloading manual and read through the intro and all this will come clear. Reloading is the single best way to get the best accuracy out of your rifle.
How's that for a start?
Jerry
- Location
- Grande Prairie, Alberta
thanks. interesting how most of them are UK based eh?
sounds pretty good. so you suggest i get a gunsmith to do most of the work on my rifle? i'll have to find one that'll let me watch while they do it, since i'm the kind of guy that would rather do it myself, than pay to have someone else do it for me. i've printed out your articles and will give them a good read.
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Winter is the best time to shop around for a gunsmith to do the bedding job (or any work IMO). They're pretty busy during the nice weather/hunting season and they are more likely to exercise their finicky attention to minute detail and give out a good price for "easy" work when they aren't swamped with impatient shooters who all want their guns back ASAP.
Search and read up on what's involved in doing the work yourself. If it's something you think you can tackle, then consider giving it a try. The knowledge you gain might also help you select a good smith. Speaking of, if you have to ship the rifle to get it to a good smith, you should consider doubling-up on the work being done (ie: bedding and lightening the trigger) because postage+insurance isn't cheap anymore.
Search and read up on what's involved in doing the work yourself. If it's something you think you can tackle, then consider giving it a try. The knowledge you gain might also help you select a good smith. Speaking of, if you have to ship the rifle to get it to a good smith, you should consider doubling-up on the work being done (ie: bedding and lightening the trigger) because postage+insurance isn't cheap anymore.
- Location
- Virden, MB
I've posted this before but this is my groups on my Stevens 200 in 223. Completely factory except I bedded the action and re-inforced the stock and painted it. Not too shabby for a $300 rifle with a $100 optics.
I too bought my Stevens 200 for a "project" gun, the only thing i have done is bed it and mount a Bushnell 3200 10X on it and it shoots so well i will leave it as is for a while.
Im thinking a BC stock, SSS Trigger, and Kreiger 7 twist barrel will dress it up one day.
I plan on using it on a few coyotes this winter while its still easy to carry.
Im thinking a BC stock, SSS Trigger, and Kreiger 7 twist barrel will dress it up one day.
I plan on using it on a few coyotes this winter while its still easy to carry.
