New Stevens (Savage) 200 Series - any tips

[TDC]

I looked at two new Stevens 200 rifles today in .30-06 and 22-250. The chain store has put them on sale for $278 each out-the-door, no sales tax in this state.. This rifle is a very basic model using the Savage 110 action and barrel. The guns lacks an easily adjustable trigger and both have a synthetic stock. I'm a left eye dominate right-hander who shoots left handed. The rifle isn't available in a left hand bolt in this particular model but the price is so attractive I could shoot it lefty anyway...

These new guns are priced at about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of other rifles in these calibers from Savage, Remington and Ruger.... They would be the perfect "keep behind the PU seat- beat around utility rifles" if they are any good. I need to make a decision in the next few days. If anyone has anything they can provide or suggest for this model I'd sure love to hear it....

I already own a Savage 110 left hander in .338Win Mag and it's a great shooting rifle.... If these compare at all they are a super bargain....

Thanks!

TDC

[exile]

I had a Savage left-hand heavy barrel model in .223 (law enforcement model or something). It was very accurate, more so than the Ruger my buddy had paid 2-300 more for. The only drawback and the reason I don't regret selling it was it had a terrible trigger (this was in the pre-accutrigger days) I would highly recommend Savage rifles, but would want to spend the extra money for the Accu-trigger. Just my two cents worth.

exile

[Bullshop]

If you buy a Stevens mod 200 be sure to get the correct bases for it. It is not the same as a 110 action.
The 110 action uses a round bottom front base and a flat bottom rear base.
The Stevens 200 uses the same base front and rear, both round bottom.
Just a little heads up to prevent frustration. Save your frustration for the humor and off topic forum's political discussions.
BIC/BS

[softpoint]

The Stevens 200 rifles are a very good bargain. I have friends that have them , and they are always accurate and trouble free. The triggers are stiff, but they can be worked on, or replaced. I just bought two of them. Academy Sports here in Texas didn't sell as many as they thought would during Christmas and had a real buy on them. Only had 2 calibers available, a .270 and 7-08, so I got one of each. I've only shot them a very little ,but the accuracy seems consistent with the other folks that have them. They are also very easy to change the barrel out on if you decide at some point you want a different caliber.:coffee:

[Johnch]

I put a Bold ( Sp) trigger in mine , made the trigger 100% better and replaced the stock

But it was a decent shooter as it left the factory

If you plan on changing the barrel
Savage is putting a thread sealer on the barrel threads

Heating the barrel / action with a heat gun makes taking the original barrel off LOTS easyer

My 30-06 shoots better than expected

But the action normaly is wearing a 338/06 barrel

John

[softpoint]

I think some of the newer 110's and 10's use the same bases as the Stevens, be a #46 Weaver on both the front and rear, and yes, most/all of the pre-accutrigger 110's used a flat rear .:coffee:

[mooman76]

I bought one 2 years ago in 308 at a pawn shop for $225. I've always wanted a 308 and it looked bran new and I even asked him why it was so cheap. Anyway I couldn't pass it up so I put a scope on it and sited it in on two shots. I know it wasn't the gun even though it does shoot good. It just struck me odd because I have never sited in a gun taht quick before.

[Bullshop Junior]

I have one in 7mm/08. I would not trade it for another. I also am right hand but left eye dominate, and shoot left hand. I have a Simmons 3-9 (The same kind that the savage package rifles come with) on mine, and have no trouble shooting it. The rifle is the most accurate center fire rifle I have ever had. My 3 brother have several, in 223 and 243, and they all shoot excellent. There is no better gun for the price. Also, that price is below distributer price. Must be old stock.

[azrednek]

The Stevens 200's are a terrific bargian and shoot just great right out of the box. I have two of them and will likely have a third before the year is over. The 200's stocks are a bit cheezy and the trigger leaves a little to be desired but a brand new, accurate center fire rifle for under 300 bux is a near steal.

I'm really surprised the custom and hobbyist rifle builders don't use the Stevens 200 more often with the easy changing barrels. Why fool with a Mauser? With the Stevens one doesn't have to spend a small fortune on special tools to remove and install the barrel or pay somebody to do it for them. Don't have to tap and drill for scope mounts or bend bolt handles. A custom build usually requires a new trigger. A Bold or Timney trigger for the 200 can be purchased for about the same cost as a Mauser.

I built a 458 Winnie from a Stevens 300 Win Mag and I'm going to live with the factory trigger. Not counting the 30 minutes or so I worked on the mag and rails and 10-15 minutes opening the barrel channel the whole project was basically drop-in and everything was done the same day. Shaw barrel kits for the Stevens/Savage are blued and come with a barrel nut wrench and head space gauges.

In my neck of the woods via Davidson's Gallery of Guns. The 200's price has creeped up a bit over 300 but are still dirt cheap.

[TDC]

WOW!! Great replies, guys! I appreciate each and every one of them...

I'm going to buy one tomorrow and maybe two (If my wife will let me.. she can be a mean woman..) The store chain that has them in Oregon at that price is BiMart if anyone else is interested. They have a "stock on hand" sale that deducts $30 from all long guns in stock ( I don't think they realized the percentage discount for these guns is much higher than their $700 and $800 guns).

Their normal selling price for this rifle is $297. That actually makes the out-the door price $267. Apparently the 200's are available with camo stocks for about $40 more but they don't have any in stock.. Bullshop Jr., these are models without the scope package if that makes a difference in the distributor pricing you m mention.

All they have at the local store for calibers are 22-250 and 30-06. They may have other calibers at other stores... I don't know if they'll ship or not if anyone happens to be interested. They have stores all over the Pacific Northwest.

I checked the Savage website a few minutes ago. The retail price of Savage bare actions alone (w/ Accutrigger) is well over $400 each...

Thanks for all the "heads-up" on the barrels, mounts, stocks and other good tips. I'll be back for more good advice when I start to put them together... Those ornery coyotes are going to be in big trouble..:-D

Terry

[softpoint]

Academy was selling thiers for 199 plus tax, here in texas that made it about 216.50 out the door. That is why I wound up with two of them. Daughter's boyfriend got one too, We discussed the fact that you can't hardly find an old worn out military bolt gun for that, or a bare action, either. My plan is to rebarrel them sometime in the future, since I already have Rem. 700's in both those calibers.(.270 and 7/08) Or, as good as they shoot so far, rebarrel the Remmy's!( I do wish one of mine was a .22/250)
It is even easy to change to a different casehead size, as you can replace the bolt head. :coffeecom

[gds]

I have one in .308. It is my hunting rifle. The trigger does have an adjustment on it, but you do have to be careful. Its not an accutrigger. But after adjusting it and then polishing the trigger sear engagement, the trigger pull is good at 4 lbs on a RCBS scale.

The one thing is the adjustment screw can be adjusted too much and the striker fall when the bolt is closed. I had this happen one time while testing. Thankfully I had it pointed downrange at the time but it scare the snot out of me. I backed off the screw and tried it several times to make sure that it would not happen again.

Took 2 bucks with it this year.

8 pointer
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j243/gdsjr/hunting/8point.jpg

10 pointer
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j243/gdsjr/hunting/10pointbuck001_640x480.jpg

[gds]

Also the barrel is easy to change if you remember they do use some type of locktight. I actually crushed the receiver after fighting for days to get the barrel off. It took a lot of patience and time to get it straightened back out, but it has fired well over 200 rounds since then with no affects and getting Sub 1MOA groups with my reloads.

[StarMetal]

Do the current Stevens have the old style barrel nut with the slots or did they change them over to the smooth collar like on the new Savages?

Joe

[gds]

my barrel nut had slots requiring the special wrench I got from brownells.

[StarMetal]

my barrel nut had slots requiring the special wrench I got from brownells.

How long ago did you purchase the rifle? Looking online on the Savage site the Stevens nut looked smooth. Doesn't matter really, if I get one and it's smooth I'll just use a pipe wrench and buy the regular nut and use my Savage wrench to put it back on. Just wondered is all.

Joe

[MT Gianni]

My 223 is a shooter with the rough trigger as mentioned.

[Bullshop Junior]

Do the current Stevens have the old style barrel nut with the slots or did they change them over to the smooth collar like on the new Savages?

Joe
Joe,
We have 5 of the Stevens, and they all have the old style nut. 2 of them have the old style trigger, the other 3 have the old style trigger, but without the travel ejustment

[softpoint]

Just checked, both of mine have the slotted nut. Lots of possibilities, the 270 is a long(110) action, the 7/08 is a short(10) action. They have a tan colored stock. :-)

[gds]

How long ago did you purchase the rifle? Looking online on the Savage site the Stevens nut looked smooth. Doesn't matter really, if I get one and it's smooth I'll just use a pipe wrench and buy the regular nut and use my Savage wrench to put it back on. Just wondered is all.

Joe

Bought mine 2 years ago

[azrednek]

Do the current Stevens have the old style barrel nut with the slots or did they change them over to the smooth collar like on the new Savages?

Joe

Thr barrel wrenches that come in the Shaw brand kits for Savage/Stevens are double ended and will do either type of barrel nut.

[StarMetal]

Thr barrel wrenches that come in the Shaw brand kits for Savage/Stevens are double ended and will do either type of barrel nut.

I have a double ended barrel wrench, one is for the old original barrel nut type and the other end is for the slotted one. So you saying the Shaw one has the new spanner type because that's what the new nut take, it's not slotted, has a hole in it.

Joe

[azrednek]

I have a double ended barrel wrench, one is for the old original barrel nut type and the other end is for the slotted one. So you saying the Shaw one has the new spanner type because that's what the new nut take, it's not slotted, has a hole in it.

Joe

Joe I'm sorry but I don't know. I have my kit buried deep in the back of my vault. Guess if somebody else doesn't chime in here
I'll see if I can dig it up and post a picture.

[Three44s]

Three types of nuts:

The U shaped notch

The square notch

And the smooth nut

The most common Savage nut wrench is made double ended for the U shape and the square shape.

I would join this web site:


http://savageshooters.com/SavageForum/

These folks can don't seem to run out of answers when it come to products of Savage Arms.

Enjoy

Three 44s

[canyon-ghost]

What I've been hearing from shooters that own them is that the trigger is a little stiff but, they're accurate enough to be worth buying.

Ron

[TDC]

Well.... "He who hesitates is lost..." I got to the store bright and shiny this morning and both the 200s ( a 22-250 and a 30-06) I was interested in were gone. I ended up buying a Marlin XL-7 they showed me in .270. Wish they would have had another in 22-250.

It seemed like a very reasonably priced rifle too for what it is. I'm going to post another request for info on it in this section.

Great discussion in this thread and thanks to everyone for their advice and input.

[Lloyd Smale]

i bought one of my grandkids one for christmas. A 243. Havent shot it yet though