Xzuatl
Senior Member
I just bought a new Stevens Model 200 in .308 from CW Barret. This is going to be a project gun for me so I promised I would chronicle the progress here.
I am very happy with it. The weight and ergonomics are excellent. It comes to the shoulder nicely. The trigger is great, no creep, breaks clean, but it is a tad heavy though it can be adjusted. The factory stock on the Stevens has a hollow butt with a square of styrofoam in it. I pulled that out and filled it with a liquid spray foam. The fore end has a little play in it, but not unusable. The barrel is fully free floating. I am going to take it to the range this weekend to do a short barrel break in and then get a accuracy base line. Next comes Pahse II, bedding the action, lightening the trigger, adding a limbsaver pad, bondo-modding the stock, and doing a camo job. Pics will accompany the post as soon as I get to it.
5/17/08
I scoped it with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40 and slinged it Saturday and headed off to the range.
I fired 50 rounds breaking in the barrel, getting it zeroed, and trying out some 150 and 180 grain winchester soft points. The rifle is pretty light, so the recoil and muzzle jump was pretty severe, my shoulder was killing me by the time I shot my 5 round group. You can see the result of my flinching with shot #3. The heavy trigger was also a problem. The trigger and the flinching became clearly apparent when I unknowingly attempted a shot without a round in the chamber. I was amazed at how badly I was yanking the shot. I was shooting off of my rolled up soft rifle case at a range table, so I was muscling the rifle while aiming to boot. Anyway here is my 5 round group using federal gold match 168gr bthp at 100 yards, cross winds about 8 mph..
This rifle is much better than I am, I cant wait to mod it up .
05/22-23: Taking the plunge.
I decided to add some support to the fore end, so I cut an aluminum arrow, and screwed it into place on both sides. This will also give the bondo something to hold on to.
I also put in some screws for weight and support on the cheek rest.
Next comes the bondo. I clamped a wooden flat wrapped in wax paper to the bottom of the fore end to help shape the bondo.
Saturday, I will file, sand, and shape it all, added filler where needed. So I will either have a nice modded stock this weekend, or I'll be ordering a new one.
05/29/08
I have finished the rough sanding, now just have to fill in some gaps and fine sand. I put some more aluminum rods with bondo in the well on the interior of the stock.
06/06/08
Finished sanding, primed (Rust-Oleum Plastic primer) and painted the stock. Painted the base layer of the barrel and receiver. I used brown Rust-Oleum MultiColor Textured spray paint. I have used Rust-Oleum before on project rifles and it really holds up well. I sprayed a light coat and then let it cure, then repeat. Next task it to prep the stock for bedding.
Notice the modded bedding screws (hex nuts minus the hex) to allow a nice seating for the bedding.
Two picks of the bedding prep work and a dry run. The tape around the barrel is to make sure that is stays fully floating.Hopefully one bedding run will do the trick.
And now a pic of the finished bedding pre-trim. I used J BWeld since it was readily available for the bedding and the neutral kiwi was an excellent release agent. With the bedding looking good, I used the rest of the J BWeld in the well in front of the lug to help give the stock some more support.
And now the finished product! I used Krylon Satin Crystal Clear Acrylic spray for a tough finish.
I am very happy with it. The weight and ergonomics are excellent. It comes to the shoulder nicely. The trigger is great, no creep, breaks clean, but it is a tad heavy though it can be adjusted. The factory stock on the Stevens has a hollow butt with a square of styrofoam in it. I pulled that out and filled it with a liquid spray foam. The fore end has a little play in it, but not unusable. The barrel is fully free floating. I am going to take it to the range this weekend to do a short barrel break in and then get a accuracy base line. Next comes Pahse II, bedding the action, lightening the trigger, adding a limbsaver pad, bondo-modding the stock, and doing a camo job. Pics will accompany the post as soon as I get to it.
5/17/08
I scoped it with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40 and slinged it Saturday and headed off to the range.
I fired 50 rounds breaking in the barrel, getting it zeroed, and trying out some 150 and 180 grain winchester soft points. The rifle is pretty light, so the recoil and muzzle jump was pretty severe, my shoulder was killing me by the time I shot my 5 round group. You can see the result of my flinching with shot #3. The heavy trigger was also a problem. The trigger and the flinching became clearly apparent when I unknowingly attempted a shot without a round in the chamber. I was amazed at how badly I was yanking the shot. I was shooting off of my rolled up soft rifle case at a range table, so I was muscling the rifle while aiming to boot. Anyway here is my 5 round group using federal gold match 168gr bthp at 100 yards, cross winds about 8 mph..
This rifle is much better than I am, I cant wait to mod it up .
05/22-23: Taking the plunge.
I decided to add some support to the fore end, so I cut an aluminum arrow, and screwed it into place on both sides. This will also give the bondo something to hold on to.
I also put in some screws for weight and support on the cheek rest.
Next comes the bondo. I clamped a wooden flat wrapped in wax paper to the bottom of the fore end to help shape the bondo.
Saturday, I will file, sand, and shape it all, added filler where needed. So I will either have a nice modded stock this weekend, or I'll be ordering a new one.
05/29/08
I have finished the rough sanding, now just have to fill in some gaps and fine sand. I put some more aluminum rods with bondo in the well on the interior of the stock.
06/06/08
Finished sanding, primed (Rust-Oleum Plastic primer) and painted the stock. Painted the base layer of the barrel and receiver. I used brown Rust-Oleum MultiColor Textured spray paint. I have used Rust-Oleum before on project rifles and it really holds up well. I sprayed a light coat and then let it cure, then repeat. Next task it to prep the stock for bedding.
Notice the modded bedding screws (hex nuts minus the hex) to allow a nice seating for the bedding.
Two picks of the bedding prep work and a dry run. The tape around the barrel is to make sure that is stays fully floating.Hopefully one bedding run will do the trick.
And now a pic of the finished bedding pre-trim. I used J BWeld since it was readily available for the bedding and the neutral kiwi was an excellent release agent. With the bedding looking good, I used the rest of the J BWeld in the well in front of the lug to help give the stock some more support.
And now the finished product! I used Krylon Satin Crystal Clear Acrylic spray for a tough finish.
Last edited: