# Stevens Model 200 .308 project with pics (56k beware)



## Xzuatl

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.


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## SnowHunter

Can't wait to see how it turns out! Sounds very much like what I did when I had my Stevens 200 in .25-06


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## Xzuatl

Updated with a range report


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## SnowHunter

Looks like a shooter!!! 

I filled the stock on the one I had with bondo to help the weight thing. But, when you pull the trigger on a deer, ya probably won't notice the weight, although it'll be easier on ya off the bench with more weight.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

Looks like you are on your way. I forgot to tell you to get a LIMBSAVER recoil pad. I did the same thing as you on my first range trip. Bruised my should up and had a hard time getting her sighted in. I too was flinching horribly. That hockey puck of a factory pad is a bruiser. You'd of thought that .308 was 300 WinMag when you squeezed one off. A LimbSaver took care of that problem. 

I just ordered a three screw trigger from Northland Shooters Supply - Maple Grove, MN. I hope to get it installed very soon. I also wanted to offer to you the use of my barrel wrench if you need to change barrels. 

I look forward to seeing your mods. Mine is still factory but I'd love to mod mine as $$ allows.


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## Xzuatl

Her1911 said:


> Looks like a shooter!!!
> 
> I filled the stock on the one I had with bondo to help the weight thing. But, when you pull the trigger on a deer, ya probably won't notice the weight, although it'll be easier on ya off the bench with more weight.


Yup, it's amazing for the price. 



SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> Looks like you are on your way. I forgot to tell you to get a LIMBSAVER recoil pad. I did the same thing as you on my first range trip. Bruised my should up and had a hard time getting her sighted in. I too was flinching horribly. That hockey puck of a factory pad is a bruiser. You'd of thought that .308 was 300 WinMag when you squeezed one off. A LimbSaver took care of that problem.
> 
> I just ordered a three screw trigger from Northland Shooters Supply - Maple Grove, MN. I hope to get it installed very soon. I also wanted to offer to you the use of my barrel wrench if you need to change barrels.
> 
> I look forward to seeing your mods. Mine is still factory but I'd love to mod mine as $$ allows.


I had every intention of getting a limbsaver, just wanted to see what the stock Stevens would do. And boy did I.  I will probably leave the stock trigger during phase two. It feels great, just heavy. I know it can be adjusted to be lighter, hopefully that will be enough.


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## Xzuatl

Updated with bondo extravaganza.


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## SnowHunter

Xzuatl said:


> Updated with bondo extravaganza.



 omg, you put it on the outside?  well thats unique to say the least 

I put mind on the inside of the fore end and buttstock. I'm very interested to see how it looks when you're done filing and sanding it down!!


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## BookHound

That is certainly an interesting approach.  For the check piece I favor using an Eagle stock pack.  It is very easy to "shim" it to raise the level if needed.  The pack also is very much more comfortable on which to rest your check instead of a hard stock.  In the zippered compartment I keep various dope cards, a lens pen, a small all-weather writing pad, small calculator and an all-weather pen.

This is a cheaper version of the stock pack from Blackhawk.  I very much prefer Eagle as I think they are better made, but these are okay too and nearly identical.





Mark


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## Xzuatl

Her1911 said:


> omg, you put it on the outside?  well thats unique to say the least
> 
> I put mind on the inside of the fore end and buttstock. I'm very interested to see how it looks when you're done filing and sanding it down!!



Hopefully it will look similar to this.


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## Xzuatl

BookHound said:


> That is certainly an interesting approach.  For the check piece I favor using an Eagle stock pack.  It is very easy to "shim" it to raise the level if needed.  The pack also is very much more comfortable on which to rest your check instead of a hard stock.  In the zippered compartment I keep various dope cards, a lens pen, a small all-weather writing pad, small calculator and an all-weather pen.
> 
> Mark



I actually thought about a slip on, but since I already have the bondo, and plan on doing a most excellent camo job, I figured it would take away from the 'look' I was going for.


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## SnowHunter

Xzuatl said:


> Hopefully it will look similar to this.



ohhhh, nice!!  good luck with that


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## delta708

sweeeeeeeeeeeet!


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## bighonkinjeep

There are a lot of complaints about the flex in savage factory stocks. The flex point seems to be right in front of the recoil lug. It probably wouldnt hurt to extend the stiffening rods well past this point on the next one. Dont forget to bed the action and free float the tang. This is what will really help in the accuracy dept.Devcon plastic steel works great for bedding synthetic stocks and kiwi neutral shoe polish is the preferred release agent. It should look good when finished but bondo is a lotta work.


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## Xzuatl

bighonkinjeep said:


> There are a lot of complaints about the flex in savage factory stocks. The flex point seems to be right in front of the recoil lug. It probably wouldnt hurt to extend the stiffening rods well past this point on the next one. Dont forget to bed the action and free float the tang. This is what will really help in the accuracy dept.Devcon plastic steel works great for bedding synthetic stocks and kiwi neutral shoe polish is the preferred release agent. It should look good when finished but bondo is a lotta work.



I just finished up the rough sanding so now I need to added filler for a few gaps\pits and then fine sand. I will be bedding the action and will most likely extend the devcon past the lug nut into bottom of the stock channel. This will hopefully also cut down on any flexing. The bondo was not that hard to deal with. I used a high tooth steel file and it really made short work of it.


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## SnowHunter

Wow! Lookin good so far! Thanks for keepin us updated


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

Man that project is coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to the finished project.

I wish Hogue would get there proverbial finger out of their arses and make a Overmold stock for the tens of thousand of Savage 10/110's that are out there.  Someday I'd like to get a Bell and Carlson .


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## Xzuatl

SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> Man that project is coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to the finished project.
> 
> I wish Hogue would get there proverbial finger out of their arses and make a Overmold stock for the tens of thousand of Savage 10/110's that are out there.  Someday I'd like to get a Bell and Carlson .



Thanks, I can't wait to get done with it. If I am lucky I can find about an hour to work on it on any particular day, gotta finish the honey do list first. When I decide to upgrade to a heavy barrel I will get a nice stock that won't need the bondo treatment.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

Xzuatl said:


> Thanks, I can't wait to get done with it. If I am lucky I can find about an hour to work on it on any particular day, gotta finish the honey do list first. When I decide to upgrade to a heavy barrel I will get a nice stock that won't need the bondo treatment.



We're on the same page there too. When I 'upgrade' to a heavy barrel, I'll upgrade the stock as well. But for an out of the box accurate gun, I don't think you can beat the deal of these Savage/Stevens M200's. 

I added the three screw trigger the other night that I ordered from Northland. It took all of 15 minutes and WOW what a difference.  This is my  deer rifle so I'll keep it plain and ready for service. I do want to put some kind a 'coating' on it tho. Maybe Alumahyde


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## Xzuatl

Update: Finished the sanding and base painting.


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## SnowHunter

WOW! That looks AWESOME!!   What kinda paint did you use on the rifle? You did an awesome job!!!


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## Xzuatl

Her1911 said:


> WOW! That looks AWESOME!!   What kinda paint did you use on the rifle? You did an awesome job!!!



Thanks! I used Rust-Oleum MultiColor Textured spray paint. I used a primer on the stock that is made for plastic, the barrel\receiver I just degreased and sprayed as is. This is the first time using this flavor of Rust-Oleum, but I like the effect. The technique I use is to do several thin layers and give each enough time to cure.

I have two more colors to add, but they will go on once I have the rifle reassembled.


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## Xzuatl

Update: Finished the bedding prep, bedded the rifle and will let it sit over night.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

That thing is coming to life. That paint looks great. I used it on the stock of my 110 30-06.

I'm leaning toward Aluma Hyde in dark gray to paint my .308 I'm hoping to do it this summer.


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## Xzuatl

SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> That thing is coming to life. That paint looks great. I used it on the stock of my 110 30-06.
> 
> I'm leaning toward Aluma Hyde in dark gray to paint my .308 I'm hoping to do it this summer.



The hard part (the bedding) is now done. The tricky part will be the camo scheme. The multi color paint (brown w/ honey flecks)  I choose looks great as a single color, but now I worry that the other two colors (green and tan) with the honey flecks will make it look too washed out. I have do a test run on a sheet of ply and I think I have a plan. Normally I used pretty narrow bands of different colors to make a pattern, but I think big blobs ala US Army woodland camo will look great. We shall see....


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## Xzuatl

Well I am done.  I plan on putting more detail into the first post, but that will have to wait a bit. Anyway here is the before:








And after...


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

WOW! That turned out AWESOME!  Now that is an inspiration for me to get to work on mine. I look forward to seeing your next range report after that bedding and added weight. BTW have you weighed it? I'd be interested in how much weight you added to it.

OK so when dou you want me to drop mine off for her transformation .

Good job. A big thumbs up.


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## Xzuatl

SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> WOW! That turned out AWESOME!  Now that is an inspiration for me to get to work on mine. I look forward to seeing your next range report after that bedding and added weight. BTW have you weighed it? I'd be interested in how much weight you added to it.
> 
> OK so when dou you want me to drop mine off for her transformation .
> 
> Good job. A big thumbs up.



Thanks! It was much easier than I expected. I hope to get to the range sometime this week to give her a test run. Also, I haven't weigh it yet, but it felt about 2 lbs heavier.

And you had  better hold on to your rifle, I don't plan on doing this again for a while.


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## SnowHunter

WOWOWOW!!!  That rifle looks awesome! Ya did a GREAT job X!!  I'll be interested to hear how it shoots with the added weight.


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## Xzuatl

Her1911 said:


> WOWOWOW!!!  That rifle looks awesome! Ya did a GREAT job X!!  I'll be interested to hear how it shoots with the added weight.



Thanks. I'll be hitting the range Saturday and will post a range report.


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## Xzuatl

I finally got out to the range Monday to try out some 150gr Remington core-lokts PSPs and some 180gr Winchester Super X soft points. I had a heck of a time at the range nothing was shooting anything close to a good group. The 180s were just horrible, sometimes being on target sometimes falling 3 inches low. Eventually I figured out what was going on: gusting 12 - 13 mph *tail winds*. 

So I had to decide whether to shoot while the wind was blowing or not. 80% of the time the wind was blowing so I choose to take the chance.

Here is the Remington Core-Lokt group.

[
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





And the Winchester..






Looks like the Remy 150s win this round. I think I will focus on 150s for the next round.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke

Super Sweet with those Remmy Core-Lokt 150 PSP's as factory ammo and a sweetened up Stevens 200. 

If you get into re-loading you'll be able to find the right powder combination with those 180gn loads. Until then I'd just keep trying other factory loads to see what else she like to eat right off the shelf.  I like simplicity, on a hunt you can't pack up your reloading bench and take it with you and if you travel there's always a big chance your ammo will get 'lost in transit". So what do you do then? Your then off to the local gun shop to buy some new ammo. Knowing that your rifle likes an 'off the shelf' flavor is reassuring and trusting that  the manufacturer's tolerances in production will give you the confidence to make a purchase then check and tweek zero will let your hunt continue without worrying about where it's gonna hit when you do your part squeezing the trigger. (Dang that sounded like a commercial  )

You've just got to love it when that kind of performance comes at a such a low cost as well as the improvements at your own hands. 

That, my friend, is satisfaction


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## SnowHunter

looks like it prefers those 150's!!  Hopefully next time it aint so windy, but its nice to see that kinda group in not so good conditions


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## bighonkinjeep

Looks like meat in the freezer to me.You might try some 165/168gr bullets when ya get a chance.. My 1-10 twist .30s love em. How much difference did the wire make for ya?


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## Xzuatl

bighonkinjeep said:


> Looks like meat in the freezer to me.You might try some 165/168gr bullets when ya get a chance.. My 1-10 twist .30s love em. How much difference did the wire make for ya?



I have some 168gr federal sierra game kings to try out next range session. I want to get some barnes triple shocks  to go along with them. Blackhills and cor-bon make 168s and federal makes a 165. I have never tried blackhills. I used 150gr sp cor-bons in my sks to take my 1st whitetail. Federal has always been good to me. So I guess it will a toss up as to what I pick next.

The new wire spring worked out great! It really lightened up the trigger and took that issue out of my accuracy equation. I think the trigger now almost the perfect hunting trigger. It has a tiny bit of creep, but I like to think of it as an added safety feature.  I may get a SSS trigger in the future, but it wont be out of necessity.


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