build a stephens 200 vs. factory rig

[Crosby]

I've narrowed my caliber down to .308, now I need to decide on a rifle.
At first I was looking at a tikka t3 and weatherby vangaurd...then I came across the "long range rifle on a budget". What would be a better choice? Will a built stephens shoot better than a factory tikka or weatherby? Also what kind of groups does the stephens 200 shoot out of the box? Thanks

 

[liltank]

It's hard to say what any of them are going to shoot out of the box. Some are extremely good and others are very poor. But I think you'll find that a Stevens will produce at least .75" groups or less with the proper ammo. If you hand load, it won't be an issue. If you are strictly store ammo, then it might take a little to find what it likes to shoot. Once you find it, you will know. The stocks are flimsy in the for-end, but you can stiffen them up or just replace it with an aftermarket stock to your liking. If you don't want to build it, look at the Mod 12VLP, or the Tactical Mod 10 series rifles. There is nothing more satisfying than building a rifle on your own and having it perform. A built rifle in my opinion will definitely out shoot any other rifle out of a box. Tikka's and Weatherby's are pretty good rifles, but even they need some tuning up sometimes. I like building the Savage/Stevens rifles now that I know how. It's very simple. Mine shoots .25MOA to 800 yards very consistently and sometimes smaller if the nut behind the trigger stays tight!

Tank

 

[Centxshooter]

Your are heading the right direction the rifle it self will serve for hunting until you start collecting your add-ons. All of my Steven's I threw the stock as far as possible and stocked them in Boyd's. Bed the action, and installed Rifle basix triggers.

My son has laid claim to my 7-08 build

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/savage-vs-stevens-actions-81345/

 

[Crosby]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like the stephens is the way to go, I'm a hands on kind of guy and really interested in getting into gunsmith type work so this should be a good learning project for me. I've learned a lot already from this site so far, looking forward to learning a lot more.

 

[BenY 2013]

I think I would build my own it is very satisfying, frusterating at times but well worth it in my opinion! Also pretty simple if you've got the right tools!