Stevens 555? Grouse Gun

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

Wooden

Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
23
Anyone have experience with the Stevens 555 or 555E? Is it a decent shooter, or a hunka junk? (Not talking resale/cosmetics) Looking at it as a dedicated Grouse/Woodcock gun, in 24” bbl in 20 Ga (or 16 if available).

I am amazed at the weight and felt decent in my (small) hands despite LOP being long...(which is rare most guns feel obviously too big) And with a $600 gun the idea of buying the kids size (and say If 13” LOP too short) or taking a knife to the stock - it’s less cringey than a $2k gun.

Also, FWIW my current 2 OU are Browning Cynergy’s 28” 12 ga and 30” 20 ga. I’ve never really owned a cheap gun but am open to it. Can I expect a “shooter?” Why/why not?

I think I want to try a little shorter LOP, shorter BBL, and definitely lighter for G&W hunting.... But not if the gun is going to have POI/patterning or double-fire on me or some damn thing.

Worst case if I don’t love/sell the 555 I’m out about $555, Right? Versus say I drop close to $2k on an oddball bbl micro (Kids size) cynergy, And say I want to trade in- assuming I’d lose almost as much as I would have spent on the 555... Am I right? Or looking at this from The wrong angle? Thanks!
 
Last edited:
cdb1 said:
My take is and always has been, barrel regulation is time consuming and labor intensive. I don’t know how it can be done properly at a sales price of $600.00.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was worried about that. Is this necessarily the case these days with current manufacturing technologies as well as maybe increasingly automated processes? I don’t know specifically as it pertains to guns, or firsthand; but I work in manufacturing and technologies for making parts are always improving I wouldn’t be surprised if what could be done for $2k yesteryear could be some for $600 today. But I could be wrong. And I definitely don’t have the gun specific knowledge to know.
 
I don’t know that answer but will stay with my line of thought until I see proof that it’s wrong. It would be nice if I were wrong in this instance.
 
If the gun feels so well in your hands why alter it? I have always left my guns as they came from the factory. If I wasn't happy with them I sold them but altering guns in my opinion is best left to expert shooters.
 
Frulk
For the same money my choice would be a used Browning Upland BPS with straight English stock in 20 gauge. 22-24 in barrel, screw in chokes. Opening day I use the improved cylinder choke. Rest of season Full.
Click to expand...

My idea of the perfect Upland Game pump shotgun!
 
Charlie Martinez said:
If the gun feels so well in your hands why alter it? I have always left my guns as they came from the factory. If I wasn't happy with them I sold them but altering guns in my opinion is best left to expert shooters.
Click to expand...

Point taken but say this because I am legitimately short/smaller person than the guns are designed for, for starters I am only a little over 5’ tall. But the really small “kids guns” feel too short.

I’ve had a credible well renowned instructor watch me on his range and he called my Regular Cynergy with the small pad a “90% fit”. (13.65” LOP on that gun) But this was middle of summer no layers, also Wide open sporting clays with more time, not A low flushing grouse.

By “feels good” I shoulda clarified I meant “pretty close”. This gun felt remarkably well in my hands, considering it was (most likely) too big. Most guns feel so unwieldly in my Hands it’s just hideous. So when one feels kind of okay as is, I am just short of ecstatic.
 
You guys drive a hard bargain. Never had a pump. Thought on the range it would be tough.... like to stay with the target for a second shot. But the weight, and simplicity, etc... is certainly appealing!
 
Bannockburn said “My idea of the perfect Upland Game pump shotgun!”

It really is in my estimation as well. Grouse is the only game I still hunt. Seems Americans have forsaken the straight English stocks for pistol grips. Which is a shame because guns so stocked literally fly to the shoulder.

FKr93A1.jpg

A 20 gauge BPS with the short barrel is a relatively light gun to tote in the field. For me that’s important because I have to climb from approx 4,800 feet to 7,600 feet before I’m in huntable habitat for ruffed. Spruce/blues stay up higher even through the winter. Once I broke trail on snow shoes to get there at 9,100 feet but Im never doing that again. In that particular case I carried a Huglu OU in 12 gauge with 28 inch barrels. Gun hadn’t left the safe since then.
 
Last edited:
My friend has a Stevens 555 in 410. He has shot skeet and doves with it for 3 years with NARY a failure. Barrel regulation on the pattern board is 50/50. I've been shooting a Yildiz 410 O/U for 2 years at doves and skeet. It too runs and patterns perfectly.
 
I know people who’ve had good luck with Yildiz, Stevens, CZ and Stoeger SxS’s. Which means nothing because the sample size is too small. People can argue all they want but a $600.00 semi or pump is better quality than a $600.00 SxS.
 
My favorite Grouse gun is a Remington 870 special field 20 ga fixed choke improved cylinder. First shot field load, next 2 mag 6s.
It has traveled untold miles of: popple, cedar swamps, slough's, logging roads. It has never failed me, and has taken more than it's share of Grouse and Woodcock.
 
Wooden said:
Point taken but say this because I am legitimately short/smaller person than the guns are designed for, for starters I am only a little over 5’ tall. But the really small “kids guns” feel too short.

.
Click to expand...

Savage/Stevens makes the 555 in a "compact", also with a 13.25" LOP. Might be just the ticket. Savage/Stevens makes fine moderately priced firearms for the working hunter. I have seriously considered a 555 myself as I am still using my grandpa's 80 year old model 311 in 16ga as my everyday pheasant gun. Even back then they were utilitarian field guns, not fancy, but well built and worked well. But for grouse and woodcock in tight cover it's a tad long and for the last 45 years my go to grouse/woodcock gun is a Garcia(Rossi) outside hammer coach gun with 20" barrels. IC/M choke. Short and easy to swing and handle in thick cover and hits what I point it at. Has double triggers like the 311 so I can chose choke in an instant. Being inexpensive it doesn't bother me to use it in wet weather or to push away heavy cover. Like the 311 the bluing is all but gone from the receiver where I carry it and the stock is scratched and gouged from brush and barbed wire. As for as barrel regulation.....the standard for barrel regulation is shotguns is to cross at 40 yards. Pretty dam rare for me to even get a shot at a grouse or a woodcock past 30. So the regulation is not exact anyway. The shot column from the open chokes used for grouse and woodcock at those ranges kinda makes it moot. How the shotty fits you is much more critical than exact regulation in this scenario. My only problem with the 555s is the single trigger. That's why I am considering the CZ Bobwhite instead for my next pheasant gun.
 
I saw the OPs other post about the 16 ga SxS and the first thing that popped into my head was my 20 ga Browning youth BPS with the 21” barrel. Here several of you mentioned the BPS Upland Special which (other than the straight-grip stock) is very similar.

I think it may be a sign...

Here it is next to my 18” SXS 16 ga “coach gun”. The BPS is about as compact as you can get and still have enough heft for the swing.

4245DF4F-DB11-46BF-9738-C11067A3CFFA.jpeg

Oh, and Browning also catalogued a 16 ga BPS that could be changed into a shorter-reach shotgun with a youth stock. My 16 ga BPS is a great shooter :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
Last edited:
I liked my BPS upland special.
Like to find another 20 ga, and have a Decelerator fitted.
Mine was older and didn't have the fine line "engraving". Unfortunately the last couple seen for sale had that.

Like an 870 special field too, but prices on those have gone silly.
About ready to say screw it and get a youth 870 Express and swap stock.
 
buck460XVR said:
Savage/Stevens makes the 555 in a "compact", also with a 13.25" LOP. Might be just the ticket. Savage/Stevens makes fine moderately priced firearms for the working hunter. I have seriously considered a 555 myself as I am still using my grandpa's 80 year old model 311 in 16ga as my everyday pheasant gun. Even back then they were utilitarian field guns, not fancy, but well built and worked well. But for grouse and woodcock in tight cover it's a tad long and for the last 45 years my go to grouse/woodcock gun is a Garcia(Rossi) outside hammer coach gun with 20" barrels. IC/M choke. Short and easy to swing and handle in thick cover and hits what I point it at. Has double triggers like the 311 so I can chose choke in an instant. Being inexpensive it doesn't bother me to use it in wet weather or to push away heavy cover. Like the 311 the bluing is all but gone from the receiver where I carry it and the stock is scratched and gouged from brush and barbed wire. As for as barrel regulation.....the standard for barrel regulation is shotguns is to cross at 40 yards. Pretty dam rare for me to even get a shot at a grouse or a woodcock past 30. So the regulation is not exact anyway. The shot column from the open chokes used for grouse and woodcock at those ranges kinda makes it moot. How the shotty fits you is much more critical than exact regulation in this scenario. My only problem with the 555s is the single trigger. That's why I am considering the CZ Bobwhite instead for my next pheasant gun.
Click to expand...

Glad you brought up using a Coach gun as well! I was just gonna post something go see if anyone is using coach guns on G/W as close in it just seems a bit unnecessary to have anything close to a full length barrel in close but I’ve been wrong before (it could just be that I suck at snap shooting) but the weight of MY gun is prohibitive at nearly 8 lbs... and kinda tight chokes.

I have looked at Older Savage/Stevens OU and SXS and they look heavy. But so are a lot of older American guns.
 
George P said:
For me it is a SxS with double triggers, English stock and a splinter forearm - the way upland guns should be!...............:thumbdown::D
Click to expand...
George P said:
For me it is a SxS with double triggers, English stock and a splinter forearm - the way upland guns should be!...............:thumbdown::D
Click to expand...
This is the direction I’ve been moving in.... looking at some nicer Older SXS Mostly... it’s getting expensive now lol. And they are getting nice, too nice to beat through the brush. Which may leave me still needing a cheaper gun for.... inclement weather days... scouting new areas where I could get in a rocky tangle and fall days.... etc. So it is ending up not absolving the attraction of the 555, entirely
 
Riomouse911 said:
I saw the OPs other post about the 16 ga SxS and the first thing that popped into my head was my 20 ga Browning youth BPS with the 21” barrel. Here several of you mentioned the BPS Upland Special which (other than the straight-grip stock) is very similar.

I think it may be a sign...

Here it is next to my 18” SXS 16 ga “coach gun”. The BPS is about as compact as you can get and still have enough heft for the swing.

View attachment 949940

Oh, and Browning also catalogued a 16 ga BPS that could be changed into a shorter-reach shotgun with a youth stock. My 16 ga BPS is a great shooter :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
Click to expand...
What is your coach gun? I saw a cut down to 22” ou sxs on GB or GI That I thought might be sweet. It was a nice gun too, maybe cut for cowboy shooting? But I realized the drop at comb likely too much for me. I should explore the BPS as well never had a pump and def more affordable than similar quality sxs or ou.
 
Unless you are very lucky, grouse is a 'carry much and shoot little' enterprise. And where most ruffies are found, it's a "you'll be lucky to get two shots off" enterprise. In fact, for many years, I carried a single barrel H&R 20 ga because it was light, I didn't care if it got beat up, and I rarely had a chance for more than one shot at a flush.

So, let's be clear: the Stevens 555 is not a well made shotgun. One cannot be made for the price at which it retails. And, in most cases, I would urge you to choose something more reliable.

But, as a dedicated grouse gun, it has the benefits of not being shot a great deal, of not being too precious to get beat up, of being light, and, when it breaks, of having Savage customer service. These guns are made in Turkey by KOFS. The Turkish gun industry is somewhat of an enigma wrapped in a mystery inasmuch as there are many entities, like KOFS, that are murky to say the least, it being unclear whether they are an actual manufacturer, or simply a holding company that distributes and exports guns. Nevertheless, KOFS is neither among the best nor the worst of Turkish "manufacturers" and dealing with Savage customer service takes much of the worry out of the equation.

If you like the feel of the 555 and don't intend to shoot it much (a few hundred rounds a year), it may indeed be a good choice for a grouse gun. But please do not be bamboozled into the idea that a grouse gun wants "short" barrels. 28" barrels are just right.
 
The SxS is an older Lefever Nitro Special 16 ga that originally was one of my Grandfathers 28” M-F choked turkey guns. The gun had a bad patch of pitting on the barrels near the muzzles so I had them cut down to remove the pitted area. The gun is now a cyl-cyl choke, which is fine with me.

I did use it for cowboy action shooting years ago when I tried to play cowboy, now it’s pretty much a safe queen.

High-base or magnum shells in this SxS and me don’t get along very well. I find the high barrels, splinter firearm and shallow pistol grip seem to bring the gun back and up in recoil, causing the back of my right hand to punch me in the beak a bit more than deeper pistol grips and beefier fore-end equipped guns do. The resulting flinch from the inevitable punch in the face I get isn’t pretty.

With low based game loads it isn’t as much of an issue for me. I’ve shot a few rounds of trap for fun with it, as long as I get a jump on the shot it’ll smoke the clays. After a bit of distance the choke is too open so my sparse pattern lets those clays escape.

I do gave some boxes of Federal #1 buck for it, should I be forced into a Biden-esque home defense situation it’ll be more effective than just shooting two blasts off the porch.

The BPS is a good-sized pump with bottom feeding-ejection and a tang safety. It’s perfect for both right or left handers, since the ejecting shells shuck towards your feet rather than out one side like most pumps do. Ithaca makes a sorta-similar bottom-ejector model 37 that is more svelte in the smaller gauges and is a real workhorse.

I think you won’t go wrong with either one :thumbup:.

Stay safe.
 
My hunting bud runs a Citori 12 ga 26" Imp Cyl/ Mod.
Has swivels (bought that way).
A few good dings (was somebody else's grouse rig before he got it).
Works fine at killing pine (and occassionally a bird).

Alas, his dog is too old to hunt now.
Dunno if he's gonna get a pup.
 
DocRock said:
But please do not be bamboozled into the idea that a grouse gun wants "short" barrels. 28" barrels are just right.
Click to expand...

DocRock is exactly right. Barrels much shorter than 26 inches are too short for reliably taking grouse or woodcock on the wing. It can be done but you'd be working against the handling/pointing properties needed for killing very demanding targets
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

d2wing
  • Locked
20 Gauge Over-Under. Stevens 555?
Replies
10
Views
489
Weflyfast
Weflyfast
W
  • Locked
Shortening Stocks/Opening Chokes
Replies
11
Views
782
I6turbo
I
L
  • Locked
Stevens double bbl 12 ga. shot gun
Replies
2
Views
429
murdoc rose
M
D
  • Locked
Advice needed for a new shotgun
Replies
5
Views
651
Dave McCracken
D
roo_ster
  • Locked
Remington 1100 20 Ga: LT, LW, Std, Etc
Replies
13
Views
11K
toivo
toivo
Back
Top