My Stevens model 200 economy build

[Moose1995]

Ok, Ok. I know, another Stevens model 200 build. Heres my catch. I keep seeing people taking this 350 dollar rifle and bringing the total up to close to a thousand after adding all the aftermarket stuff. So heres my thinking. Everybody that owns one says they shoot great, so I am not going to put on an aftermarket barrel. Just trim it down some to 18" from 22". This generally will make the rifle more accurate with less barrel vibration. Next, the worst part of this rifle is the stock. Flimsy at best. So I strengthen it with fiberglass and bondo. Bear with me here. Also, I like the AR15 style pistol grip, so I include one in my stock modification. Up next is the Bipod. I have owned several target rifles and the bipods when mounted are big and bulky. So I incorporate a built in bipod into the stock fore end. Finally, instead of the expensive coating systems I see, I buy a can of spray on truck bed liner from wal mart for 8 bucks. Leaves a nice textured durable finish. So here it is, step by step, with pics.... let me know what you all think. Opinions and ideas are always appreciated.

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this is the stock as it comes from savage, with about 2" cut off of the end.


Here we have the fore end of the stock filled with bondo and sanded out to ensure that when I fiberglass it that the barrel will be completely free floating.


Next up was the fore end exterior. I used stainless steel acorn nuts for the bipod legs to screw into, and long nuts welded to the stainless tubes that run along the length of the fore end. The Bipod legs are threaded aluminum rod, with Acorn nuts attached on one end to act as feet. They simply feed into the front of the stock through the tubes and thread into place. Then unthread them and remove and then thread into underside of the fore end as you will see in a later pic.


Next was the pistol grip. I bonded a piece of fiberglass to the stock.



Then I shaped the pistol grip and butt stock. Then wrapped everything up in fiberglass cloth and resin.

Heres the finished result.




The total cost of this was about 80 dollars for EVERYTHING. Add the rifle for 350 (its a .223 btw) and the scope (a Bushnell Elite 4200 which I already had from another rifle) and I am looking at a grand total of about 700 bucks. My next idea is to machine out an aluminum block and figure out a way to use a 30 round ar15 clip in it. Hope everyone likes!

 

[Moose1995]

BTW, I shortened the barrel on a lathe, and gave the end a recessed target crown. I can't wait to get this thing out and shoot it!

 

[K-Rod]

Very interesting......Please update when you range test.

 

[Moose1995]

One thing I forgot to mention, the weight did go up from 6 1/2 pounds to 8 pounds w/out scope. I am seriously considering doing the project all over again and making the stock from scratch using fiberglass w/ some lightweight fillers.

 

[Geno]

The end-product is pretty cool looking! I appreciate seeing the series of pictures from start-to-stop. Now, go shoot it and post some pictures. I like the idea of build your own fiberglass stock from scratch.

Geno

 

[GIJOEL]

I think the Mossberg MVP with AR-15 magazine had to use some serious trickery to feed with the AR mags because of the double stack configuration. Great build though, I have been wanting to do an accurate 10/22 without swapping out every part.

 

[Moose1995]

GIJOEL, I was wondering about that. I know sharp shooter supply makes them for the model 200,(adapter and magazine) but not in .223. I don't want to have to go so far as to design a magazine as well. Only time will tell, I guess.

 

[K-Rod]

Moose,

I looked at this lastnight. I tossed & turned all night thinking about this! Thanks a lot The stock on my Savage Edge is terrible & I can't find a aftermarket stock for it. This definitely interests me. The only thing I can see that I'd question is the bi-pod. I realize its only a .223 ( mine is as well) but how do you think the bi-pod will hold up to recoil? Seems like that over a period of time, the recoil will break the acorn nuts loose from the bondo in the forend. I would think your gonna get a lot of resonance through those long thin bi-pod legs from recoil.

You seem to know your 'Stuff' so maybe I'm missing a step or not seeing something.

 

[Moose1995]

K-Rod, The acorn nuts are welded to the stainless tubes that the legs are stored in, and also have a small brace that runs across from one to the other. I plugged them up and then embedded them in the bondo, and then the bondo was wrapped in several layers of fiberglass cloth (in part that the bondo doesnt adhere too well to the plastic the stock is made of unless it is sanded VERY roughly) so that basically, the entire stock has a fiberglass shell completely covering it. If you look closely at the pic of the holes for the bipod mount, you can see how thick it is before it actually gets to the threaded portion of the nut.

PS, I'm glad you like it. If you have time, look up my prior threads and check out the slip on muzzle brake I made for my DPMS LR-308. I had a lot of people thinking it would come loose, and it never did. Held up as well as a thread on muzzle brake, only I was able to remove it with no harm to the barrel.

 

[Moose1995]

GIJOEL, I just looked at that Mossberg MVP rifle. I never knew it existed, and I love it! I can only imagine the re-work I could do to it to make it my own. Buds has em for only 584 bucks! What a steal! I see what you mean about what they had to do to get the bolt to pull rounds out of the AR mag..... looks like somewhere I don't know if I want to go. Although I am pretty ambitious. Like I said, only time will tell. Thanks for informing me about that!

 

[snakeman]

Nice! You did a superb job on that stock.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

all I did to my cheap Stevens 200 7mm-08 is put a beautiful walnut stock for $115 on it, an extra Nikon 3x9x50 I had that was not being used and got a beautiful dime size group shooting tackdriver. a hog slayer I aint afraid to use out to 400 yards.

 

[K-Rod]

Moose,

That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clearing that up. I think I'm definitely gonna have to give this a try! Please keep us updated or at least Pm me your results. Very nice & thank you for sharing.

 

[nastynatesfish]

i like all the stock work, ive been thinking of doing it more to mine, i put marine bondo in the barrel channl but want to redo it. i HATE the center feed magazing too. im not to hot on the ar grip on the stock, looks like its WAY forward unless you have big ole bananna hands lol. just me though. i think it would be awesome to fill the whole butstock out and form it to YOUR hand in a thumbhole design. good job on all the work and shoot the crap out it. mine loves the 69gr nosler match bullets and TAC powder. keep it up sir>>>

 

[Moose1995]

Thanks Nastynate. The trigger pull was a little long, partially because I have very thick hands and short fingers. I kept bringing in the top rear of the grip until I could reach and pull the trigger comfortably. Part of the reason why is because the trigger guard mounting holes sit so far back from the actual trigger guard. I put the grip as close as I possibly could to it. Its not as bad as it looks. Thanks for the kind words of encouragement everyone!

 

[Moose1995]

Nastynatesfish, do you mean the Nosler custom competition 69 gr. bullets? What about using them with H335? I prefer using a spherical powder. It just measures better. Also possibly accurate 2460. I used to use accurate powders for loading a 22-250, along with 55 grn ballistic tips. I love Nosler bullets, but am willing to play with different powders.

EDIT: I just looked up that TAC powder and see that it is also spherical. Maybe I'll try that as well. Reason I am thinking about H335 is because its a little faster burning, and since I shortened the barrel, I am hoping that maybe there will be a little less muzzle flash if the powder burns up faster.

 

[Archaic]

The grip seems kind of vertical to me, did you have a way to play around with the grip configuration before you made it permanent? Great looking rifle btw, nice to see something done the old fashioned way - with fiberglass and 2-part polymers!

;p

 

[Moose1995]

The grip angle felt right when I sanded it down. I did it gradually until it was right where I wanted it. I was actually thinking about making a complete stock from scratch with fiberglass, but now am actually considering carbon fiber.

 

[natman]

I agree that the stock needs stiffening. I suspect that there's some way to accomplish that that would add considerably less weight than filling the entire forend with Bondo.

Gluing in an aluminum tube for example?

The pistol grip is a matter of individual taste, but it looks well executed in the final product. Good project.

 

[Moose1995]

Thanks Natman. I went with the pistol grip idea because I have shot varmint rifles for years, with the wide fore ends. But I never found any of them all that comfortable to shoot because of the grip around the stock. Maybe its just my physical make up or something. Then I bought an AR platformed rifle, and found it very comfortable to shoot. So I had the idea and went with it. Time will tell whether I like it or not.

 

[jogar80]

The work on the stock is amazing.