Shooting the rifle I didn't want.

[Howland937]

I ended up with this old Stevens 416 .22 target rifle. Only bought it hoping to use the Lyman sight on the Winchester 52 I recently acquired.

So I stuck the Lyman peep sight back on it and decided to try my hand shooting it. I've never shot anything with a peep sight, so figured I might as well since I don't have the Winchester set up yet. I didn't get really formal, just a wadded up coat and the hood of the Jeep (culvert washed out, so couldn't go up the hill to the "range")
I haven't got the sights figured out yet, but here's what I managed at 25 yards. One by itself was just to see if I could hit paper. All shots were fired at the center of their target and shot as groups after each adjustment. 3 round group was the last one when I gave up and decided not to waste anymore good ammo.
Why couldn't the just put an L with an arrow and an UP with an arrow like scopes? Dang it.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I would keep the Savage as-is.

 

[Poper]

I would keep the Savage as-is.

Yes.

 

[Howland937]

That is the current plan. It's a learning curve since every other rimfire I own is scoped, up until about a week ago anyway.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Good plan.
And good shooting too.

 

[sparkyv]

Nice groups. What ammo did you use? Doesn't seem like you wasted ammo to me!

 

[Howland937]

Nice groups. What ammo did you use? Doesn't seem like you wasted ammo to me!

It was some Aguila HV stuff that comes in a 250 round pack. Can't remember the exact kind. Felt wasteful not hitting the part of the target I was trying to hit.

I do think the rifle will shoot though.

 

[sparkyv]

Dialing in the sights is the easy part (even though you haven't figured them out yet), but shooting good groups which this rifle seems to do with this ammo is the hard part!

It was some Aguila HV stuff that comes in a 250 round pack. Can't remember the exact kind. Felt wasteful not hitting the part of the target I was trying to hit.

I do think the rifle will shoot though.

 

[MistWolf]

Why do you need an "L" or "UP" marking on the sight? Raise rear the sight to raise point of impact. Move it left to move POI to the left. Just like any other rear sight.

 

[Skylerbone]

FORS. Front opposite, rear same. As in direction of adjustment.

 

[Pat Riot]

^^^^ What he said.

Also, mark me down for keeping the rifle as is and enjoy it. Learn from it’s use.

 

[Rubone]

Rifle "snobbery" will prove you wrong every time!

 

[Howland937]

Why do you need an "L" or "UP" marking on the sight? Raise rear the sight to raise point of impact. Move it left to move POI to the left. Just like any other rear sight.

Because it didn't come with the directions that I wouldn't have read anyway. I tried to visualize it like regular open sights but lots of turns yielded incremental changes.

 

[Howland937]

Rifle "snobbery" will prove you wrong every time!

It wasn't snobbery so much as intending to wade into the retired target rifle realm. This Stevens was the 3rd one I bought in a span of about 22 hours. Instead of wading, I slipped and went in head first apparently.

 

[General Geoff]

iron sight 22s are the most satisfying discipline for me. Looks like that Stevens has plenty of life left!

 

[Jim Watson]

Why do you need an "L" or "UP" marking on the sight? Raise rear the sight to raise point of impact. Move it left to move POI to the left. Just like any other rear sight.

It's a screw adjustment. A FINE screw. It should be marked as to direction.
Yes, there are sights with left hand threads.

 

[lightman]

Some of those old 22 rifles shoot exceptionally well. I would give it a chance, you might warm up to it. The one in your picture looks awful clean!

 

[Howland937]

Some of those old 22 rifles shoot exceptionally well. I would give it a chance, you might warm up to it. The one in your picture looks awful clean!

Must be the lighting. The stock isn't terrible, but it's dinged up. The action is ok. It's not sloppy but after every 2 or 3 rounds the safety mysteriously engages. What's left of the bluing is brown patina, but the barrel has some rust and the scope mounting blocks are missing. So there's 4 threaded empty holes on the barrel.

 

[bigpower491]

Not to shabby

I bet if you gave it a real good thorough cleaning, it might shoot a wee bit better.......

 

[Howland937]

Not to shabby

I bet if you gave it a real good thorough cleaning, it might shoot a wee bit better.......

Probably not. I'd happily let someone who routinely shoots them give it a try, but I'm likely the biggest limiting factor. I'm going to keep after it though. It should probably have a globe type front sight instead of the single post with the rear peep. I may track one down later.

 

[Scooter22]

Nice 416. They not common and will hold their own with ammo it likes. I would keep it as is. I can't tell if it's dull blue or parked. They were supplied to the military for training. Look for any military stampings on it.They were parked and IIRC had the Lyman sight. There was a Stevens made receiver sight also on the civilian model. Mine is a blued one with that sight. I'll see if I have a pic. Nice find and good luck,

 

[Howland937]

This one isn't stamped U.S. Property. I haven't shot it since that day, and it's now being sold to my brother to fund another addition to the collection.

The same weekend I got the Stevens, I bought a Win 52B and a Remington 513T. The Winchester is a work in progress (well, the gun isn't but me shooting it is). The Remington shoots 10 in the same hole at 25 yards, and it ain't a very big hole. (Hoping the rain holds off and I'll get to shoot it and the Winchester at 50 and maybe 100 tomorrow)

My brother was wanting the Remington pretty badly, but I'm gonna hold onto it a bit longer. Suddenly, he has to have an old target rifle too, so he convinced me to sell him the 416. Wasn't hard because I just made a deal on a TC Benchmark. Wanted one back when they came out but never got around to getting one.

 

[Bfh_auto]

The TC benchmark looks nice but was underwhelming in performance. My brother bought one when he got back from Iraq and it shot the same as our cheap 22s. Granted it balances very well and doesn't have cycling issues.

 

[Larry in wyoming]

You broke the golden rule: Never, but never shoot the donor rifle! LOL

Nice old 22.

 

[Howland937]

The TC benchmark looks nice but was underwhelming in performance. My brother bought one when he got back from Iraq and it shot the same as our cheap 22s. Granted it balances very well and doesn't have cycling issues.

I'd never shot a Benchmark but I've got 2 of the TC .22 Classic (or R55, whichever name folks prefer).
Niether one outshoots the other, but they're the most accurate rifles I own. Well, pending more rounds in the 513T anyway. I expect the Benchmark to shoot in that same realm or it'll be a short relationship.