.308 Stevens 334 ongoing thoughts and review.

[BenimusPrime]

Just figured I would post my thoughts and experiences with my new back up rifle. I grabbed a cheap sling and 4x scope on Amazon with some Christmas gift cards for a full build under $400. Out of the box, the weight seems nice and it feels good to have a good old wood checkered grip. The trigger is fine in my book (don't know why it gets so much hate on YouTube), might adjust it a little heavier at some point but it's fine right now. Safety is easy to reach, but I have some spidery fingers, so your mileage may vary. Bolt was a little stiff off the bat. Seemed like it had some kind of grease on it that was a little too thick. Hit it with some Barricade gun oil and that stuff stripped off easy enough and the bolt is very smooth now. I have not run live ammo through it, but I loaded the magazine with snap caps and the full magazine fed with no problems out the gate. I don't know if this was the fault of the sling studs on the gun or the cheap sling, the peg that goes in the stud was very very tight. I could get the peg in the hole, but it would not rotate at all. I ran a drill through the hole and didn't even feel like I really removed any material, but it rotates freely now. Heading to the 50 yard indoor range next week to at least (hopefully) start hitting paper.

Here's a couple of pics of the current set up:

 

[LCH]

I think those are nice looking rifles for the price point. Interested to hear how it shoots

 

[Kauaihunter]

Looks nice and I doubt it won’t be a great shooter.

We’ve had some problems with setting up backup/loaner/just in case rifles. They ended up shooting great and then they end up not being the beater rifle that they were intended to be.

 

[Steiny77]

I bought the exact same gun a few months ago to have around here as a loaner rifle for kids, friends, etc. that I take deer hunting. Put a Leupold VX2 3x9 on it.

The bolt is pretty sloppy in my opinion. You have to pull some slack out of the trigger before it fires which is a little weird.
The above issues are pretty much expected in any rifle in this price range so I'm not really complaining. It cycles rounds and shoots great.
100 Yard groups about the size of a quarter using Remington 150gr Corelokts.

Overall, a great little rifle for the money, plus it's walnut. I hate the majority of the inexpensive plastic stocked rifles produced these days.

 

[TrapperJ]

Looks like a good looking rifle

 

[std7mag]

Thank You and @Steiny77 for the reviews!

I've been thinking about getting one to use as a "donor" action for a build.

Wonder if there's a long action in the 334?

 

[BenimusPrime]

Got to the range today. I shot 2, 1 inch groups out the box. My buddy also shot a 1 inch group, however my other buddy could not stand the scope I had attached and shoot a little wider group (the scope did not sit far enough back for his eye relief and so he was shooting from a very awkward position). Not bad, especially with the trash boat tail ammo I was trying to get rid of. Next time I'll have to shoot some hunting soft point types. Hope it likes the Saber polymer tips my C308 likes. But the gun and the amazon scope performed well and got off to a great start.

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