Yankee Doodle

So, I was in Gander Mountain and saw a brandy spankin' new Stevens 200 in .243 Win. with factory sights. Although I no longer owned one, I loved the .243 for 'chucks, but really have no experience with it for anything bigger.
I am planning to try this gun for deer this year, and can use a few suggestions as to what factory ammo to try. Due to the nature of the property, no shots will be longer than 215 yards. Most likely they will be within 85.
My usual deer rifle is a Ruger #3 in 45-70, so this will be a new experience for me.
So, can anyone give me a hint as to which factory load I should try? Are premium loads really needed? Cost is a factor, but If the gun turns out to be a shooter, I will spend the money and time to work up a decent load for it.
Thanks

bugsNbows

No, fancy, top dollar factory loadings are not essential for killing deer. Plain old Rem CoreLoks, Federal blue box or cheapie Win loads can all work. Just try a couple and use the one that does best out of your gun. BTW, a .243 will kill white-tailed deer just fine.

okgobbler

win 100 gr powerpoints always worked well for me out of savage barrels

RugerM77.270

He said it.

statjunk

Ditto x2

Tom

WM Greening

Ditto x 3 100 gr ren corelok works great.

rbduck

Bought a Stevens 200 in .243 when they first came out. Bin using it on ground squirrels and up to W/T ever since. I love it and am sure you will too. Using reloads, I have taken deer from 200 to 400 yds. Enjoy.

Ron

Colorado Luckydog

X3 Bugsnbows hit the nail on the head!

Yankee Doodle

Took the gun to the range this morning. Bore sighted it at 100 yards dry fired it a few times to get used to the trigger, and fired one round. 6" low and 2" right. My God, the trigger is horrible. Took a gamble, and corrected the sight based on the one round. I wanted to be 1 3/4" high at 100, to give me a 200 yard zero.
I nearly had a heart attack when I walked down to check the results. The second, third, and fourth shots had I have ever fired out of the rifle, had produced a group that measured 5/8 of an inch on centers. This is with Hornady Custom 95 gr.factory ammo. What's more, it was almost exactly where I wanted it to be. This with only 4 round fired.
I then set up a target at 200 yards, fired one round and walked down to take a look. Elevation was dead on perfect, but windage was just off the printed "X" to the left. Walked back, put in 1 click of right windage and fired again. This round tooK off the lower right leg of the "X". At this point, I quit while I was ahead, and stopped shooting.
Now, I have to wonder, how Savage can put a rifle of this quality together, and sell it for such a reasonable price, when all the other guys are charging telephone numbers for what now seems to be inferior quality.
I will be the first to admit that the gun is a ugly as a bag of worms, and the trigger sucks, but the thing outshoots every sporter weight Rem, Ruger, or Win, I have ever owned. Considering that I can shoot reasonably well (retired SWAT sniper), and I have shot them all, I speak from a lot of experience.
All shooting was off a bench, no wind, good light. Ideal conditions.I don't know if I will ever be able to repeat this group, but it sure as heck did it once.
Thought I would pass this along. It look as though I have a new deer rifle for the up-coming season.

driftrider

How much did it set you back, if you don't mind me asking?

Regarding the trigger, there is a gunsmith that specializes in Savage/Stevens bolt action rifles. His website is www.sharpshootersupply.com. He makes a drop-in replacement trigger for the Savage/Stevens that runs about $100. Might be worth looking into.

Mike