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Joined: Nov 2006
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What can you tell me about this rifle and it's worth as a shooter? I found one in a pawn shop, priced at $200 OTD. It has the pressed in checkering on the stock. The stock shows some wear from use. The barrel, rifling and crown are very good. It has no scope or scope mount.

I am shopping for a bolt action in .223 for varminting but this looks like a good deal and it handles nice. What is the availability of .222 Rem ammo compared to .223? The turn off is that I don't think I'll find ammo for cheap at WalMart.

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The Savage 340 series uses a barrel nut to set the headspace, so it is easy to remove/replace and therefore easy to rechamber. You could probably get it rechambered from 222 to 223 for $100 and offset the cost from the lower priced 223 ammo.

The Savage 340 series uses a side-mounted scope due to the split rear receiver ring and the best mount for the 340 is made by B-Square. They are more expensive than the Weaver option, but worth the price IMO.

The downside to the 340 series is that the triggers tend to be rough, but they were designed to be an economy/entry level rifle, so they are rugged, reliable, and utilitarian, but not particularly smooth or refined.

Because of the cost of cutting a new chamber, $100+/-, and the higher price of the side-mount, $65 at MidwayUSA, I'd suggest saving a little more $$ and buying a Stevens 200 in 223. The Stevens 200s in 223 have 1-9" ROT barrels, so you can shoot heavier bullets, and a good set of bases/rings would be less than $65.

Jeff

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If you just want a cheap plinker/chucker, I'd pass. You just won't find .222 ammo anything like as cheap as .223. And you won't find it at all in Walmart, at least any Walmart I've ever been in.

If you are willing/able to handload .222, $200 is a good price, I think. The 340, especially a late one like that, is no classic beauty. But they, especially the .222s, really SHOOT.


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Sounds like you got a deal. Don't expect benchrest accuracy from it, but certainly plenty of accuracy within the range limits of the .222 for killing woodchucks and the like.

IMO a .223 only buys you an extra 50+ yards or so range over a .222, in general.

As far as .222 vs. .223 ammo availability, sure you'll find .223 ammo every where and .222 not so much. .223 is by far the most popular .22CF and is the military issue round at the moment to boot. Everybody and his brother sells it. .222 ammo takes a bit of searching these days. If you reload, that is a moot point. If you don't reload, find a source on line at a price you think is reasonable and buy a pile of it and don't look back.

Last edited by gnoahhh; 08/05/12.

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Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.

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Addendum:

One summer 20+ years ago, my pop armed himself with a 340 .222 w/Weaver 6x scope and joined my buddy and I for an all-out assault on "pasture poodles" in south central Pennsylvania. We were armed with a Winchester HiWall bull barrel in .219 Donaldson Wasp w/20x Unertl scope (me) and a Remington .22-250, and gave the old man a some good natured ribbing about his rig. At the end of the summer I had notched up 105 groundhogs and Dad wasn't far behind. The truth of the matter was that in the area we hunted, 400 yards was a helluva long shot and the average was probably in the 200-250 yard range. The long shots were complicated by wind drift, mirage, and plain old shooter's ability- meaning a lot of them were misses. Pop's plugging away at the 'close' shots found him equaling our scores at those distances, and he laughed the whole way home.

After that, I switched to a Ruger 1-B in .223 (that darned HiWall at 12 pounds was just too much gun to lug around in the heat of summer) and repeated my performance the next year. Then I lost interest and got out of it. Sometimes the killing is too much, I guess...

Last edited by gnoahhh; 08/05/12.

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I saw a Savage M340 in .223 yesterday at a pawnshop for $369,
they told me I could have it for $319. Its only the second
340 in 223 that I have seen.

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I recently purchased a 340 in 222 for $400. Nice buy on yours.I had one as a kid and it was accurate and dependable.I'm working on loads now for coyotes.

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I picked one up at Cabelas, a Stevens 840 for $149 w/ Weaver K-4 on it about 5yrs ago, had a Fajen stock on it and was a nice rig. It could shoot.

Shot two groups to make sure it wasn't a fluke.
[Linked Image]

This is with the K-4 on it at 300yrds
[Linked Image]

Picked up a Weaver 4.75 for it (nice scope) and used it for hunting for awhile.
[Linked Image]

Last edited by erich; 08/07/12.

After the first shot the rest are just noise.

Make mine a Minaska

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