A few days ago someone mentioned this particular model of 22lr target rifle. I was wondering if anyone else has had one? How well do they shoot? I'm a sucker for a good ol target rifle like this. I saw one locally for $275.00. I'm thinking I need to go back and take another look at it and probably buy it. What say you guys that have had one?
A good honest rifle, but not top tier in its day. In the ranking among the smallbore competitors back in the 30's-40's the Model 52, Remington 37, Martini, Walnut Hill were considered top tier. Winchester 75, Savage 19, Stevens 416 were considered beginners/intermediate rifles - not because they were less accurate necessarily but in terms of sights, triggers, weight/balance/ergonomics, and general refinement.
The 416 I worked with not long ago was very accurate with a not bad trigger. My chief complaint was with its sight - it had a lot of backlash in its adjustment knobs, making precise adjustments problematic, especially when wanting to return to where I started from. Not a big deal for a "set and forget" shooter. I could've overcome that by going to a scope instead, but didn't.
Oddly enough I've seen 416 barrels turn up on custom guns, including Hornets, over the years. Perhaps it was a darling of gunsmith crowd way back when as a source for cheap accuracy?
Thanks for the info gnoahhh!! I agree about the rear sight as well. No where near the quality of my model 52. I realize it is a fairly cheap rifle, but it is cool because of its vintage. I like old target rifles and this one seems to be all original. I also saw a nice Winchester model 69 in the same shop, but it was $600!! Way overpriced for that rifle IMHO. Considering I could buy them for around $400 in Oregon..
I owned a 416 for a number of years. It had a Redfield 3200 24x scope on it and I really wrung it out at 50 yards with about every different .22 ammo I could find. At it's best, it averaged 0.51" at 50 for 10 5-shot groups off a bench. The same test with a Remington 40x and the same scope averaged 0.37". (This tells you that my bench rest technique leaves something to be desired.)
As I paid little more than the scope was worth for the 416 (which also came with the original Stevens peep sights) and the scope and I paid a LOT more for the 40x, I thought it a very good quality rifle for the price. I later sold the scope for more than I paid for the combo and the rifle for about $500. $275 for the rifle, if it has the sights (they are expensive to acquire separately and hard to find), is a good buy, assuming it's in decent condition.
One thing to note: The majority of 416s were used as military training rifles and have government acceptance and U.S. Property stampings. If you are a Stevens collector, the ones without such markings are significantly less common.
Another thing to note: A number of these rifles were built and sold with store brand names. I've only seen one, which had a Sears store brand (J.C. Higgins, if I recall correctly), but there are other store brands as well.
I owned a 416 for a number of years. It had a Redfield 3200 24x scope on it and I really wrung it out at 50 yards with about every different .22 ammo I could find. At it's best, it averaged 0.51" at 50 for 10 5-shot groups off a bench. The same test with a Remington 40x and the same scope averaged 0.37". (This tells you that my bench rest technique leaves something to be desired.)
As I paid little more than the scope was worth for the 416 (which also came with the original Stevens peep sights) and the scope and I paid a LOT more for the 40x, I thought it a very good quality rifle for the price. I later sold the scope for more than I paid for the combo and the rifle for about $500. $275 for the rifle, if it has the sights (they are expensive to acquire separately and hard to find), is a good buy, assuming it's in decent condition.
One thing to note: The majority of 416s were used as military training rifles and have government acceptance and U.S. Property stampings. If you are a Stevens collector, the ones without such markings are significantly less common.
Another thing to note: A number of these rifles were built and sold with store brand names. I've only seen one, which had a Sears store brand (J.C. Higgins, if I recall correctly), but there are other store brands as well.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it!! At that price, it may be gone the next time I go there. However, I may be wrong as I know this type of rifle is not in high demand.
Another thing to note: A number of these rifles were built and sold with store brand names. I've only seen one, which had a Sears store brand (J.C. Higgins, if I recall correctly), but there are other store brands as well.
A friend had a Sears branded "Ranger" that was a Savage 416.
But back to the original question, I had a 416 U.S. that shot good, not Anschutz good, but very good for a rifle in it's price range. But with these older rifles, a lot will depend upon how the rifle has been treated over the years.