Trap capturing has all the time been a favourite summer time and fall exercise of mine. It has been a beautiful means of engaged on a expertise I’ve had since I used to be little however it isn’t all simply expertise; the proper software must be used as effectively. Just like a musician with their devices or an artist with their clay or paints. Stevens, a division of Savage Arms, has all the time produced inexpensive and good-quality shotguns. Their Stevens 555 mannequin is what I might name their flagship over/beneath mannequin which confirmed up in 2015 and has been serving them and their prospects effectively. Stevens now catalogs seven Model 555 shotguns, three of which had been introduced and launched in 2022 (together with our gun right this moment). I all the time attempt to preserve my eye out for inexpensive over/beneath sporting-style shotguns so when the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under was introduced we jumped on the alternative. Let’s dive proper into my assessment of the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under!
Savage Stevens Coverage on AllOutdoor
Specifications: Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under
The Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under is a light-weight sporting shotgun. What is a sporting shotgun? I consider most individuals would agree that the definition would lean towards “a shotgun utilized for both game hunting and literal sport (Trap, Sporting Clays, Etc)”. This broad definition makes it sound like a do-all software which it undoubtedly will be. In the case of the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under it appears to be made extra so for the second of the 2 choices talked about earlier. With all of the options under it’s straightforward to see that it was made with consolation and lodging in thoughts above all and as a cheerful bonus it might make for a superb clay-busting shotgun.
- Action: Over/Under
- Ejection Port: Break Open
- Barrel Color: Natural
- Barrel Finish: SEMI-GLOSS
- Barrel Length (in)/(cm): 30 / 76.200
- Barrel Material: Carbon Steel
- Caliber: 12 GA
- Magazine Capacity: 2
- Hand: Ambidextrous
- Length of Pull (in)/(cm): 14.57 / 37.008
- Overall Length (in)/(cm): 48.5 / 123.190
- Receiver Color: SILVER
- Receiver Finish: SEMI-GLOSS
- Receiver Material: Aluminum
- Type: Shotgun
- Front Sights: Fiber Optic
- Rear Sights: Mid Bead
- Stock Color: Brown
- Stock Finish: Oil
- Stock Material: Turkish Walnut
- Stock Comb: Adjustable Cheek Riser
- Weight (lb)/(kg): 6.84 / 3.10
The MSRP of the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under stands at $991. As far as “trap guns” resembling this one leans additional into, that’s not terrible for one thing of high quality. The Standard plain Jane Stevens 555 MSRPs at $768. In a retail setting, I’ve seen the usual Model 555 MUCH cheaper than its MSRP so I might wager that within the wild these Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under fashions can be much more inexpensive. One vital factor of word is that the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under presently solely is available in 12 gauge.
“The Stevens over/under line-up is adding value to the sporting clays and trap leagues with the new 555 Sporting model. Its lightweight aluminum alloy receiver is scaled to gauge and incorporates a steel insert that reinforces the breech, minimizing weight and maximizing strength. Added features like a raised ventilated rib with mid-bead and front fiberoptic sight give shooters a competitive advantage and the adjustable cheek riser accommodates any framed shooter at a price that’s unmatched among comparable models.”
- 3” Chamber O/U Shotgun
- Turkish Walnut Stock & Fore-end with adjustable comb top and 14.5” length-of-pull
- Raised ventilated rib with mid-bead rear sight and fiberoptic entrance sight
- Lightweight Aluminum Alloy Silver Receiver
- 30” Ported Barrels for recoil discount
- Manual Safety
- Single Selective Mechanical Trigger
- Chrome Lined Barrels
- Tang Mounted Safety
- Manual Extractor
- Includes 5 Extended Chokes (F, IM, M, IC, C)
First Impressions: Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under
First impressions begin with the field. I already talked about that the field was a bit tough however that has nothing to do with a model new non-tested mannequin. I consider the within structure is a short lived repair to a brand-new gun since to my information all the opposite Stevens 555 fashions I’ve seen have a styrofoam inside. In different phrases, this gun is so new to the market that the field interiors haven’t had an opportunity to be made particularly for the for much longer Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under. For now, this placeholder cardboard housing did the trick. The field contains the shotgun inventory/receiver meeting, the barrel/forend meeting, the guide, a pair of froth earplugs, and a cable lock. There might be an extra small plastic case containing three of the 5 chokes (two might be within the gun already), a choke key/wrench, and two small hex head keys for adjusting the cheekpiece on the inventory.
Out of the field, the gun was straightforward to assemble. The forend has a skinny lever with a thumb piece to drag straight downward which releases it from the barrel set. Then the barrels will be positioned into the receiver bay. I wish to flip the barrel break lever to assist the set up of the barrel into the receiver. With the receiver stage and the barrels going through down at a 45-degree angle, the barrels can slowly and easily be hinged into the receiver and locked. With the barrels put in, the forend will be positioned on the barrels and the lever positioned again in its unique place. All went effectively and was fairly self-explanatory. The guide does a a lot better job of explaining this course of.
Range Time: Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under
I actually needed to offer this shotgun a run for its cash. I’ve labored with different related shotguns prior to now and paid them an identical respect and have discovered it may be pretty eye-opening attributable to its fixed type of hands-on use. I took the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under out on walks within the woods, hunted, shot entice with it, and sporting clays. Starting with the entice capturing it was weirdly a little bit of a studying curve for me. I shoot entice quite a bit and one thing about this shotgun didn’t match me effectively at first. I didn’t want to regulate the cheekpiece in any respect, though I did simply to see how straightforward or intensive it was and it was very easy. The inventory size itself match me simply high-quality though I might see a possible difficulty with smaller shooters and the thicker-than-usual buttpad on the inventory. The factor was I didn’t really feel something was off till I began capturing after which it grew to become apparent over time. I’m not used to entice capturing with 30-inch barrels, it’s a lengthy gun. My essential go-to entice capturing gun has a 22-inch barrel which is considerably extra compact and I’m a duster with that and a modified choke. The mixture of a 30-inch barrel, an improved modified choke within the prime barrel, and a full choke within the backside threw me off. I had not modified them to that however it was an eye-opener since I’m used to firing MUCH sooner than later. After swapping the chokes out for a cylinder on prime and an improved cylinder on the underside I had a a lot better go of issues and was happy with its efficiency (as foolish of a setup as that will sound).
Next got here to my woods stroll and grouse hunt. This gun may be very clearly extra of a entice gun than a looking gun which will be decided by the adjustability and size of the barrel. Regardless of these facets, the grouse inhabitants was making a bigger look this yr and I needed to see how it might carry out beneath these totally different constraints. It is a lightweight gun which made it a greater than welcome companion on walks however in tighter areas on lesser groomed paths, I discovered the lengthy barrels to be a little bit of an annoyance. This is in the way in which that I must maintain the gun at relaxation in sure methods in order that the barrel was not always bumping into issues. As I stated this gun was not engineered with this in thoughts so don’t take this remark to imply it’s an annoying gun to work with. I kicked up a number of grouse all through my couple of days on the cabin and observed an attention-grabbing factor that most likely would by no means occur on the entice vary. The security was cumbersome beneath sure circumstances. Please permit me to elaborate to the perfect of my skills. The security contains the choice to pick which barrel is getting used by way of side-to-side movement. If for no matter motive the gun was within the protected place however the selector was not totally actuated to 1 barrel or the opposite (apparently an easy factor to occur as a result of it occurred a number of instances) then the security would roughly be caught on protected. this can be a downside if I kicked up a chook and went to flick the security off to fireplace. More than something this was a person error on my half since my thumb would bias the selector to the center fairly than one of many two lanes it might probably use. Fortunately, after the primary couple of instances this occurred, I grew to become extra conscious and thoughtful of my security flicking and ended up getting a few birds in any case.
Finally so far as “sporting clays” go it was a enjoyable experiment. I put sporting clays in quotes as a result of that’s the closest factor I can equate to household entice capturing. It is unpredictable and really on the fly…pun supposed. At this level, I had gotten extra snug general with the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under and it’s the place I made a few of my closing observations. As far as capturing clays on an unpredictable scale I discovered swinging this lengthy gun was a complete different animal compared to what I usually use. The bead sight line up effectively and concisely with flying clay pigeons. The thick pad on the rear helped quite a bit. I’m not liable to shoulder fatigue however this made it all of the extra easy and painless. The porting of the barrels offset the light-weight nature of the gun so what little recoil there was swept up within the lovely and forgiving mixture of the recoil pad and porting. The security selector didn’t give me any grief on this extra managed scenario which was good. The motion was clean and given the heavier weight of the lengthy barrels it dropped open excellent. Not tremendous free nor extraordinarily tight. I used to be happy in each means and so was anybody that the Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under was handed.
Final Thoughts: Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under
I actually loved this shotgun however attributable to my very own habits and unfamiliarity one thing about it was not nice for me. I feel that’s completely on me nonetheless and within the conditions the place it was used for what it was particularly constructed for it excelled. It is light-weight, snug, well-made, and inexpensive so far as these kinds of shotguns go. I might suggest it as an entry-level sporting shotgun to anybody interested by entering into the game. The Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under has my seal of approval and my admiration for its high-quality craftsmanship. I encourage anybody to test it out in particular person in the event that they ever have the chance!
In closing, I wish to say thanks to Savage for permitting AllOutdoor and myself the chance to check out their Stevens 555 Sporting Over/Under. That is enormously appreciated. Also, we want to know what all of you guys and gals suppose. Do you consider that this elegant over/beneath is value spending your cash on? Would you’re taking this out to the vary? Would this be your go-to entice capturing gun? Let us know all your ideas within the Comments under! We all the time admire your suggestions.
