Description
The Stevens 334 30-06 is a working deer rifle with no pretensions and a specification sheet that keeps surprising people at the price. A 60-degree bolt lift, a three-position safety, a Cerakote-finished barrel and a Mil-Std 1913 Picatinny rail already on the receiver.
It runs a 20-inch barrel, a three-round detachable magazine and a synthetic stock in Mossy Oak Terra Gila, and weighs seven and a fifth pounds bare. The Stevens 334 30-06 is the rifle you buy when you want the money in the barrel and the action rather than in the wood.
The details that matter on a hunting rifle
- The Stevens 334 30-06 has a 60-degree bolt lift, which gives knuckle clearance under a low-mounted scope and a faster cycle than a 90-degree action.
- A three-position safety: fire, safe with the bolt free, and safe with the bolt locked. That third position is what lets you unload safely in the field.
- A Mil-Std 1913 Picatinny rail fitted to the receiver, so an optic mounts without buying a base.
- Cerakote on the metal rather than bluing, which matters on a rifle that will get wet.
- An integrated recoil lug and a recoil pad, both of which do real work with a 30-06.
Barrel length, caliber and handling
- Twenty inches of barrel on the Stevens 334 30-06 is short by tradition and sensible in practice: you lose a little velocity and gain a great deal in the woods.
- 1:11 twist, which suits the 150 to 180 grain bullets almost everyone shoots in this caliber.
- Forty-one and a quarter inches overall and 7.2 pounds, so it carries without complaint.
- A three-round detachable box magazine rather than a hinged floorplate, so unloading does not mean cycling live rounds through the chamber.
- No iron sights are fitted, so budget for an optic; the rail is already there for it.
Stevens 334 30-06 specifications
- Caliber: 30-06 Springfield
- Capacity: 3+1, detachable box magazine
- Barrel length: 20.00 in
- Overall length: 41.25 in
- Weight: 7.2 lb
- Rate of twist: 1:11
- Metal finish: Cerakote, gray
- Stock: synthetic, Mossy Oak Terra Gila camo, recoil pad
- Safety: three-position
- Bolt lift: 60 degrees
- Receiver: Mil-Std 1913 Picatinny rail, integrated recoil lug
- Sights: none fitted
- Manufacturer part number: 19509
- UPC: 011356195098
30-06 Springfield is a standardized cartridge, with pressure and dimensional limits published by SAAMI, and it remains the most versatile hunting cartridge in North America: loads run from 125 grains for deer to 220 grains for elk without changing rifles.
For deer, Barnes Harvest 180 gr tipped is a controlled-expansion load that performs well out of a 20-inch barrel, and the round-nose 180 gr is the close-cover alternative. For zeroing and practice, Federal 150 gr FMJ keeps the cost down.
Zero the Stevens 334 30-06 properly from a bench before the season. A short-barreled 30-06 is perfectly capable at two hundred yards, and a rifle that has not been zeroed is not.
The same rifle as the Stevens 334 30-06 is available in other calibers: the 334 in 308 Win in the same camo, and the walnut-stocked 308 if you prefer wood. For another budget 30-06, compare the Glenfield Model A.
Why the Stevens 334 30-06 earns its place
- A 60-degree bolt and a three-position safety at a price where neither is normal.
- A Picatinny rail already fitted, which saves a base and a fitting charge.
- Cerakote rather than bluing on a rifle destined to get rained on.
- 30-06, which will take anything on this continent with the right load.
- Seven pounds and forty-one inches, which is a rifle you carry rather than one that carries you.
Be clear about what you are not getting. There is no wood, no iron sights and no scope in the box, and the stock is a functional synthetic rather than something you will admire. If a rifle is meant to be handsome, buy the walnut version or something else entirely.
What you get instead is action features that usually cost twice this, on a rifle that will shoot well and not care about the weather. For a first serious deer rifle, or a knockabout second one that lives in a truck through the season, the Stevens 334 30-06 is very hard to beat.
In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Transfers to your FFL, and we answer the phone.
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