Fun little rifles and decent shooters too.
It's marked 'J. Stevens Arms Co.' That's supposed to be a post 1916 Stevens 'address'. (...Arms & Tool Co. /or A&T before then)
But Stevens guns made after '16 are known to carry early markings too.
So it's just a general guide to when they made some of their stuff.
Savage bought out Stevens in 1920. They kept the Stevens name of course and continued production at Chicopee Falls. Most of the Savage production Stevens guns will have a Savage proof mark on them,,,'S' in a circle usually on the frame. But again not a 100% certainty when they started using the mark, or that all production received the marking.
Ser# is stamped on the bottom edge of the frame. Some people will say it's an assembly number and not a ser#. But everything I've ever read said they were ser#'s,,and I've never seen repeated numbering which assembly numbers can be.
Anyway, no records available on Stevens production. All their records mysteriously went up in flames just as the Gov't was about to audit and investigate Stevens WW1 defense contracts just after the War. Then Savage bought them in 1920 and they say they don't have any records of production either AFAIK.
The pivot pin and 2 screws that the link, lever and frame connect to form the over center cam lock up are the weak point of the action. They are small diameter and generally soft steel.
When they wear, the action will not lock up tight, lever will drop of it's own weight, ect.
The repair is to replace of course. Slightly oversize is better but takes some work on the parts to fit.
Simply turning the link pin that connects the barrel sleeve to the link and the 2 screws (one that connects the link to the lever,,and one connects the lever to the frame) will bring up a clean, unworn surface to the locking system again and all will be well for a time.
Wear eye protection when shooting these as there is nothing to stop gas and debris from a ruptured case from coming straight back.
The firing pin itself is held in place with a small dia intercepting cross pin and in a very worn gun, I've seen those firing pins able to be taken right out of the breech block w/o removing the cross pin.
Nice rifles, getting hard to find now especially in clean condition.
Used to be a common Boys Rifle and you could buy them cheap at shows and flea markets.
I think they cost nearly as much as the Favorite when new. That was quite a bit of money back then.
