I recently acquired a standard grade Stevens Model 44. It is marked 25-20 in the appropriate location on a barrel flat ahead of the receiver. The caliber marking appears original. Before I ordered expensive 25-20 single shot brass I did a chamber cast and upon removing said casting observed a perfect 25-20 wcf chamber complete with an appropriate length throat and .258" groove dia. A subsequent test firing with mild 25-20 wcf handloads shows no unusual markings on the fired cases and perfect headspace.
My question to the members of this forum is this. Did Stevens chamber the Model 44 in 25-20 wcf or only 25-20 ss? Removing the forearm prior to pouring the cerro-safe revealed the word (name?) Pitz and 25-20 in some type of felt pen ink on the bottom of the barrel.
I do not have a 25-20 ss cartridge in my collection for comparison but I was under the impression that the case is longer than the 25-20 wcf. Therefore in order to re-chamber to 25-20 wcf would not the barrel have to been shortened from the breech?
If the rifle has already been modified am I justified in having the barrel drilled and tapped for scope blocks? I have a little Lyman 438 scope that is begging to be used in the pursuit of squirrels.


L Ross

Stevens chambered the 44 for both calibers, .25-20WCF and .25-20SS. You didn't mention your barrel length, but it does sound like it's been rechambered, and set back. 
Is the caliber marking on the left side 45 degree barrel flat, and is it in script as Stevens used?  If it's not in the Stevens script, it's probably been remarked. Every Stenens I've seen in .25-20SS was marked that way.

Thank you all for the responses. After I posted I thought I had better measure the overall barrel length. It is 26" from the muzzle to the breech face. Also the octagon portion of the barrel looks correct in relation to the forearm.
The caliber stamp is on the correct barrel flat and looks like the Stevens script on my M44 32-20. It is simply stamped 25-20. 
The chamber cast turned out well and is very detailed. The throat is very short and slightly tapered. It allows the first driving band to be exposed beyond the case mouth and that's all.
For the time being I think I'll refrain from having any additional holes augered into the barrel. 

L Ross

Stevens was inded the most accomodating of all the makers back at the turn of the last century! They not only did whatever a customer wanted in a new gun, but also made a habit of working on other maker's guns too! 
I've seen several Winchester 1885's, and Ballards with Stevens barrrels, stocks, and even rebored barrels with the "Rebored by J Stevens" rollstamp on them. Complete restorations, with Stevens casehardening patterns have also been observed.
They knew how to please a customer back then!

LRoss, Re: scoping without drilling and tapping a classic barrel.  contact Steve Earle (advertises in the Journal)  see if he can provide you with a onepiece base for your scope. It is possible to carefully mount it on the barrel with one of the speciality toughened cyanoacrylate glues(either Goat-tuff from an archery store or one of the high number loc-tites).  That will handle most low recoiling rifles and I'm sure the 25-20s would qualify.  It is also easy to remove with a little direct heat and then a solvent cleanup, all without marring the barrel.  I suggest a one piece rather than a two piece base since it will give you more glueable surface.

Thanks for the responses, this is a helpful bunch. I got a chance to shoot the rifle last weekend just a bit again and it is going to be fun. Of course it is too light for serious competition but heavy on "cool" factor.

Yesterday a slightly mutilated Winder musket followed me home. So many rifles, so little time.

L Ross