Hi!  I am brand new to this site, and thank you for allowing me to join.

I received an old Stevens single shot as a gift and it's one of the coolest guns I've seen.  It needs some TLC go get working again, and I can't wait as I will use it as the rifle to introduce my daughter to shooting.

I need some help identifying exactly what it is as I need a part, and I will restore it myself.  I am hoping for some assistance from all the experience on this site.

It is a Stevens single shot with a 22 short heavy barrel.  I cannot find any Stevens guns with a heavy barrel like this.  Under the lever it's stamped "414", so I thought that is the model, but I can't find that either.  The barrel and the receiver both have the same serial number so I don't think it's cobbled together.  Can anyone identify what model number this is?

I've attached some pics.

The hammer spring is broken, and I need advice where to get a new one.  I've tried 2 shops, but they don't have them. I need this to operate it.  Can someone recommend a place to get a replacement spring?

Finally, I plan to reblue the barrel and have the wood redone.  I just want to make sure I'm not making a mistake.....are there any tricks about a Stevens I should know before blueing and redoing the wood?

Thanks everyone!

The hammer[main] spring for your 414 Stevens is not available anywhere that I know of, I suggest you use a coil spring to replace this broken spring. This coil spring set-up is shown in Dehaas's singleshot rifles and actions book.   ledball

I would LOVE to have that gun. You are a lucky man.

Spring material can be had from Dixie gunworks or Brownels. It s very possible to cut and bend one from the spring steel stock and then temper it by color if you have a torch or a friend with one.

You have the original so you have a great pattern. I had never made one before but needed a trigger spring for a maynard. With reading one of Brownells Gunsmtih Kinks books and help from a few people on this forum, it was fairly easy and cheap!

My first attempt wasn't spring enough. I retempered and it became spring.

Leadballs idea is a good one, too. I tried to do it to a rolling block and never could get one of the angles right and it kept popping off of the base screw. A product of my limited skills, not the technique.

Great gun you have there!

Merwin.

BTW, where are you located? I am having a get together in VA in Feb. Someone there would have some ideas I am sure!

It is a 414 Armory Model that has had the barrel shortened and the froearm shortened. There was originaly a front barrel band and front sling swivel on the removed portion. The rear sight is correct and specific for this model. Hard to find also. They were chambered in .22 short or .22 long rifle. The US Olympic team won the Olympics in, I think, 1912 using this rifle. They are very accurate if the bore is good. They were made from 1912 to 1932. You can get a main spring from John at 972-254-7263 for $10 shipped. You may have to do a little minor fitting. He advertises in the Single Shot Exchange Magazine. I have used these and they are fine and very reasonably priced. FYI the .22 Short barrels have a different rate of twist than the .22 Long Rifle. I am curious if a long rifle will chamber in your gun. I have a couple of guns marked .22 Short that will chamber the Long Rifle. It was discussed here a while back.  Have fun with it!

The early guns had a metal butplate. The later ones had a hard ruber butplate. Ramrod and I are prety much on the same page here.

Charte, you're in luck if you are in VA...  I'm in the Central VA (Lynchburg) area and sitting in the parking lot of the Salem Gun Show as I type this.  Jon is in Northern VA and will be hosting the Gathering in about a month at the time and place he has posted in General above.  Boats, subsailor, moodyholler and others I am forgetting are all here in VA and will be pleased to welcome you to our band of SS brothers-in-arms!  Try to bring it to the gathering if you can, and you're sure to find somebody (or sombodies!) to help and advise.

Regards,
Froggie

You guys are fantastic!  I'd love to go.  I'm just up north in Annandale.  Hopefully I'll have some progress on it to show.

I do have an event in the evening....what time are you guys getting together?

Also, just to set expectations, I'm a real novice with guns....I'm a fan, have many of them, but I'm not an expert, so I'd be soaking up your info and probably not offering a heck of a lot.  But I'm willing to learn if you guys don't mind.

Charte,  I have bought main springs for the Stevens 44 from Wisners at (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
The 414 is basically a Stevens 44 Ideal and it should work.  Terry H.

Before you go to any great effort or expense rechambering the 22 Short barrel, try it as is.  22 Short chambers of that time often accepted 22 Longs or even 22 Long Rifles.  The Long has the same bullet weight as the Short and should stabilize.  If the barrel has the usual 1:25 to 1:28 twist, it will not stabilize a 40 grain Long Rifle bullet.

Don't discount the Short for teaching your daughter to shoot.  They are fine at 25 yards and OK at 50.  My 2 sons and 1 grandson learned to shoot with a Winder in 22 Short.  The only drawback is trying to find ammunition.  CCIs work pretty well.   

I have bought mainsprings from Wisners.  They work just fine.  Getting a good trigger pull on those Stevens 44 actions seems to be dependent on the strength of the mainspring.  If the mainspring is too strong, the trigger pull becomes too heavy.  The original mainsprings broke frequently, but alternative solutions have drawbacks.

I shoot in a gallery offhand league on Fridays.  One of our competitors shoots a cut-down 414.

waterman

The hard to find main spring for the 44 Stevens comes in all dfferent sizes [weight of pull] which is the reason I suggest the coil spring arrangement, it is easy to make the coil spring adjustable for weight of pull, by threading the shaft.The different hammer refered to was on the 417 Stevens rifle to try to increase lock time, it probably worked if your strong enough to thumb- back the hammer.  The 44 Stevens does not need a replacement hammer for the coil-spring set-up.  ledball

I had one of the Winchester low-wall Winder Muskets in .22 short, and in an indoor shooting range while wearing normal hearing protection, all I could hear was the hammer fall and the "ding" when the bullet hit the backstop... there was virtually NO sound of the round going off!  Fun stuff!! 

Froggie

    CPA's got the hard rubber buttplate for your rifle. I believe it takes the "S" pattern.       ...MIKE...

Spoke to John K about the spring.  Looks like he still has some that will work for my model.  I'm sending off a $10 check today!  

I also got the blueing kit in.

I'll send some project pics as it starts to come together.  My challenge is time, but I hope to get it done in the next months!

Looking at the catalogs for Stevens, they show hard rubber until about 1920. After that they state metal butt plates as standard

Hi all, quick report.

I received the hammer spring from John as advised above.  It fits like a glove!  Looks exactly like the old one, and the hammer operates well.  It was 10 bucks shipped........darn good bargain.

Now I need to finish the blueing project ................

Rafter 7, how long is your end stock as measured from the receiver along the bottom to the end?

Mine is about 12 7/8, and I think it might have been chopped down.   

Wish I had yours....it's a beaut.