At long last today I have added a rifle to the collection that has eluded me for years, a Stevens model 44 1/2. I was willing to settle for any caliber and configuration as long as it was in reasonably nice condition in a caliber that brass or ammo was available for. Yesterday a young friend approached me at the range and asked if I was still interested in his grandfather's rifle as he had fallen on some hard times and need to pay some bills and had told me in the past that if he ever parted with it he wanted me to have it. This was an honor for me and a dream realized. Grand dads rifle is a Model 51 in about as nice of condition as I have ever seen. 85% color case on the engraved action, 95% blue on the barrel and with the original sights. Beautifully figured wood and the checkering is still nice and sharp with few damaged diamonds. The 32-40 barrel is octagon to round and the bore is very nice with just a little "frosting" keeping it from being perfect. The double set triggers are the only ones I have experienced that come close to the ones on my #8 Ballard. I will have it at the range this weekend and am anxious to see how the old girls shoots. If I can figure how to post photos I would love to share some with the single shot lovers here and will attempt to do so in the near future. I have already sent photos to Paul and Gail asking for any sources they may have to research the rifle, if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate hearing them. This has been a wonderful month for acquiring rifles, earlier this month Kenn Womack of (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) visited us and brought along a nice #1 1/2 roller that ended up staying with me and filled a gap in the rolling block collection. Thankfully my wife supports my collecting and working on single shots and enjoys shooting them as well. It just doesn't get much better than this.

SSS

Congratulations on a great find. Sometimes patience pays off. It is always a good idea to let somone know you are interesed in an item if it ever comes up for sale. Can't wait to see photos. My only advice is to shoot it and enjoy. I have a plain Jane 44 1/2 in .32-40 and it is a great cartridge. The rarest 44 1/2 I have is a 28 " barreled model 45 in .22 short that has no rear sight dovetail. Factory tang sight gun with Lyman Tang sight as I recall. That reminds me that I need to pull it out and shoot it again.

Considering you were ready to take any caliber 44 1/2, you surely got a great caliber and a great model too! Mine is a .25-21 caliber.

I'm jealous, would love some pictures,lots of pictures.    ...MIKE...