First, let me say hello. I've been lurking here for a little while.  Great place you have here.

  I'm considering getting something in 17hmr, and I'm leaning toward a single shot rifle of some kind.  I just got rid of a Savage bolt action rifle in that caliber that I was never impressed with. I still have a bit of ammo, so I'm hioping to find something I like better to use it in.

  I'm leaning toward a Stevens favorite.  I see that they are or at least were available in 17 recently.  The modern ones are available in magnum rimfire, but would it be safe to put a 17HMR barrel on an old Favorite?

  How about a Remington #4?  I don't have one of them, but I have a lathe.  If I score a #4, would it be safe and sane to make a modern, magnum rimfire barrel on one of those actions?

  Any other single shots (current or old) that I should be looking at?

I would think an old original Favorite would be marginal at best for the .17 HRM. The recent production guns are out there. Reasonable price is a matter of opinion. I have been looking for one for some time in .22 Mag and the .17 HRM seems to be selling for the same prices. You are talking around $350 for either. I have one in .17 HRM that I bought new when they first came out. Took forever for the dealer to get it. I installed a repo of the original Stevens tang sight from Jeff's Outfitters and one of their globe front sights. Had to have the tang drilled and tapped. Fun little gun. Trigger pull is on the heavy side but seems to lighten up with use. It is not a target rifle anyway. Fun gun though. In the old Stevens line the 44 action is a suitable candidate for the .17 HRM. I have one in .22 Magnum that John Taylor did for me. Also have one in .17 HRM that I bought that way. It has factory double set triggers. I recommend staying away from the original Favorite for the .17 HRM.

  Thanks for all the replies.  I think I'll skip putting a 17hmr barrel on anything old.  I still want Remington #4, but I'll stick to original calibers.

  I'll keep my eyes peeled for a modern Favorite.  I may decide to get a Contender barrel, or go for a Handi or a Rossi if impatience really gets the best of me (either of those can be had over the counter close by).

jlwilliams wrote on Nov 24^th, 2013 at 4:16pm:


The ORIGINAL Stevens Favorite 1894 and 1915 series Rifles were built with relatively soft Screws and pins and seem to 'shoot loose' if used with anything stronger than a .32 Long RF cartridge (90gr bullet and about 12gr of Black Powder).
A MODIFIED Stevens Favorite, replacing the screws and pins with modern stronger Heat Treated and Tempered alloy steels, would be capable of handling the Chamber Pressures of the .17 Winchester Super Magnum (17WSM) cartridge.  The Barrel of the Stevens Favorites has a Tenon diameter of about .660" and calculating the the strengths would have a reasonable 'factor of safety' with a 17WSM diameter chamber.  The Breech Face would receive a force roughly equal to the chamber pressure times the area of the cartridge rim, and with the stronger screws and pins fitted, would also have a reasonable 'factor of safety' as the Originals withstood the larger thrust from a .32 Long RF, and have withstood conversions to .32 Long Colt cartridge.
Best Regards,
Chev. William