This one joined my collection on Wednsday last.  

Not as glamorous as a gold inlaid Schuetzen Ballard, but I'm pretty excited about it nonetheless.

This is a very, very early Stevens Model 44.   Reading in James Grant, and taking his belief that the Model 44 serial numbers start at 2000 as gospel, this may well be one of the first two dozen made, s/n 2023.   Barrel s/n matches.

It is in amazingly good condition.  Bore is not quite a perfect mirror, but mighty close.  Barrel has a one-line roll-stamp on the 10 o'clock flat, ending with an 1885 patent date.   There is no chambering marking. The lands will pass a .2195+ gage pin, but not a .2200-, and a slug measures .228"   Twist seems to be 12".  (I need to make a bigger jag so that I can get a tighter fit of my patches.)   That all would imply that it was originally a 22-15-60, but the chamber takes a Hornet cartridge perfectly, so it will be treated as a heavy-bullet .22 WCF.  What's a bit strange is that it's obvious that the chamber area was sleeved before this new chamber was cut.   Beats me why!    Barrel has not been set back.  Still 26" long.

Note that it does not have the screw heads on the right side. That came later. It also has a 7:00 extractor, and the breechblock is cut away from the side, rather than having the slot that the common ones have.  The breechblock is machined from solid, not a casting like the common ones.  The wood and the nice Swiss buttplate look original, and match some pictured in Grant.   Trigger is sweet, at about 2 lbs.   Mainspring is a home-made replacement, that needed a bit of tweaking to let the hammer come to full cock. 

Only sad thing is that Bubba has had at the top barrel flat.   Too many holes, some drilled way off center. Thinking to put a long 3/8 rib on it to cover the ugliness, even if I never use a scope on it. Will switch some irons off another 44 just to get it shooting, but I'd like it to have its' own set from the proper period.  

Quote:

The 22-15-60 was a long lean cigarette of a cartridge with a case length of ~2.010" and a neck dia of ~0.243"
Your 22 WCF/Hornet case is ~0.600" shorter than the 22-15 SS (Single Shot) case.

Nice find!

Hi Frank -

The face of the frame is unmarked.  I checked that right away.  The only stamps are the serial number on the frame, and the single line on the barrel.   (I'll try to get a pic of that later today.  Will post if I get a good one.)  Nothing's been obliterated - the frame is all-over case colors gone grey.  That barrel has been reblued, and the polishing did weaken the s/n a bit, but not the facets of the octagon.  There is no barrel weight number either.   

If you look in Grants "Single Shot Rifles" page 64 you will see that this not 45 but that the early pre 1896 action are model numbered 107,108 109 and 110. After some study I think this is a 108.

Det

That sure is a nice piece of wood. I am  currently looking at a similar rifle in  .25-25 Stevens. The wood is not that  nice but it has a tang sight and globe front.

I'll give that a try, Harry.   Annealing a few screws is easy enough.

Ahd don't use plated screws.

How does the Harwood Hornet compare to the 22 WCF or modern Hornet?  I am not familiar with the Harwood version.