Never heard of one, never seen one.   Assume it has the '94 style breechblock?

slumlord44 wrote on Mar 19^th, 2016 at 12:10am:

Can you post a couple pictures of the caliber marking?
The markings shown in John Boy's link looks like they may have been made with a rotary graving bit using a lettering program, instead of with a roll die or hand cut.

The barrel marking looks to me like it was done with CNC.

I have to disgree. While the caliber markings do not look correct, the caliber markings on my Favorite in .22 WRF are the same block letters. The Stevens logo looks correct. No idea why they used a different script on these.

When I get a chance I will pull my .22 WRF Favorite and post a photo here. So far I am convinced and plan on bidding. I was hoping that someone here might have one to compare and confirm. The one thing that I have found over many years of collecting and researching Stevens is that there is no never and no always when it comes to what they may have done at the factory back in the day. I will never claim to be an expert but I think I have a fair knowledge of Stevens and an excellent collection of reference material. Its an auction. Anyone can bid and I have no problem with that.

I am cautious. That's why I am asking questions here. I pulled out some of mine to compare and now I am more confused than before. The lettering is similar to but not exactly a match for my .22 WRF. The .22 WRF and .25 Stevens guns of mine have a The Stevens logo is also slightly different in script and wording than anything else that I have. Mine read .22-W.R.F. and .25-Stevens. His is .22 SHORT without the dash. His is also missing the CHICOPEE FALLS MASS. I do have one with the adjusting ring. One problem I have is that if it is a modern replacement barrel, someone went to a whole lot of trouble to do this to make a .22 short gun. The lettering could be done. The part that I am also questioning is the patina on the barrel. It could be done but if it has been made up it is another case of a whole lot of work to match the aged, brown gun finish that I see. Someone could have built it after the fact with a new barrel but that's sure a whole lot of trouble and time to go through to get the end result. That's not to say that I have not done dumber things by spending a crazy amount of time, effort, and money to make something exactly to my liking. Going to keep watching it. I'm thinking I would like to have it but not for more than it is worth to me as a shooter. Its got my interest up though because after my research I am sure that they did make some Favorites in .22 Short and now I want one.

Slumlord IS the expert.

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OK, 10 hours to end of auction but: 
* The rifle is an 1894
* But the 1894's do not have a collar at the end of the stub that fits up at the front of the action!
* The 2 line stamp (not a roll stamp) is incorrect

Ergo, IMO - the barrel is not original but for $170 high bid - it's a shooter and doesn't break the bank

Quote:

John Boy,
Take a close look in Single Shot Rifles and Actions by Frank de Haas.

Slumlord,
You sure your 22 "WRF" shouldn't be marked 22-7  ?

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You want page numbers?    

Slumlord,

Glad to see you found the picture of the 94' Favorite with the collar on page 110.
There's also some text about it on page 107 with a drawing (that has a D in the upper corner) at the bottom-center of the page.
One more note about the collar... take a look at the drawing at the bottom of page 332. It shows that the threaded section of the barrel that the collar rotates on has a dimension length of 0.175", so your collar (in order to rotate forward and let the barrel shift back toward the breech-block to get rid of lever-play) should have a thickness that allows a few turns on that 0.175" thread length.

The reason I ask about your 22-WRF stamping is that I have seen the 22-7 caliber marking on some 94' Favorite barrels which had 5 flats cut to look like an octagon barrel, but upon removing the forearm, you saw that Stevens left that part of the barrel that was hidden by the wood as rough-turned round to cut costs.

I have a sizeable supply of various .22 Short ammo. Also several .22 Short chambered guns to shoot it in. It was worth $200 to me to solve the puzzle. I love a puzzle. When I get the gun and IF I can figure out what it actually is I will post the info here. One of the reasons I love this hobby is interesting things like this. Just to clarify, to me, these discussions are not about who is right or wrong, but about learning as much as I can about what is correct and not correct about these great old guns. If they could talk, it would make this a lot easier but much less fun. By the way, I'm Stevensnut over there. They didn't like Slumlord44 for some reason.

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Enjoy the new rifle and looking forward to reading about it here on the forum.  It sure has been a topic of discussion!

The rifle came in today. The barrel has been re blued which is no surprise . I'm  almost certain that it is a Stevens factory barrel.  Both the round and hex part of the barrel are about .04 thinner than my other Favorite with the headspace adjusting nut. That's not enough to get rid of the original barrel markings if it has been re stamped. There is nothing that I can see that it was ever marked differently. The barrel is 20". Most were 22" with 24" and 26" available as an option. They did use a 20" barrel on the Bicycle Rifle. The bore is pristine. There is no indication that it has been re lined. It is chambered for .22 Short and a Long Rifle will not chamber. I have several .22 Short marked Stevens that will chamber a long rifle. The barrel adjusting nut is slightly different than the one on my other rifle. On my other one where the barrel nut buts against the front of the barrel it is a flat flush fit. On the .22 Short there is a short tapered section just before the back of the barrel where the adjusting nut butts against the front of the barrel. The frame has also been re finished and not as good condition as the barrel. Both tangs have a weld repair. The wood has been nicely refinished and the butt plate is a decent original. Gun fires and extracts fine. The barrel markings and wording look right to me on one hand but on the other hand something looks off. The fact that the bore is pristine doesn't go with the fact that the barrel has been re blued and the lack of any sign of old markings makes me wonder if it has been re stamped or not. If it has been re stamped they did a neat job.  The .04 difference is not enough to remove all the markings. The only way I figure the barrel could have been made up would have been to have machined the barrel enough to remove the markings and re stamp them. The barrel could have been re lined and the liner welded and filed down before re bluing. That's a lot of trouble to go to on a rough frame that's had the tangs welded. They did have a 20" barrel and they did offer the .22 Short chambering so it could be authentic. The barrel markings are definitely questionable though. For now I plan to keep it and shoot it and see if I can find other guns with the adjustment nut to compare it to. I would also love to see pictures of a real .22 Short marked barrel to compare it to. I just  love a puzzle.

I appreciate your input. No way will I dispute your conclusion. The barrel would have had to be turned down from something else or made up from a blank. I still think it unlikely that someone would go through all that to build a .22 short rifle on an action that was that rough. That being said, I have done dumber things. As to the 20" barrel, it was definitely in the early catalogs as a Bicycle Rifle. Don't remember the model # at the moment. They came with a case designed to hang on the frame of your bicycle. Never seen one. Would love to have one with the case. Another thing I will do is check the rate of twist. The .22 Short guns had a different rate of twist. If it has the .22 Short rate of twist that would add to the puzzle. The .22 Short chambering was definitely in the catalogs. That doesn't mean they made many, or even that they made any. The .22 WRF is another scarce one that is listed only for a year or two but I do have one of those and it is marked .22 WRF contrary to what some have said. Doesn't mean they didn't use different markings. As to serial #s, my understanding is that they are not necessarily in any particular order or actually mean anything. Makes it interesting for us collectors today.