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Redsetter
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Side-Plate Stevens
Sep 13th, 2016 at 11:09pm
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Better late, late, late, than never, I suppose, but I finally acquired one to console me in my declining years, #1172, a large frame model in .25-20 SS; bore isn't good, alas.  Besides 1885 pat. markings on barrel, only other markings (other than ser. no.) is number 14 on brl. under forearm.   

Have been pouring over Grant's discussions of them, the most lengthy of which is found in Boy's SSs.  Grant's comments, several times, about the "silkiness" of the action is really true--smoother than any 44 or 44-1/2 I've handled. Haven't yet worked up my nerve to removing the sideplate.

This one includes something I don't think Grant described: a SS trigger, and working perfectly.
  
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Rebel
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #1 - Sep 13th, 2016 at 11:13pm
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Congrats and very interesting.
Might you post a pic?
Aaron
  

WARNING: This post may contain material offensive to those who lack wit, humor, common sense and supporting factual or anecdotal evidence. Let's Go Sonny!
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Redsetter
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #2 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 12:08am
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These are the seller's:

Scope (much older than rifle) is marked "J. E. Gage" in microscopic letters, which is why I also inquired about him.
  
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marlinguy
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #3 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 9:44am
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Very nice! And I love the old Gage scope and mounts!
  

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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #4 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 11:43am
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marlinguy wrote on Sep 14th, 2016 at 9:44am:
Very nice! And I love the old Gage scope and mounts!


That was the reason I pauperized myself to buy it.  At the time these models would have been made ('92-'93 is Grant's estimate), most riflemen, even as early and as dedicated a scope advocate as Townsend Whelan, simply did not own multiple scopes--he talks of moving his one A5 from one gun to another, depending on which he wanted to shoot.  So the first owner, having evidently in his possession an old but still "good enough" scope, perhaps mounted originally on a muzzle-loader, either sent it to Stevens to be mounted, or ordered the gun with the brl. markings offset.

But it really was not the best idea on a breech-loader, because the rear mount made cleaning from the breech impossible.  That difficulty may have contributed to the present condition  of the bore--dark, lightly pitted.   

Clarity of the scope is remarkable for one probably built in the 1880's, if not earlier, when this style of mounting was still widely used.
  
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ledball
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #5 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 1:40pm
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The nicest side plate I've ever seen.  Ledball
  
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Redsetter
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #6 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 2:41pm
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ledball wrote on Sep 14th, 2016 at 1:40pm:
The nicest side plate I've ever seen.  Ledball


Much nicer ones are shown in Grant's books--3 or 4 Deluxe models with PG stocks, fancy wood, checkering, etc.  One of them sports a scope with a similar kind of rear mount positioned on the tang.

Grant lacked any catalogs between the years 1890 and 1894, during which period this model was introduced.  His earliest dating clue is a side plate Favorite in its original box, the label of which bears the printer's code of 5/92.  But that gun has a ser. no. of about 2500, the highest in fact that he had observed, which suggests it must have been produced near the end of this model's brief run.

Anyone seen a '91, '92, or '93 catalog?
« Last Edit: Sep 14th, 2016 at 3:36pm by Redsetter »  
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slumlord44
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #7 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 8:45pm
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Case on that one is as nice as I've seen. Love the scope. Not sure I've ever seen one. Clean up the bore and see how it shoots. May surprise you. I have one in rimfire but not that nice. FYI a 44 barrel can be modified to fit this. My large frame was originally a .25 Stevens and came with the original barrel and a .22 44 barrel modified to fit. Shoots fine.
  
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #8 - Sep 14th, 2016 at 10:47pm
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slumlord44 wrote on Sep 14th, 2016 at 8:45pm:
Love the scope. Not sure I've ever seen one...


Look through photos in Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle, and you'll see plenty of this basic type, though they're all full-length scopes, as was the general preference in the '70s & '80s.  This one, however, is only a bit over 14", which suggests that Mr. Gage, though a craftsman of the old school, was not incapable of changing with the times.  Still, it's constructed with the multiplicity of watchmakers' screws (one pair for each individual lens cell, I'm assuming) characteristic of scopes of the muzzle-loader era.

Talking today with Gary Quinlan, he told me he'd never seen a Stevens SS trigger earlier than the one available for the 44-1/2.  (I have one of those--works fine.)  Anyone remember seeing one on a 44?
  
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marlinguy
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #9 - Sep 15th, 2016 at 9:35am
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Yes, I have a friend who was an advanced Stevens collector. He had a single set trigger 44 built as a #45 Range Rifle. Only 44 I've ever seen with a single set trigger! Unfortunately he was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's last year, and his entire collection was sold off without notice to anyone locally. Unsure where it went, or where any of his Stevens went.
  

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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #10 - Sep 15th, 2016 at 10:52am
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marlinguy wrote on Sep 15th, 2016 at 9:35am:
Unfortunately he was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's last year, and his entire collection was sold off without notice to anyone locally. Unsure where it went, or where any of his Stevens went.


Tragic; that's also my greatest fear, since my father succumbed to the disease.   

His collection probably did NOT go to one of the major auction houses, or you'd have heard about it.  But there are many small-time, country, auctioneers/swindlers who fall into important collections when they're called in by the ignorant (and probably greedy) heirs.  One such collection which included many SSs came to my attention years ago, but the descriptions were so stupidly written that I was afraid to make any absentee bids; those who attended the auction, however, may have gotten some deals.

What's particularly unusual about the SS trigger on this sideplate is that the adjustment screw is not where you'd expect it, at the base of the trigger, but in the trigger plate a good half inch behind the trigger.
  
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marlinguy
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #11 - Sep 15th, 2016 at 9:26pm
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His collection went to a state appointed executor to handle. He had a son and daughter, but no living will, so the state stepped in. A long time friend was handling the gun sales, and I looked at helping him, but they took it all away. They said it needed to be handled by a gun dealer, and "run through his books" so it was all above board. There's no way a dealer could have been as conscientious as his friend, as I know him well and he is very honest.
I think some local dealer took them to sell, but we were so disgusted we didn't want to know anything about the guns.
  

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slumlord44
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Re: Side-Plate Stevens
Reply #12 - Sep 15th, 2016 at 11:35pm
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While we are on the subject, my arrangement is for a local FFL that I trust to sell my collection through Gunbroker after I am gone. He will have all my notes on each gun so he has an accurate description. He charges 10% for the service which I think is fair. Hopefully my family will get a fair return on my collection that way.
  
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