Sometimes the blind hog DOES find an acorn.

Bid on and won this old '94 Favorite in .25  Stevens RF a couple of weeks ago.   

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Very close attention to the listing had me suspecting that it had been converted to centerfire.  I was right.  Not only that, but it's got the top model of Stevens windgage tang sight, AND now that I have possession I can see that it's got a new liner in it!  Fit and finish pretty good. Needs work on the extractor.

Who did it? Fairly recent job.  Begging the seller for some provenance but i don't expect much.

I thought I paid too much, but now I think I stole it.  The liner alone would cost nearly as much as the knock-down price.  (Shipping, taxes and fees were a rip-off, of course.)   

I'm now thinking that the sight is a replica. I had to work the threads with some lapping compound to free it up. And it has a  replacement hammer spring, the tolerances of which were none too good.   But I have it working, and fired a couple of rounds off the kitchen porch to prove it. 

BTW I've absolutely had it with internet geniuses arguing about the bullet diameter and citing Wikipedia.  I'm rewriting the entire article.  Question:  Do you have any solid evidence about when the cartridge was introduced?  Barnes, the source of the present Wiki article, is wildly wrong.  I've narrowed it down some: the 1889 Stevens catalog does not list it, and the 1895 Ideal Handbook gives it a mention.  So somewhere in between, but that's a 5 or 6 year span.

I've been helping Tom Rowe with a few minor points for his upcoming book on the Stevens 44. In there he has reproduced an original UMC factory drawing of the .25 Stevens, so there isn't the least possibility of further argument.  

Phil

Sure shot wrote on Jul 29^th, 2023 at 7:08pm:


Reversing the sight was trivial. It's loose and needs a shim but that's easy.  I'm thinking to replace it.  My old eyes don't see that skinny blade so well anymore.  I've got a couple of Beach replicas in stock......

Yeah, my GB search turned that Favorite up within minutes of its' being posted.  Emailed the seller.  He's a modern gun guy, and went by what the consigner told him.  Very nice, appreciated my input.  Will he change the listing?  Hasn't yet.

The first advertisement for the .25 Calibre Rim Fire that I could find was a big new Stevens layout in the Thursday, January 30, 1890 edition of Shooting and Fishing.  The Stevens ad of the week before mentioned “The 25 Calibre,” but this was a long-running ad which doubtless referred to the .25-20 Central Fire cartridge.

Encomiums from happy users started showing up about a year later.

It appears that gun and ammo companies didn’t hold press announcements back then for new products.  They sent them into the marketplace with advertising for people to notice, or not.

Noticed at breakfast this AM that the 1889 catalog has a marginal notation that mentions the "new .25 rimfire".   

An interesting discussion that I can't add anything too. But to avoid confusion, lets be clear on bore or bored size vs groove size.  I believe it is 257" groove size being referred to as standard? I don't recall what is considered bore size - maybe .251"? 

Steve

Sure shot wrote on Jul 30^th, 2023 at 8:05am:


Good. That nails it down tight, with documentation for footnotes.