Screw slot wide enough/deep enough to use a coin as a screwdriver?

Which to me would also explain why the head sticks out so much.

Bill Lawrence

I wondered for a while why the head of the takedown screw on my Enfield Mk.II revolver was so deformed, until I realized it was made to fit a one-shilling piece.   British officers always had change on their persons, because in their Army they had to buy their own meals.

Wayne,
Just found the full round barrel I have...
26" long, breech dia 0.980", muzzle dia 0.912"
The front dovetail is the old larger Stevens width, there is no rear barrel dovetail.
The barrel is drilled for scope blocks, rear block hole spacing ~0.860", front block hole spacing ~0.550", spacing between block centers ~8 5/32".
The barrel roll address looks the same as shown in the picture that you provided, small font, ~1.225" long, all capital block letters, each letter ~1/16" tall.
Caliber roll mark is    22-LONG RIFLE   , ~1.150" long, each block letter ~1/8" tall.
There is no serial # on the barrel.
One other thing that I almost missed...  at the 9 o'clock position, centered ~1/4" forward of the shoulder (barrel to receiver face) there is an extremely faint mark consisting of a circle ~5/32" in dia, with a    20    inside of it, the numbers ~1/16" tall. The mark is so faint that a few passes with 600 grit paper would probably remove it.
That faint marking makes me consider the possibility that the barrels may be from the Savage/Stevens era.

And Gail at CPA was correct after all?

BP wrote on Mar 20^th, 2018 at 5:37pm:


Out of curiosity I drifted out the front dovetail filler & measured the width of the dovetail with a caliper to get an approximate number.  I came up with ~0.480", so it certainly is wider than the 3/8" commonly used today.  And at the same 9:00 position as on your barrel, 3/16" in front of the receiver face there is a ~4/32" dia. circle with what appears to be the left side of a P or R or a similar character in the center.  Because the character is off center to the left, it could be a 2-digit number starting with "1" but that's only a guess.  If it was an alpha character or a 2-digit number the right side has been sanded or machined off.  I forgot to mention it earlier.

Wayne

So, is it fair to say that it’s a late Stevens 44 made by Savage as pictured sometime between 1921 & 1932 with a non-standard Savage barrel, a custom take down screw and possibly a pre-WW1 Stevens receiver?

I'd add that the Swiss buttplate and the quality and outline of the buttstock move this Model 44 further out of the "standard" category and closer to approximating what was once cataloged as the Model 45 "Range Rifle".  Moreover, if you accept this rifle as a factory product, by Savage-Stevens standards, it's an uncommon if not truly rare rifle.

Bill Lawrence

Bill Lawrence wrote on Mar 20^th, 2018 at 10:46pm:


Absolutely!  (With the emphasis on "rare"!)

Don't get me wrong here, because I enjoy the Stevens-minded on this list discussing their pets.  But, with the lack of historical evidence beyond the rifles themselves, has anybody ever tried to assemble somethng like a "guide" to these guns?
I've never owned a Stevens, and after reading the confusing (at least) things about them, I'd be fearful of buying one at anything beyond bargain basement price.* I think that something to direct a purchaser would sure be worthwhile. Just a thought here.

* I'd buy most anything if it was cheap enough