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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber (Read 17028 times)
Redsetter
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #15 - Mar 24th, 2018 at 10:15pm
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 24th, 2018 at 9:50pm:
Hmmm.   That's definitely not a "square cutout" receiver, but something later.   Could you post a picture of the barrel rollstamp?  

One my early style receivers:



Whole lot better than mine--and I've only got one!
  
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coljimmy
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #16 - Mar 24th, 2018 at 10:58pm
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I have been looking at Favorites for about 4+ years, on gunbroker, etc as well as a few "in person", primarily recording those who had a visible or stated "serial number".  Maybe can make enough sense out of them to write it up in the near future.  I learned a long time ago never to say never or always.  Favorites have reinforced this philosophy.

Most 7 0'clock extractors had a square cut-out with some variation in the tiny radius.  A majority have a metal buttplate, better made than some of the late 1915s.  Serial numbers MAY be continued from the side plates and continue until the 6 o'clock extractors when the prefix A was added.  Those early As were numbered well above 1000.  Then other prefix letters and at least three other non alphabet figures were used, almost always with letters below 1000, see philosophy above.

Extraction problems seem to be from wear, chamber corrosion and inherent in the 7 o'clock extractor, mine looks like it.

James.

  
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uscra112
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #17 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 4:25am
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Where do you figure the break between square and rounded corner is?   My 56888 is square, and my 83929 is rounded.  (Will look for others in the AM.)   

Wondering where the 7 o'clock extractor was abandoned, too.  If it was around 1901 like the 44s, there must be a lot of 7 o'clocks that fall after the straight sequence serial numbers were abandoned. 
« Last Edit: Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:20am by uscra112 »  

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tornadobelt
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #18 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 9:08am
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Barrel roll mark
  
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uscra112
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #19 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 9:26am
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BTW - I no longer consider deHaas as a final authority on anything.  I've caught him out a couple of other times making statements that turn out to be, (to be polite) uninformed  speculation on his part.   

In all fairness, he was writing a tremendous volume of stuff, which meant he didn't or couldn't take time to exhaustively research everything.  Not a few modern gunwriters have the same problem.
  

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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #20 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 9:59am
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 4:25am:


Wondering where the 7 o'clock extractor was abandoned, too.  If it was around 1901 like the 55s, there must be a lot of 7 o'clocks that fall after the straight sequence serial numbers were abandoned. 


Catalog #51 (1901, I think) illustrates the side & wide central extractors.  By #52 (1905 ?), the narrow central one has become standard.  (Why was that done? The wide central one would be less likely to slip by the rim after the parts became worn, which could become a problem with the side extractor.)
  
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uscra112
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #21 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:12am
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Does Cornell have Catalog #51?   If not, please offer your copy for Abby to reproduce. 

What is the evidence that #51 is 1901?   

Narrow extractor is cheaper to make.  QED.



  

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Redsetter
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #22 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:15am
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 9:26am:
BTW - I no longer consider deHaas as a final authority on anything.  I've caught him out a couple of other times making statements that turn out to be, (to be polite) uninformed  speculation on his part.   

In all fairness, he was writing a tremendous volume of stuff, which meant he didn't or couldn't take time to exhaustively research everything.  Not a few modern gunwriters have the same problem. 


Tremendous volume is right.  Not only SS (which of course he expanded in "More SS"), but his book on bolt actions is one of the best there is on the mechanical design & function of bolt guns. His little book on set-triggers is like none other I've seen.  Then on top of his writing & research, he obviously spent much time in his shop working out improvements & other modifications on a multitude of different guns.   

Slip-ups under such conditions were inevitable; the marvel is, he got so much right.
  
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Redsetter
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #23 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:34am
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:12am:


What is the evidence that #51 is 1901? 


Good question that I can't answer with certainty, because I wrote that date (and also the note, "revised 1903") on the copy I have, which is a very old photocopy unidentified as to maker. Only thing I'm sure of is that the original source for those dates struck me as reliable, or I wouldn't have accepted them.  Now, 30+ yrs later, whenever I make such a notation, I always note the source!  

Quote:
Narrow extractor is cheaper to make.  QED.


Sadly, what I expected--just like ceasing to incorporate a mechanism for holding the lever tight.  Considering the several ultra cheap boys' rifles also in Stevens line, it's disappointing the company felt the need to cheapen one of its most famous products.

  
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uscra112
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #24 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 11:22am
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Gotta remember that the man who took over the company when Joshua retired in 1896 was a money man, pure and simple.  Volume, cost control and profit would have been his mantra.   (Fifteen years as a tier one supplier to GM/Ford/Chrysler left me steeped in this way of thinking.)   


  

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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #25 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 11:44am
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 11:22am:
Gotta remember that the man who took over the company when Joshua retired in 1896 was a money man, pure and simple.


Page the (probably crooked) book-keeper; how else does a clerk acquire the assets to take over the company?
  
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uscra112
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #26 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 11:54am
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Borrowed the money.  Leverage isn't a new concept in corporate finance.   I'm more than a little sure that Westinghouse hijacked the company by talking to his bankers, not to Page himself.
  

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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #27 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 5:25pm
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 10:12am:
Does Cornell have Catalog #51?   If not, please offer your copy for Abby to reproduce.


Not that I can find.  What is their quid pro quo, if you know?
  
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #28 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 7:00pm
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Profuse thanks? Of course if yours is already a photocopy they might not want it unless it is a really good copy.
  
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Re: 1889 Stevens Favorite in .32 caliber
Reply #29 - Mar 25th, 2018 at 7:24pm
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Redsetter wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 9:59am:
uscra112 wrote on Mar 25th, 2018 at 4:25am:


Wondering where the 7 o'clock extractor was abandoned, too.  If it was around 1901 like the 55s, there must be a lot of 7 o'clocks that fall after the straight sequence serial numbers were abandoned. 


Catalog #51 (1901, I think) illustrates the side & wide central extractors.  By #52 (1905 ?), the narrow central one has become standard.  (Why was that done? The wide central one would be less likely to slip by the rim after the parts became worn, which could become a problem with the side extractor.)

Strange about the dates... the reprint of Catalog #50 shows a date of 1902 on it.
How could the subsequent catalog #51 be dated one year earlier than its predecessor catalog?
Something's fishy.
  

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