As a Right Reverend who has officiated at the unholy matrimonies of several masses of disparate parts into Stevens 44s, here are some ramblings:

It is eminently possible to file or grind the lower inside of a 7:00 extractor receiver to take a central extractor, or, conversely, to grind an extra gap on the side of a central extractor receiver to take the 7:00, if the breechblock and extractor are available. A simple straight milling cut would also do for the extractor space on the 7:00 barrel; a slightly more complicated angled cut on a straight extractor barrel to accommodate a 7:00 extractor.  The barrels for 44s I’ve seen might not index close enough to satisfy a “serious” target shooter, but every unmodified one I’ve seen will come up to +1/8th or +1/4th of a flat (a little too far, if screwed tightly), but hold satisfactorily with the set screw and headspace and shoot well enough for my modest wants, or better.

Is your barrel round?  The only way the caliber and Stevens logo would normally not be present on a Stevens barrel would be if somebody turned the octagon part to full round.  Or perhaps they got an aftermarket half-round barrel and stamped the serial number on it.  It is strange, however, that they didn’t stamp the same serial number as the action on the barrel if this was a shop-made job.

Modern brass has a thick enough web so I would doubt you would get into trouble with any loading safe for a 44 action.  If it is an original barrel, it’s probably a .32-20 rather than any of the S&W clan.  But with Stevens, you never know for sure.

Your lever plunger should impinge on the link, not the extractor.  You’d have to look inside to see what’s going on there.

Stevens did offer the 32 Long C.F. on special order.

BP wrote on Nov 13^th, 2018 at 10:33pm:


No doubt, as the sky was the limit for special orders.  But the .32 CF case was the same diameter as the RF case, so the chamber would still have to reamed to accept .32 S&W.

Many thanks for your responses. 
   
The four digit serial number on the barrel is 2484. The 4 at the end of the number is somewhat washed out but I think it's right. The serial number on the receiver is 57x09. There is a bolt head where the x is. I think it's filling in a tapped hole. From its location directly below the wood screw in the upper tang I'm guessing someone tried to put an upper to lower tang bolt in it. The barrel is an octagon to round and is 30" long. The octagon section is 8" long.  Again, many thanks!