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Wood used in Stevens 1915
Mar 26th, 2019 at 7:10pm
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Hi Everyone
First post.
Does anyone know what type of wood was used in the 1915 Stevens SS rifles?
  
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Bill Lawrence
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #1 - Mar 26th, 2019 at 7:55pm
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The normal stock wood was plain-jane walnut.

However, gum and butternut (aka white walnut) have been observed on some of the lower-end Stevens boy's rifles like the Maynard Jr., so it would not surprise me if these "imitation walnut" woods sometimes sneaked into the Favorite production line also. 

Last but not least, I once had a chance to buy a cased and accessorized Stevens No. 16 Crackshot, fancy walnut stocks, a Pope-rifled barrel, and sighted with one of those 1/2"-diameter Stevens scopes normally reserved for the factory's pocket rifles.  That the outfit was factory-original was not just obvious; the 83-year-old seller had received the outfit from his father, a Stevens employee, for a Christmas present in 1903.

The point is, if you knew the right people and were willing to pay for it, you could get what you wanted.

Bill Lawrence
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #2 - Mar 26th, 2019 at 7:57pm
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The catalog claimed walnut.
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #3 - Mar 26th, 2019 at 8:17pm
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Bill Lawrence wrote on Mar 26th, 2019 at 7:55pm:

However, gum and butternut (aka white walnut) have been observed on some of the lower-end Stevens boy's rifles like the Maynard Jr., so it would not surprise me if these "imitation walnut" woods sometimes sneaked into the Favorite production line also. Bill Lawrence


Gum was also used on some Winchesters, esp. Model '92 carbines, for some reason. It's the heartwood of the common  sweetgum tree, & though similar in appearance to walnut, doesn't hold up as well, due to its greater porosity; but quite good enough, I think, for any boy's rifle.
  
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Amoretti
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #4 - Mar 26th, 2019 at 9:12pm
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I’ve heard in WW2 the GIs would try and get M1s with the gum stocks cause they were lighter than the walnut ones.
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #5 - Mar 26th, 2019 at 11:23pm
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To my knowledge the Favorites were all walnut but I sure wouldn't bet my life on it. They did have some neat options through the years. Delux checkered stock. Delux wood. Several sight options including scopes. Got one with the correct full length scope. Smooth bore was also an option in .22 and .32. You could put together a large collection and not have any duplicates. Lost track of how many I have. I also got into the later versions in the 1970's and 1990's. The late ones came in .22Mag and .17HRM which turns them into totaly different guns.
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #6 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 9:56am
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Thank you gents, now I know! I'm restoring one and the timber needs a few new patches. 
After an acetone bath it looks slightly grey, probably due to its age.
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #7 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 10:02am
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Rub the wood down with ethanol or mineral spirits to get an idea of what its true color is and its refinished color would be.

Bill Lawrence
  
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uscra112
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #8 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 1:11pm
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Once again I'm going to advocate for cleaning the wood thoroughly by running it thru a dishwasher set as hot as it will go, and using TSP in the dispenser.  This works far better than solvents can ever dream of doing.  Also raises dents.  You start refinishing with what is almost new wood.   Try it.   
  

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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #9 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 1:51pm
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 27th, 2019 at 1:11pm:
Once again I'm going to advocate for cleaning the wood thoroughly by running it thru a dishwasher set as hot as it will go, and using TSP in the dispenser.  This works far better than solvents can ever dream of doing.  Also raises dents.  You start refinishing with what is almost new wood.   Try it.   

How long do you let it dry after the dishwasher treatment?
  

"some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #10 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 2:01pm
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A coupla-three days on general principles.  If there's a dry cycle in the dishwasher it'll come out dry to the touch.  The amount of time it's being wetted isn't enough to let the water really soak in.  I've done this over half a dozen times now.  Would still be doing it, but my retirement shack doesn't have a dishwasher.   Cry
  

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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #11 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 4:40pm
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uscra112 wrote on Mar 27th, 2019 at 1:11pm:
Once again I'm going to advocate for cleaning the wood thoroughly by running it thru a dishwasher set as hot as it will go, and using TSP in the dispenser. 


Never had a dishwasher any time in my life, but used plenty of TSP & hot water on the various oil-soaked military stocks of the guns I was buying out of Rifleman ads in the early '60s.
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #12 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 5:13pm
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I got the idea from an old book that recommended boiling the stock in Oakite.
  

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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #13 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 5:34pm
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Is TSP also sugar soap?
  
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Re: Wood used in Stevens 1915
Reply #14 - Mar 27th, 2019 at 5:48pm
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According to what I found in the Innertubes, sugar soap is a European name for TSP, (trisodium phosphate).   No longer a part of laundry and dishwasher detergents, (thank you the EPA), you can still buy it in the paint section at True Value.
  

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