So am I correct in hearing some of you guys saying the 044 1/2 action isn't very strong?  Gail once told me she had one chambered in 28-30 Stevens, which really intrigues me.  However, I was planning on starting with the 25-20 Winchester for a centerfire.

I haven’t redone a 044-1/2, but did convert a 44-1/2 in .32RF to .32 Ideal.

The firing pin hole on RF Stevens 44-1/2s is angled differently than the CF, so that the the same straight turned pin works for both types.  A new firing pin in the RF channel had to have the business end offset in order to hit the CF primer in the center.

The block can be drilled through with the proper size drill and the block face dovetailed for a rectangular plate.  When that is fitted, the centerfire hole can be spotted in the usual way with a pointed rod down the barrel.  Then things get tricky.

The block needs to be set up for drilling at the same angle as the Stevens firing pin channel.  When that is done, the drill rod blank for the firing pin is put in the hole and spotted with a toothpick, (or the shank of the drill used for the pin hole), dipped in spotting compound.

Then it’s a matter of offsetting the pin blank in a 4-jaw chuck so the spotted part is centered and turning, spotting, filing, cursing, filing some more and polishing until enough of the offset pin sticks out the front of the block to fire the cartridge.  The end is polished to the Orca-snout shape that fits the angle it’s coming out of the block at, the retainer slot filed in and the end cut off at the proper angle.

I actually had to drill the pin channel in the block with an oversized drill so the pin would have some extra diameter to support the skinny little offset nubbin that contacts the primer.  So far, it’s worked without breaking (knock on wood).  If the original chambering had been .38 rimfire, this wouldn’t have worked, and a CF conversion would have required a major change in the firing pin channel size and/or angle.

Big difference from a Winchester, where the hole is in the center for CF conversions and you just use the hole in the bushing as a guide for a hole in the firing pin body, and solder a piece of piano wire in the center for the contact end.  I hassled with that Stevens pin for 2-3 days before it fit, and that was besides all the work done on the breechblock.

I don’t imagine CPA is worried about any liability on such work.  The 044-1/2 will handle cartridges suitable to it’s size the way a 44-1/2 will.  More likely they want to avoid having their customer’s head explode when they return what looks like a 3-hour job with an invoice for 3 day’s worth of work.  And getting on here with a sad tale of gouging, exploitation, disenfranchisement, discrimination, etc.  Bad for business.

Bent_Ramrod, 
Wow, I commend you on the conversion and the persistence in getting it done but I’m not to sure it wouldn’t have been easier to make a new block. Of course you wouldn’t have known that until well into the project. Getting the new firing pin hole lined up with original pin body hole had to be interesting!
Bob

scharfe wrote on Sep 15^th, 2021 at 11:28am:


I have a 44 1/2 that was redone by Paul Shuttleworth.  I would like to bring the 044 1/2 on line as a functioning rifle as its a project piece right now.  Considering everything I've read here maybe the best thing for me to do is just keeping it a rimfire.  I don't really need another 22 long rifle so maybe a step up to a 22 Magnum and/or a 17 Honnady Magnum might be the way to go.  That is until the day I'm lucky enough to stumble on to a centerfire breech block for the 044 1/2.

I am no machinist but here's a thought.  Does anyone do custom work with a CNC mill?  If so, could my rimfire breech block function as a pattern for making a duplicate?  That is short of installing the firing pin and it's mechanism.  Custom work may be pricey but sometimes there are few alternatives.

JLouis wrote on Sep 16^th, 2021 at 11:13am:


No I haven't.  Do you have his contact information?  Thanks

Ssdave so could you then help him out and make him one.

JLouis wrote on Sep 16^th, 2021 at 3:27pm:


Thanks