old steven shotgun

vinnie13

Hi guys I'm looking for any info on a old Stevens single shotgun or a good place to start looking.
My uncle has a gun that's well over 80yrs old rough as they come but still shooting.

The serial no is a letter followed by three numbers ex: b123

Any help

Cass

My Grandfather and Father had one of these.

My Grandfather's was a J. Stevens model which is what the company was before Savage arms took it over sometime in the 20's (i believe). After that they were made under the Savage name but still called Stevens.

The company dates back to 1864, and was bought over by Savage in the 1920's. The best way to find out when exactly it as made is to find the exact, and full name, of the gun. It was called many things over the years and info from the manufacturer is hard to find. So the name is a better starting point.

• 1864-1886 - J. Stevens & Co. Chicopee, Mass. Pat. Sept. 6, 1864
• 1886-1916 - J. Stevens A & T Co. Chicopee Falls, Mass. USA Pat. Sept. 6, 1864
• 1916-1942 - J. Stevens A & T Co. Chicopee Falls, Mass. USA

I went through this a few years ago when trying to get similar answers to my Father's gun and trying to reclaim my Grandfathers gun (surrendered as part of the 1972 temporary custody act) Spent hours checking every site on the net i could find. Here are three of the manufacturing dates i found:

A somewhat helpful tool is the Blue Book of values. Not ideal and somewhat out of date (at times), but a decent starting point if you have details of the gun.

vinnie13

Thanks very much for the reply,great information.I will have a look at the gun when I'm back in with him see if I can get more info..
Its been promised to me since I was a wee lad and came up UN conversation so I thought I would do a little research to share with the uncle.
He is 76,Gis father had it as early as the uncle can remember and it was a secondhand gun when he got it..

Grizzly 45

Savage/Stevens can be hard to crack,as they never really did serial numbers on their guns until they were mandated by law to do so back in the 1960s[?] by the look of things.
They went by model number and how many were made of the model apprently,esp with the single shot shotguns.
Then they also sold these guns in bulk to companies like Sears Roebuck&Co,Woolworths and others under their brand names too.

I had the same problem with mine.

However whats intresting in this is my Savage OU 20/22 mag has the first letter to start off its serial number ."B" followed by two letters then a number.Thing is;the Savage OU combos didnt have any factory serial numbers either and my serial number is an after production add on done with industrial metal punches,not gunsmith punches.
So I'm wondering here were both of our guns imported someplace by the same dealer who for liscensing purposes had to do some serial numbers up and did so with what was to hand in his shop.??

vinnie13

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Savage/Stevens can be hard to crack,as they never really did serial numbers on their guns until they were mandated by law to do so back in the 1960s[?] by the look of things.
They went by model number and how many were made of the model apprently,esp with the single shot shotguns.
Then they also sold these guns in bulk to companies like Sears Roebuck&Co,Woolworths and others under their brand names too.

I had the same problem with mine.

However whats intresting in this is my Savage OU 20/22 mag has the first letter to start off its serial number ."B" followed by two letters then a number.Thing is;the Savage OU combos didnt have any factory serial numbers either and my serial number is an after production add on done with industrial metal punches,not gunsmith punches.
So I'm wondering here were both of our guns imported someplace by the same dealer who for liscensing purposes had to do some serial numbers up and did so with what was to hand in his shop.??

Your reply is very interesting,seems like it could be a interesting tracking it back to hopefully a year.
Il see if I can get more information off the gun it's self and get a picture

vinnie13

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Savage/Stevens can be hard to crack,as they never really did serial numbers on their guns until they were mandated by law to do so back in the 1960s[?] by the look of things.
They went by model number and how many were made of the model apprently,esp with the single shot shotguns.
Then they also sold these guns in bulk to companies like Sears Roebuck&Co,Woolworths and others under their brand names too.

I had the same problem with mine.

However whats intresting in this is my Savage OU 20/22 mag has the first letter to start off its serial number ."B" followed by two letters then a number.Thing is;the Savage OU combos didnt have any factory serial numbers either and my serial number is an after production add on done with industrial metal punches,not gunsmith punches.
So I'm wondering here were both of our guns imported someplace by the same dealer who for liscensing purposes had to do some serial numbers up and did so with what was to hand in his shop.??

Your reply is very interesting,seems like it could be a interesting tracking it back to hopefully a year.
Il see if I can get more information off the gun it's self and get a picture

Grizzly 45

Have a look at the serial number,if it looks like it was done after the gun was made,without the correct size punches.IE too big for a proper factory job]Then we might be onto something.Also have a look if the proof marks are English?