Phil’s mystery Stevens 311

[Garth Gustafson]

Saw this posted in in today’s Sporting Classics Daily. Great story Phil!

https://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns/guns/gs-and-the-mystery-stevens-side-by-side.html

[Rob Marshall]

Great story! I'm a 311 fan.
20ga
https://i.imgur.com/PU5Cp9p.jpg
16ga
https://i.imgur.com/R8jCQrm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/elHcVLi.jpg

[Rick Losey]

nice write up

must be someone who has a kid who could build new memories on top of GS' old ones

[Randy G Roberts]

Nice work Phil. Concerning the "GS" you may as well start at the top. How about George Strait or maybe George C. Scott :)

[Dean Romig]

I've enjoyed Phil's writing ever since his first contribution to Parker Pages, Winter 2015 Issue, "The Fox or the Parker".

Lately he has been sending his poetry, which I especially like.

Please keep writing Phil!




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[charlie cleveland]

i too have a soft spot for the old stevens doubles i have a 311 410 and a stevens 12 ga double....i really liked this storey and this gun.....charlie

[Lee Sherfield]

Excellent !

[chris dawe]

Nice job Phil!

[Jerry VanHorn]

I saw the article..and thought I would post a photo/story of my 311 20 gauge. Dad bought me a new Remington 510 in 1957 to shoot Jr. NRA in our town. I still have it. I thought I was ready for my first new shotgun, so all of 1959 I made my case to Dad. He was not as enthused as I was..(or so I thought)..All through December I searched the house for it..NO luck..But on Xmas morning..Dad went into my room and returned with the 311 . It had been under my bed for a week..NEVER thought to look there. I have a front page picture from our hometown paper (1960) with me and 2 friends..and a pile of pigeons that we killed on a Saturday morning when we used to have pigeon shoots..on US 40..to get some of them out of downtown shopping area...Years later I had Dennis Smith restock it in XXX wood..and shape a small beavertail. Oscar Gaddy made the triggerguard. The blue and color are original..It will be up to my oldest daughter which of the grandsons gets it..and others. Memories...... I have the original hang tag..It cost Dad $68.50 in Clay City, Indiana..

[Bill Murphy]

What a great 311.

[Jerry Harlow]

Great article.
I guess the Stevens 335 was as close to a Parker as they could come.

[Shawn Wayment]

Really enjoyed it!!!

[Phil Yearout]

Thanks for all the kind words. A friend pointed me to it; I was surprised to see it pop up after all this time! Guess they had some space to fill :)…

By the way, the gun finally did find a new home; a fella said he had a grandson who was gonna be pretty happy. I didn't mention G.S.; figured I'd let them find that themselves.

[Dave Noreen]

The J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. No. 385 was their best double --

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[Dean Romig]

Nice!... and a recessed hinge pin - what’s not to like?





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[Jerry Harlow]

The J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. No. 385 was their best double --

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Can't imagine many of these were made. I had seen the 335 with the recessed hinge pin but not the 385.

[charlie cleveland]

nice guns not found around where i live....charlie

[Mike Franzen]

I love Stevens shotguns. This is the first double barrel I ever owned. If I remember correctly it’s a model 215 but I could be wrong. I know it’s not a 311. 20 gauge with 28” barrels. Good solid gun. One I will never sell.

[Dean Romig]

The wood looks pretty nice Mike, can you show us more of it?





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[Phil Yearout]

Mike, I've never seen a Stevens engraved like that; gotta be a custom gun?

[Phil Yearout]

OK; here are my three Stevens guns, the first doubles I ever owned. I sometimes still think I shoot them better'n any of 'em! They're all stamped 5100, which Researcher has said is actually an action shape designation (or something like that) and not a model number, but a lot of folks refer to them as 5100's. They all have real checkered walnut wood and twin ivory beads. Only one fully owns up to being a Stevens; the 16ga is marked Springfield and the 20ga is marked Ranger.

16 gauge...
https://i.imgur.com/NNnoVqCl.jpg

20gauge...
https://i.imgur.com/DidLgEpl.jpg?1

and .410, which some folks list right up there with the Winchester 24 as the ugliest double ever made. I like it though...
https://i.imgur.com/7qCLl2Gl.jpg

[Daniel Carter]

A Stevens 410 was my first double and it has shot every upland bird in New England, all water fowl except a goose, many rabbits and hares, ugly, no. Still shoot it, started my boys on it, grand children too. It will be with me to the end. Love to take it to the skeet field and see the looks on the faces of guys who don't know me.

[Dave Noreen]

The No. 215 was a hammer gun. The G.S. Lewis patent No. 1,136,247 granted Apr. 20, 1915, gun was introduced in the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co.'s last large catalog, General Catalog No. 54, as their lower priced line, Riverside Arms Co., No. 315 in 12- and 16-gauges --

74364

J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. was acquired by New England Westinghouse for war production for The Great War, and was renamed J. Stevens Arms Co. After the war, NEW sold J. Stevens Arms Co. to Savage Arms Corp. which continued to operate it as a separate entity until after WW-II. The Riverside Arms Co. No. 315 continued in the offerings after WW-I and by 1923, they added a slightly upscale version the J. Stevens No. 330 and added the 20-gauge to the offerings --

74365

By 1925 they added a .410-bore version --

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About 1928, J. Stevens Arms Co. changed the name of their low priced line to Springfield Arms Co. For 1929, they added a lower priced version of the G.S. Lewis designed gun, the Springfield No. 311 --

74367

In addition to these three quality levels of the gun, J. Stevens Arms Co. produced numerous "trade branded" versions of this gun up to WW-II.

[Dave Noreen]

I started my Pheasant hunting career with one of these G.S. Lewis designed J. Stevens hammerless doubles that was marked RANGER on the side of the receiver, a Sears, Roebuck & Co. "trade brand." It was my Mother's shotgun. It had been restocked for her with a straight grip and a quality trigger guard with long backstrap by my Great Uncle Art Gustafson, a Seattle area gunsmith. So, even at thirteen I needed a lace-on pad for extra length.

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Phil's lovely set of Stevens doubles appear to be the gun that was the follow on to the J. Stevens No. 330, the No. 530 from 1936 to 1947 or the Model 530 from 1948 onwards.

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For 1939, Savage Arms Corp. took the internal parts of the No. 530 and put them in a bit nicer profiled black gun metal finished receiver, and fitted it with a bit nicer stock and called it the Fox Model B --

74379

[Dean Romig]

Dave, is that a '59 Chevy?





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[Dave Noreen]

A 1959 Bel Air four door, Blue Flame Six, three on the tree, dog dish hub caps. That was my family car from 1937 to 1965, a middle grade Chevrolet six with a three speed -- 1937, 1938, 1941, 1948, 1950, 1954 and that 1959.

The 1948 Fleetline --

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[Dean Romig]

Good stuff Dave - Looks like a Chevy family to me. I envy you your Dad and grandfather and being brought up in a family of hunters. My early mentors were the writers in Field and Stream in the 50's and 60's.





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[charlie cleveland]

guess you would have to say you cannot go wrong with a stevens or a chevrolet....love this old catalogue stuff.....thanks charlie

[Ken Descovich]

I'm with you Dean I wish I had some family history with hunting and firearms. I got the bug when I was about 13 and going strong ever since.

[Mike Franzen]

I knew the 215 was the hammer gun. I have the 315. An old neighbor woman who used to let me hunt rabbits on her farm showed me the 215 she kept for home defense. Her deceased husband had sawed the barrels off to about 10 inches. It was a nasty looking weapon. I commented that she could get in trouble with the law if they caught her with that gun. She just cackled and said “When the law shows up I’ll just play dumb. I’ll look at them and say it was Henry’s gun. I don’t know nothin about it”. I wanted that gun in the worst way and on a return trip offered her $300 for it. She smiled and said, “Honey when the law comes for you playing dumb won’t work like it would for me”. Now I want to buy a 215 after reminiscing about this.

[Dean Romig]

The first shotgun my Dad bought for me (1/18/1960 my 12th birthday) was a Stevens single shot 20 gauge with exposed hammer and the lever was on the right side of the frame. It was a light “boy’s” gun that kicked pretty hard and I didn’t like shooting it very much. But I shot a lot of pheasants, rabbits and ducks with it.
Then in late ‘61 I discovered a 12 gauge Trojan that had belonged to my best friend’s grandfather and I got that gun on loan until about the beginning of ‘65.





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[Mark Ray]

I knew the 215 was the hammer gun. I have the 315. An old neighbor woman who used to let me hunt rabbits on her farm showed me the 215 she kept for home defense. Her deceased husband had sawed the barrels off to about 10 inches. It was a nasty looking weapon. I commented that she could get in trouble with the law if they caught her with that gun. She just cackled and said “When the law shows up I’ll just play dumb. I’ll look at them and say it was Henry’s gun. I don’t know nothin about it”. I wanted that gun in the worst way and on a return trip offered her $300 for it. She smiled and said, “Honey when the law comes for you playing dumb won’t work like it would for me”. Now I want to buy a 215 after reminiscing about this.

I have a Springfield marked 12 that I bought at a yard sale that had the barrels hacksawed to just over 18”, and the stock cut off also. On the first attempt to cut the stock down, the highly qualified amateur gunsmith encountered the stock bolt, so he backed up a little and was succesful. When I got it, the forearm was attached with black electricians tape.

Nasty tool.

Ill see if I can dig this beauty from the recesses of my gun stuff and post a pic soon!