stevens crackshot

[charlie cleveland]

got my crackshot in today very nice gun not new but a nice old gun...I shot it with some long ammo first...brass hulls sticking some then tried long rifle in it had to use my knife to get it out...I got the cleaning kit out I run a brass wire brush thru it it got stuck like to have never got that thing out of the barrel...it was my fault I did not put enough of a longer handle on it....finally found a old handle to help push it thru the barrel...I figure it had been a lot of years since the barrels and chamber had been cleaned...I figure they had been shooting a lot of short cartiges in the gun...any way she now pulls even the long rifles when shot...seems to shoot true...I could hit a can at 45 steps every shot off hand at that...squirls better beware this fall...little gun might weigh 4 lbs should be no trouble to carry a little ways... I then got to cleaning guns it was raining here so I got a few wiped down looked at some I had not seen in a while...a old parker 10 ga with 3 1/2 inch chambers barrels are 30 inches but weigh 8 lbs 7 ounces I bet they are 125 thousands thick at the barrels end...mighty hefty....a little armerican arms 410 hammer gun with factory 20 inch barrels...weight 4 lbs....smallest 410 I ve ever seen....a german drilling 16 x 16 x 7 x 57 r one of the 16 ga barrels has a 22 magnum insert in it..it shoots 2 inches to the right of the scope....what ever you put the cross hairs on it and pull the trigger is done for...it has the quick detachable mounts I believe called claw mounts....the guy I got it from lived and worked as a guide in Alaska...he lived close to me in the winter months...he said he carried this gun broke down on all his hunting trips...he was a retired army man he was a big man about 6 foot 5...name was just slim....found a neww 30-30 marlin I ve never shot have had for many years and never shot it..traded a 55 chevy belair 2 door post for this gun many years ago I wish now I had the 55 back...a lc smith long range gun yep with 3 inch chambers its my old duck gun....that's all folks....charlie

[Phil Yearout]

Charlie, just wondering which model/action your Crackshot is.

https://i.imgur.com/mjpvpuJl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AUFtSICl.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Kathy's grandfather, Charlie Damory, had one of the Stevens .22's looks just like the one at the top. That little rifle hangs in a prominent place in my brother-in-law's den. The only difference I can see id that Charlie Damory's is a "Favorite." can anybody tell me what the difference might be?





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[Jim DiSpagno]

The Favorite had a solid frame in which the barrel would be inserted and locked in place whereas the gun in the pic does it without a solid breech

[Dean Romig]

Ok thanks Jim. I see the difference now.





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[charlie cleveland]

my crackshot is like the second picture...did not know there was two types of crackshots till I seen these pictures...since my gun has come in I seen another crackshot like the top picture....these little guns really shoot true....look out squirls this fall crackshot under one arm and the old 8 ga parker slung across my back...beware squirls....charlie

[Phil Yearout]

Mine is like the top one. I was really looking for a Favorite when I came across the Crackshot at a gun show for pretty short money and I figured, close enough!

[Dave Noreen]

From the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. Catalog No. 53, 1911 --

86014

86015

86016

[Dave Noreen]

In my copy of the second J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. Catalog No. 53, dated 9-1-1913, the Maynard Jr. and the Crack-Shot are over-stamped discontinued.

A new Crack Shot is in Catalog No. 54, the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co.'s last big catalog.

86018

New England Westinghouse took over J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. for war production for The Great War and changed the name to J. Stevens Arms Co. After the war they sold J. Stevens Arms Co. to Savage Arms Corp. which continued to operate it through WW-II. The No. 26 Crack Shot remained in the J. Stevens Arms Co. catalogs to 1941. For 1939 to 41 it is shown with a pistol grip stock.

[Dean Romig]

Kathy’s grandfather’s Favorite.


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[Jim DiSpagno]

Dean, is that a Marbles no.5 beeches front sight? If so? Those babies brings good buck

[Dean Romig]

It is Jim. But the bore is like a sewer pipe, so we’ll never know how accurate it ‘was.’

The front sight is a two position. Flip it up and there is the blade sight within a circle - flip it the other way and up pops a different blade with no circle around it.



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[Russell E. Cleary]

Is this one a “Favorite”? J. Stevens .25 cal. Rimfire.

Was my grandfather’s rifle. He used it on chicken coop predators and garden pests.

Has a cracked the stock from when he attempted to club a ground hog with it and it glanced off a rock.

Was gifted to my brother when he entered his early ‘teens.

7.37 pounds. Looks like it has a “bull barrel”.

[Russell E. Cleary]

Here are cuts of display advertising for the J. Stevens "Favorite", from the 1890 John P. Lovell Arms Co. GUNS AND HUNTING SUPPLIES catalogue.

[Jim DiSpagno]

That is a Stevens Model 44 1/2 I believe. Under the fore end wood would be a marking if it had a Pope barrel on it making it more collectible. If it had a shotgun but, it would be an 044 1/2 I believe

[Dave Noreen]

Looks like basic IDEAL No. 44 1/2 to me.

86296

[Russell E. Cleary]

My brother says that the number under the fore-end is "2", with no abbreviations or punctuations before or after that single digit. So, it should be the Standard barrel. It starts octagonal from the breech, then is round out to the muzzle.

Thanks Jim and Dave for identifying it.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Ok so no Pope barrel no biggie. Still a nice gun. You can always relive to 22 RF and have fun all day.

[Russell E. Cleary]

Ok so no Pope barrel no biggie. Still a nice gun. You can always relive to 22 RF and have fun all day.

Jim:

What is involved in that process?

The few boxes of ammo we have for it now (.25 Stevens Long and Short) is just mused over, never shot any in decades.

It might be better sport, for the J. Stevens to be used for the garden and yard nuisances he deals with now, than the Model 12.
Surgical removal.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Reclining is not a big deal. Liners for .22 cal RF are about $50-70 depending and a good riflesmith can install one in a day. Pricing will vary but not too expensive. I did a few myself in days past but not worth the investment in drill bits and chamber cutters etc for one job.