Weird Pump - kinda neat though

[MarketHunter]

Steve,

We've got the same taste in pumps apparently. I've got an early one of these marked J. Stevens Arms & Tool that's straight grip with a 32 inch solid rib barrel. I keep threatening to take it duck hunting but it's been so many years since I shot a pump out hunting I'm sure I'd forget to shuck it. I've shot it quite a bit at trap though, it's a clay buster for certain.

I've shot quite a few Model 11 and A5 autos with that kind of safety and never had any trouble with it banging my finger.

I've been on the hunt for a 20 gauge for a long time, had a couple chances at Sears ones but I want one marked Stevens for some reason. The 20 gauges were the first 3 inch chamber gun in that gauge produced as a model all it's own. I've seen a catalog listing for them and they even came in 32 inch!


Destry

[Drew Hause]

Guy Ward was a Stevens rep and did pretty well at the traps with a 525
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL6004019.pdf
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL5925025.pdf
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL6006019.pdf

[Researcher]

From the 1912 J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. shotgun catalogue --







In the 1927 J. Stevens Arms Co. catalogue they introduced the streamlined No. 620, and moved the old hump-backed no. 520 to their lower priced Riverside Arms Co. line --

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Drew Hause

Guy Ward was a Stevens rep and did pretty well at the traps with a 525
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL6004019.pdf
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL5925025.pdf
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL6006019.pdf

Thanks Drew for posting these items. Interesting, huh. Since this Stevens 520 was being shot in 1912 it means it was a direct competitor to the Winchester Models 12/97.

This gun, weighing (according to your post) 7 lb 13 oz feels like a real chunk of steel! But it is lighter than the Remington Model 11 which they started making around 1903.

It is interesting collecting repeating shotguns of this era. They were serious shooters back then and if shooters wanted to be modern they often bought repeaters. My 1923 Model 12 has cast off and so does this 520 (which is actually a Montgomery Wards model 30 (I think); but is the same gun as the Stevens 520). So the men who ordered these guns were serious about a gun that fit. Most folks today accept the gun as it comes off of the rack. I always have. If I want a gun with cast off I have to buy an old one.

This is a fine double site and I hesitate to even mention my old pumps/autos; but I find them interesting. They are usually cheap - but they are far from junk. Being a shotgun kook, I'm a fan of them all.