A Stevens '44' project in the works.

[Chev. William]

I have been gathering parts and pieces for several Stevens rifle projects, 1894 and 1915 Favorites and now Model 44 project(s).

The '44' project started with the purchase of a Stevens sued Model 44 receiver that had been used and stripped.  then purchases of some internals, culminating in the purchase of a NOS CF Breech Block that had not been fitted to an action.  Later I was lucky enough to buy some 'last one' internals from Numerich, including a Hammer, Trigger, and a Firing Pin Retainer screw, which happened to fit the Breech Block.  I also bought a set of Pins and Screws from "MuzzleLoader Builders Supply" and a Lever from "Jack first and some Extractors from "Wisner's".  Then two more "Bubba'd" receivers were bid and purchased on Ebay, one  of which had some internals still in or with it due to damaged screws and pins.  So now I have all but the springs and such to put together a Stevens Model 44 in .32 "Colt" or similar diameter cartridges, in a Takeoff Winchester 700 Barrel originally chambered in .300 Win. Mag.

here is a photo of my receiver after it had been mostly cleaned up ( along with the mocked up 1915 rifle);


Then I bought a Stock for the receiver that came up on Ebay, it came in the mails Saturday and Sunday I scraped it to fit my receiver.  The top tang is hard against the rear of the top cut while the bottom tang is about 0.11" short of the rear of the bottom cut with both tang screws tight in their exiting holes.

Here are photos of the stock as received:



And here are photos of my receiver partially fitted to the Stock:





I have used a new Breech Block Pivot pin and reamed the BB pivot hole(s) to fit it at 0.293" diameter using an adjustable reamer (size &/A) slowly increased in size until the pin just went through.  the Receiver Holes did not need the reamer but fit the pin slightly tighter.
The BB will need further fitting as it's rear face is an interference fit to the receiver rear 'shoulders' so it will not rise into 'battery' yet.
The lever fit its pin well but the receiver needed reaming to allow the pin to fit tightly at 0.292" diameter.
I have not yet selected a link so the link pivots will have to wait.
The Hammer pivot screw head did not fit the receiver counter bore until I 'dressed' the head down in diameter.
The Trigger pivot screw fit its position nicely as received.

I now need to finish documenting the hammer and trigger dimensions and angles to allow future reproductions.
And now with two exemplars of the Hammer I think I can get the measurements to do the drawing.

If I can get the Trigger out of the last Receiver in spite of its stuck pivot screw, with a shattered head, I will have two exemplars of the Trigger to measure for Drawings.

The drawing of the Breech Block is about half finished and I now can measure my one BB to complete that drawing.
Hopefully I will also be able to figure out how much to remove to allow the BB to rise up into Battery position while still bearing on the Receiver rear shoulders for added support against firing pressure reactions.

I will also need to obtain or make a firing Pin to fit.

The Tentative Barrel is a Stainless steel Take off Winchester model 700 used one that presently is chambered in .300 Win. Mag. so will need to be shortened to allow cutting the new chamber for .32 cases of 0.318" diameter, which length is still to be determined.  Obviously the Barrel Tenon will be machined to fit the 44 receiver barrel socket, Luckily I have a copy Frank de Haas' Book with the Tenon dimensions mostly listed, and measurements of my receiver should yield the missing ones.
This barrel was never cut for 'iron' sights so I do not need to worry about indexing yet.  Perhaps setting it up with a tube sleeve, or Shroud, to allow 'floating' it nearly full length is an option?

I may need to leave the barrel locking hole and the extractor to a professional gunsmith as I do not have ready access to a mill.

Finishing this receiver will be a decision to be made at a later date.

The Stock has a finish on it that is good for the moment, as it is purported to be a "Paul Shuttleworth" Stock (CPA Rifles) originally fitted to a Model 44-1/2 Receiver.

So that is the outline of my '44' in .32 Project.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Today I took a photo of the Stevens '44' receiver mocked up with the stock and a Stevens '22-LR' Barrel with the projected future Stainless Steel barrel above it (a 'takoff' used Win 700 barrel in .300 Win. Mag.).
The Stainless steel barrel has enough 'meat' on it to allow cutting off the present chamber and turning a Stevens'44' Tenon and a .32 "Colt" Family' chamber with the completed barrel still about 22-1/4" long Muzzle to Breech Face.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[dusty texian]

Look's like your project is comming along very nice Chev. Good job. ,,,,Dusty

[Chev. William]

They move in "fits and jerks" due to my Financial limitations, I have to wait for my various "retirement" payments to come in each month.  VA Disability, Mil Retirement. Mil CRSC, Social Security, Civil Retirement, all combined about $3600 a month now for bills that run around the same or a little more,  with no Work Calls coming in, my savings have to make up the differences.
The Discretionary spending is from odd payments such as Vacation/Holiday pay from last year's work.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

My Friend let me use his Lathe for most of the day Today so I cut the Tenon on the Winchester 700 Woops...I looked closely at the markings and it is marked as a Model 70 barrel, not a Model 700 as I was led to believe from the Auction Description) Barrel to fit my Stevens 44 Receiver. The front 'locating' diameter I cut is .813" to be a sliding fit in my Receiver socket which measures between .813" and .814". This differs from Frank de Haas's book which indicates is should be .800". The Rear 'locating' diameter is .752" to slide into my Receiver which measured .753" compared to Frank's book indicated .745". I single pointed the 20 TPI threaded section and cut thread relief on both ends so I could screw the Receiver on while the barrel was still chucked in the lathe. I will wait to cut the locking socket and the extractor slot until I have the Receiver and Breech Block properly 'mated'.

I am still thinking of adding a Tube 'shroud' to the barrel on which to mount a Foreend for grip so the Barrel would be essentially full length floating. I am adding photos of the Receiver, a Stevens Barrel and my Winchester reworked barrel to illustrate.


Both barrels with the Receiver below.


Close up of the two barrel tenons.


The Stainless Steel Winchester barrel screwed into the Stevens 44 Receiver.

I think that a 'collar' will be needed between the barrel Tenon Front Face and the Receiver Front face as the barrel currently screws into the champfer at the front of the socket.
This would also give me something to 'hang' the 'shroud' on.

'Still thinking through the next steps.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

PS: I now have a Winchester 700(Correction: Model 70, not Model 700) Barrel Tenon with the .300 Win. Mag. chamber in it left over. Does anyone want it? or have suggestions for possible uses?
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Today the Mails brought me a Stevens 44 Extractor/Ejector minus the Plunger, Spring, and Retaining Pin so I tried it in my 'Wide Slot' Lever and found it fit the Pivot area but when I tried to swing it up to the Link Pin area it would not go.  I guess the Link Pin area of the Lever Ears has been 'squeezed' a little too much when the parts were disassembled/stripped for the Auction Sale.  Correction this 'squeeze' will need to be pondered some before action is taken as I think the Lever is Hardened.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Sunday Afternoon I was able to use my Friends Lathe to single point thread the Winchester Barrel to accept an Aluminum Tube 'Shroud' to allow 'free floating' most of the barrel length.  After Removing the Barrel I noticed I had damaged the Thread start and will need to either fix the damage or remove the damaged thread section.  The Damage is about a Third or a Quarter of the circumference of the threaded section and has the peak of the start thread pushed over to about half the correct distance between peaks.  It is a 20 TPI thread with a outside diameter of about .850" and a root diameter of about .800" or .790" as the locating lead shoulder is .800" in diameter and the tool cut a light groove in this shoulder.

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can correct this problem?

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

This afternoon I used a Suggested 'hand tool' correction method (fine cut Triangle and Flat Files) to remove the damaged thread start, on my Stainless Steel Barrel, intended to mount a Shroud so I may have a "Full Floating" barrel, except for the area about 3" from the Breech Face, a good portion of which is within the Receiver socket.  I believe I have removed sufficient area but will not know until I can get the Shroud Tube itself internally threaded to match.  That will need to wait until I can again get access to my Friend's Lathe and the needed threading tool for inside threads.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Spent This week's 'Free' time reforming .32 R-P S&W Long cases to .32 Long Colt Diameters, and got all 35 remaining done and ready for turning the 'roll' off the top of the rim.  Now I need to have access to my friend's lathe for a full day to change the Chuck off for another holding method, then turn the 'roll' off.
Later I will trim to lengths, some to Short and some to Extra Short For load testing and the rest to my Barrel's preferred .912"-.914" case length for use with 31-090A Bullets.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Wednesday I got back the '44' Receiver that I had the Bad Luck to Disingegrate the head of the trigger pivot screw when tryin g to remove it.  My Gunsmith was able to save both the Receiver and the Trigger so al is well now.  This is the Receiver I reported as having a 'sight grove cut in the top of the Barrel Socket and having all the pivot head slots 'Bubba'd Up' badly.   It now needs thorough clean up to remove the 'crud and corrosion' covering it, Which process started with a trial run through a Vibratory tumbler and Walnut Shell Media.  a 2 hour tumble took a good amount of the 'Crud' off but replaced it with a coating of fine tan powder (Walnut Shell powder??) which mostly wiped and brushed off.  There is still the Corrosion to deal with but I will need to get some more chemicals to deal with that problem.

After the Technician is finished, I plan to try chambering a Stevens '44' Bastardized "25" Barrel with my .250ALRM Reamers.  I will be doint it at my Friend's shop on his Lathe so wish me luck.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Pettifogger]

Neat project.  I am thinking about doing something similar with an old small frame Marlin Ballard single shot.  As a matter of curiosity why are you going through all this work and then chambering for an obsolete cartridge?  Why not go for the .32 S&W Long?  Easy to get components for and much easier to load.  Again, just a question before I decide to work on a similar project.

[Blair]

pettifrogger.

I did the same thing with a #2 Ballard set up in 32 cal. rim and/or center fire.
But, I re-barreled it and chambered it out in 38-55 Winchester. (BP only)
It was a great shooting rifle out to about 300 yards.
I could still hit what I was shooting at out to 500 yard. But it may not knock down the 65 lbs. steel Ram target at that distance.
My best,
Blair

[Chev. William]

Neat project.  I am thinking about doing something similar with an old small frame Marlin Ballard single shot.  As a matter of curiosity why are you going through all this work and then chambering for an obsolete cartridge?  Why not go for the .32 S&W Long?  Easy to get components for and much easier to load.  Again, just a question before I decide to work on a similar project.

Just Because?  Actually. this started with an unanswered question about Lengthened .25ACP cartridges on another Forum.  I found that the .25 ACP diameters could be applied to .22 Hornet brass by reforming and then trimming to various lengths, also turning the .350" diameter Rim down to .303" This yields several lengths that I am investigating starting with the .25ACP:
.25ACP at .610".
.250ALR at 1.000".
.250ALS at 1.125" similar in length to the .25 Stevens Long case length.
.250ALRM at 1.250" this is a potential CF Long RIFLE .25ACP replacement at a higher pressure than .25ACP.
.250ALC at about 1.260-1.280" similar to .30 Carbine case length
.250ALRE at 1.350"
and .250ALRx at any thing up to 1.400" maximum length of Hornet cases.

While waiting for my Chamber reamers to be made by PTG, I started looking for a suitable "Inexpensive" rifle action I could easily rework to fit the cartridges and came across a Stevens 1894 Favorite with a .32 long Barrel.

That got me into looking at the .32 Short / .32 Long / .32 Colt range of cartridges.  I found that they had been abandoned as "obsolete" after transitioning to smokeless powders because the Factories down loaded the cartridge by enough to make them poor choices against the more 'modern' cartridges (BP loads of around 1100 to 1200fps vs Smokeless loads of around 850 to 980fps).
Now I have added:
.32 Extra Short CF (.398" to .400" case Length).
.32 Short Colt CF (.650" case length).
.32 Long Colt CF (.916" to .937" case length).
.32 Extra Long CF (1.150" case length).
and possibly .32 Extended Long rifle CF (1.200" case length) to the mix to be tested.
NOTE: These are all planned with Heeled Bullets of between .308" and .315" Driving Band diameters in barrels that all seem to slug in the .305" to .312" Groove Range.

So I started looking for other Actions and Barrels to rework / use; and found the .25 Stevens which shares bullet sizes with the .25ACP but has rims of .333" but still 'inexpensive'.  Measuring a .25 Stevens barrel I discovered the rim recess is about .348 to .350" diameter in most of the barrels I have acquired. and the Hornet rims seem to be smaller than listed and fit the recess.  

Now I have added some new cartridge designs to the testing;
.25 Stevens Short CF at .510" to .550"
.25 Stevens 'Intermediate' CF at .750"
.25 Long Rifle Stevens CF at 1.000" to 1.055"
.25 Stevens Long CF at 1.125
.25 Extra Long CF at 1.250"
.25 Extended Long Rifle CF at 1.350"

Another range is the same case using a Heeled bullet of around .257" to .260" Driving Band diameters. for a barrel that slugged as .257" Groove diameter.
These can all use the same .250ALRM reamers just varying the depth of the cut chamber out to max at 1.250+".
The rim cut would be added to all short chambers as a second operation and the same for the .350" Rim recesses.

Added 2014JUN18:  I have found some piloted counter-bores with pilot diameter of .250" and cutter Outer diameter of .350" to add to my tooling for these cartridges.  One I have already used a piece of Hobby brass tubing to make the pilot fit a .276"-.278" hole and used it to cut a .350 diameter rebate in a test .250ALRM dummy Chamber I had on hand. Chev. William

I will still need to get chamber reamers for the .32 cartridges but that can happen in the future; however my gunsmith says they may be able to rent suitable .32 Colt or .32 Extra long Rf size reamers so i will put off purchases of the reamers for the time being.

It is making an interesting time of my 'Retirement' while waiting for my Union Dispatcher to call with a work offer.
I have now acquired several Actions in 1894, 1915, and '44' Model Stevens along with several barrels and a few Barrel Blanks and a Marlin Model 56 "Levermatic" short throw lever rifle and parts to make it into a .25ACP rifle with a 23.4" barrel length.  I think this will make an interesting Rifle to shoot when it is completed.

I am now past "Three Score and Ten' so permanent Job Offers are Very Few and way to far between, so I take 'Day Calls' when I can get them.

This has grown "Like Topsi" from "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Fame.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Spending some time this weekend reforming .22 Hornet cases to make .25 Stevens parent cases.
This is a multiple step process that starts with Expanding the neck and shoulder to .250" Inside Diameter, then running the result into a .25ACP Lee Carbide Sizing Die all the way to the rim.
There are following steps needed to remove the roll of displaced Brass from jsut above the Rim and possibly turning the Rim to match Specifications.

This process yields Basic .276" diameter Cases that may be trimmed to various lengths suitable for the intended use.

NOTE: I have found original Stevens Barrels chambered for .25 Stevens have Rim Rebates of about .350" diameter, large enough to accept the basic Hornet Rim.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Was able to get some time on my friends Lathe and got 50ea of my resized .32 S&W Longs that are now .32 Long Colt diameters turned to remove the displaced Brass roll from just above the Rims.

So now I have 50 cases that I can experiment with in making .22 blank Adapters.

I also made a trial chamber with the new .22RF Freeland Match Grade Finish Chamber Reamer I bought through Midway Supply, the problem is it is supposed to cut a .224" diameter chamber but the new one measures about .230", about .006" over size so I checked the reamer at the rim step and it also measures .230".  this Reamer is marked as made by PTG and dated 12/12.

I now have questions for Midway, which i intend to ask tomorrow as they were closed by the time I got home form my friends shop.

I will also query PTG about this reamer to see what their records show.

In the mean time, making .22 blank adapters is on hold.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Midway Supply referred me to PTG.
PTG is sending a Returned Material Label and will inspect, correct, or replace the Reamer.

Now I need to contact RCBS as my JR-3 Press is broken.  the pivot pin between the lever and the link snapped in two and one end fell out while the other end is jammed in the lever bore.  No more reloading or forming Brass until I can get it fixed or the press replaced.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

RCBS Replied via email that they are sending the replacement parts no charge, that is Very Good Customer Relations.

PTG said they will call me when they receive the Returned material Reamer.

In the mean time I have purchased a used Press as a backup, another RCBS of the same design.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Friday The Repair parts arrived and I installed them, so now my RCBS JR-3 press is working again, YEA!

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

  Sunday, I 'puttered' and now have six used Hornet cases, that Cleaned up after splitting the necks, to .750" length and with .276" OD of the .25 Stevens Rf cases.  Longer than the 'Short (at .515") and shorter than the 'Long (at 1.124") these are the same length as the obsolete .22 Extra Long RF cartridge. 
  Historically the .25 Stevens Short RF was not loaded for best performance, so this 1/4 inch longer case with increased internal volume should allow improvement in the performance department.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

My gunsmith is going 'under the knife' for replacement of hips and knees joints so my projects are on hold until all the surgeries and recoveries are completed.  I wish him successful surgeries and speedy recovery without complications.

In the mean time I purchased a used RCBS "RC" press for $30 then spent some time and 'elbow grease' removing 'crud' and surface rust from the ram, after which I oiled the moving parts and joints and then used "C"-Clamps to mount it to my table.
A trial forming .22 hornets cases to .25 Stevens diameters showed it is possible to do the downsizing in one cycle of the "RC" press compared to about 14 cycles of the "JR-3" press I previously used.
Best Regards,
Chev. William