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January 5, 2021, 12:09 PM | #26 |
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Looks like my Stevens 311.
Only mine is in 20 gauge. Mine dates to sometime in the mid 1950s to early 1960s. I only shoot lead shot target loads in it because I only use it for trap, skeet, and wobble.
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January 6, 2021, 12:37 AM | #27 |
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No need to take the forearm off. If it was made after 1949 it will have a date code located on the bottom of the frame between the trigger guard and hinge pin. It will consist of one or two numbers and a letter in an oval. The letter is the date code. A=1949, B=1950, C=1951, etc. All the way up to 1970. The circled letters on the water table are meaningless.
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January 6, 2021, 12:21 PM | #28 | |
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My old friend !!!!
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Good luck and; Be Safe !!!
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January 6, 2021, 03:23 PM | #29 |
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Two of em
Stevens made a lot of Dept store guns too. My 12 Ga. is a JC Higgins, and the 20 is a Revelation brand, sold by the old Western Auto hardware chain.
The 12 is from the 50's and the 20 1970's The 12 has 26" barrels choked IC and Mod. The 20 is a 30" mod and full. My understanding is most are set up that way, the looser choke on the left and forward trigger. Nothing weird about the ones I have.
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January 6, 2021, 04:31 PM | #30 |
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The pressures of shotgun shells have not changed since the 30s or earlier. Only thing I would not advise is hyper velocity steel. Something about the vibration; I have seen a couple of doubles with separated barrels.
The forward trigger usually fires the right barrel.
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January 6, 2021, 04:39 PM | #31 | |
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Could be
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'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing. Last edited by Pahoo; January 7, 2021 at 12:07 PM. |
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January 6, 2021, 06:34 PM | #32 | |
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Quote:
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January 7, 2021, 05:01 AM | #33 |
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Thanks
Thanks, pesky dyslexia gets me every now and again.
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January 7, 2021, 10:18 AM | #34 |
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"The pressures of shotgun shells have not changed since the 30s or earlier."
No, but the types and hardness of steels used in the barrels have changed. Older shotguns should NOT be shot with steel shot. Steel shot columns don't compress the way lead shot columns do, even with buffering material added. The end result can be a bulged barrel, especially at the choke, or even scoured barrels. I've seen two nice older shotguns damaged by use of steel shot.
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January 7, 2021, 10:21 AM | #35 |
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And speaking of shotshell pressures... here's a good article on the subject.
https://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns...pressures.html
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"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower. |
January 7, 2021, 11:40 AM | #36 |
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With modern shotshells and wads, barrel scouring would be of very scant concern to me with any non toxic shot, but I would not shoot steel or other hard non toxic shot without having steel safe choke tubes added first. Yes you can have the chokes opened up and try it, but if you're wrong you've wrecked a good gun.
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January 7, 2021, 02:47 PM | #37 |
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It apparently becomes a problem if the barrel lead is tight and abrupt. The inability of the shot column to reposition quickly enough as it goes through the lead can result in the shot tearing through the wad, no matter how modern it is.
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"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower. |
January 18, 2021, 09:49 AM | #38 |
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Mod is about the tightest choke you'd want when shooting steel shot. Steel shot loads are in a protective wad so the shot isn't rubbing against the barrel. It's the fact that steel doesn't compress like lead does, so that's the reason for nothing tighter than Mod choke.
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January 18, 2021, 04:16 PM | #39 |
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"Steel shot loads are in a protective wad"
Which isn't impervious to being ripped to absolute shreds as I noted in my previous post. I've seen the effects of of steel shot on both barrels and the protective wad when the wad is no longer... protective.
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"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower. |
January 18, 2021, 05:08 PM | #40 | |
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Quote:
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"I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa |
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January 18, 2021, 05:19 PM | #41 |
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Don't buy a shotgun without checking the choke.
Many older fixed choke guns have had the choke "opened up" and that may or may not be a bad thing. Older pre plastic shot chokes are quite "tight" Typically a dime will not pass through the muzzle of an old full choke 12 ga. the dime is strictly a quick and dirty method of checking. A simple choke measuring tool will do the trick. Can't put the metal back if Bubba removed too much. I once bought a very nice older Win 101 choked mod and full. The mod was fine, the full barrel not so much, it was more open than the modified. Fortunately the seller was good about it. I bought the gun to shoot trap, so I had a double barrel SBT. He gave me full credit toward another gun. Bummer that old Sporty retired. Store is gone now.
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January 18, 2021, 06:28 PM | #42 |
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Older forcing cones ahead of the chamber were abrupt. Not suited to steel shot.
Cut through the shot cup at the forcing cone,you don't protect the barrel. As the steel shot mass hits the choke,it can cause a slight bulge,essentially swaging the choke taper outward. Thats a problem where the barrels are soft soldered to the rib, The solder joint fails. Most doubles have had the barrel walls thinned as much as possible for weight reasons. Between the wall thickness and proper barrel regulation,retrofitting choke tubes is not always the answer. Some modern doubles are made from the start to work with steel.(So I have heard. I have no experience) I'd use the heck out of that shotgun,but I'd shoot lead or bismuth. I own the one and only Berretta O/U I will ever afford and I won't shoot steel through it. I'd buy a utility grade pump if I had to shoot steel. If I felt a need to talk to folks who know shotgun ammo,I'd call Ballistic Products. They sell shotshell reloading components,. I'd bet they know what is safe for older doubles. |
January 19, 2021, 12:46 PM | #43 |
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It might be older than you think. If it says "J Stevens Arms" it could be pre-WWII.
Tony |
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