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Old June 19, 2015, 02:21 PM   #1
RogerDoc
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JT Stevens A & TC Long Pistol Single Shot Inquiry



I'm not entirely sure what year it is. Serial Number is 39239. My Grandfather gave it to my Father before his recent passing, and my Father is really interested in finding out more about this weapon. I'd love very much for somebody to help give me any information on it possible! Thanks!

It's silver plating, not nickle, with a trigger guard, which I heard wasn't normal for this kind of single shot, from my Google searches.

Last edited by RogerDoc; June 19, 2015 at 03:24 PM.
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Old June 19, 2015, 09:45 PM   #2
James K
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I am willing to be corrected by someone with more knowledge of those guns, but I think that is the Stevens Offhand Target No. 35. They were made c. 1907 to c.1916. Your serial number is in the right range. They were made in .22 Short, .22 LR, .22 Stevens-Pope, .22 WRF and .25 Stevens. Most were in either .22 Short or .22 LR.

That basic action was used on a rather bewildering variety of single shot target pistols, with and without trigger guards. They were very popular for both indoor and outdoor target shooting in the period from roughly 1880 to 1910.

Are you sure the plating is silver? Normal plating was nickel, so silver would have either been a special order or after market.

Jim
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Old June 20, 2015, 08:04 AM   #3
Mike Irwin
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Agreed that it's most likely nickel plating.

I've got one of the Stevens tip up .22s that is nickel plated.
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Old June 20, 2015, 09:13 PM   #4
James K
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Mike, I copied that cartridge list from Flayderman's but have never seen a cartridge called the ".22 Stevens-Pope", and can't find it in my limited number of books on cartridges. Do you have any examples or know how it differed, if at all, from .22 Long or .22 LR?

Jim
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Old June 21, 2015, 07:43 AM   #5
mapsjanhere
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"The .22 Stevens-Pope Armory cartridge was brought out by the Peters Cartridge Co., and is the same as the .22 Long Rifle cartridge except that the shell is crimped on the bullet."
From Hunter-trader-trapper, Volume 22, Issue 1
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Old June 21, 2015, 09:58 AM   #6
Mike Irwin
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I've heard of it, but I've never seen one, or seen packaging for the cartridge.

This MAY show packaging for the .22 Stevens-Pope.

http://www.ammolady.com/sitebuilderc...g.w300h164.jpg

Apparently it was an attempt to improve match accuracy of the .22. I've also seen vague allusions to rifles and handguns for this cartridge using a modified rifling designed by Harry Pope, but I'm just not sure.
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Old June 21, 2015, 10:10 AM   #7
Mike Irwin
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This is my Stevens tip up. I THINK it's a Model 41, but it's so damned difficult to tell because there were so many different models with slight variations.



The serial number is in the 21K range, and is marked on the barrel, not the frame. The nickel plating is in virtually pristine shape given its age.

There's no cartridge marking, but I assume that it's .22 LR, given that I've fired that cartridge in it years ago.
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Old June 21, 2015, 01:24 PM   #8
James K
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Thanks, mapsjanhere. That ties in nicely with a point made in a discussion of the S&W Ladysmith Model M. S&W stated at the time that the .22 Long was recommended, even though the cylinder would accept .22 LR, because the .22 LR was not crimped and the bullets kept jumping forward under recoil and tying up the gun.* As part of that discussion, I mentioned that the .22 LR cases of the time were uncrimped or only lightly crimped because they were used in rifles (where that problem didn't exist), and because crimping was thought to be detrimental to accuracy.

So, it seems that the uncrimped or lightly crimped .22 LR cartridge I had read about was then the standard and the .22 Stevens-Pope was crimped. Odd how things tie together if we have all the information.

*Another tie-in. Anyone recall that S&W had the same bullet jump with their lightweight .357 J frames. "The more things change...."

Hi, Mike,

I wonder if that is a No. 43, either a late first model or a second model, with an altered rear sight.

Jim

Last edited by James K; June 21, 2015 at 01:32 PM.
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Old June 21, 2015, 01:35 PM   #9
Bill DeShivs
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It's a Stevens 35. They were also made in .410.
The plating is not silver-it's nickel. Old nickel plating can frost up making it look similar to silver. I can assure you it's nickel.
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Old June 21, 2015, 02:15 PM   #10
Jim Watson
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Agree with Jim K. There was also a designation of .22 LR as we know it with crimp for use in repeaters as ".22 S&W Long."
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Old June 21, 2015, 02:17 PM   #11
Mike Irwin
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No the sight is original, and apparently one of a myriad of combinations that could be had.
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