Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns An Old Stevens 311A Followed Me Home

I tripped over this rough old Stevens 311A the other day at a rual pwn shop. They wanted $150 OTD. I did take it out back and shoot it, patterns a bit low and loose for its 30" barrels, but the bores had light rust and may be shredding shot cups. I figured if it's still there Monday I was supposed to rescue it.



Well, it was still there. I had dropped a set of micrometers in my back pocket and pulled the barrels off to check the chokes. The left barrel came in at a tight full and the right one fell between modified and improved. Hmm... the left barrel was always the more open choke on these guns. Also when I popped the forend off, the ejector activator came loose from the forend metal and skittered across the floor. The screw that holds it to the forend metal had broken off. It is captured by the hinge pin so I replaced it carefully, bringing the extractors back to life.

My pal who works there was looking all sheepish and I said "Guys, this is a hunnerd dollar shotgun at best. I don't know what you have in it but I'll go a hundred and throw in seven boxes of 20 gauge field loads (which we have no shotgun for and I miraculously had in the truck today) so you make a buck on it" The opposition huddled, the deal was agreed to and the old double came home today.

I took ten clay birds out to the thrower and powdered nine of them, alternating barrels. Short stocked old bastard kicks like a mule and a good pad is getting ordered while I de-crud the action, polish/reblue the barrels and (after the pad arrives) refinish the stock. For no good reason I love it.

I got most of the metal work done today, so bear with me while I post more photos. This old shotgun was made in 1949 so it had 67 years worth of crud caked in and on it. 3M fine pads and 0000 steel wool got most of it off and produced a finish appropriate for a working gun. The action got soaked in PB Blaster, douched with carb cleaner and a light coat of Rem Oil left inside. The receiver is staying as-is for the moment. FWIW, Brownell's Oxpho Blue is some good stuff for cold blue- miles ahead of Birchwood Casey. Stock work begins in a few days.

What recoil pad you gonna use?

Sure is looking good so far. I look forward to seeing your work on the gun progress, as I worked a similar vintage Stevens 20 gauge over several years ago.

They ain't to pretty but your grand kids will still be shooting it when we are long gone.

I haven't quite decided on a pad yet Webster... been trying various slip-ons from the spares box and right now Limbsaver is the top contender.

And thank you all for your comments.

I have one of those in 16 gauge. I opened the chokes to I/C Modified, bead blasted the barrels, dropped them in a bath of hot salts and refinished the stock/forend. It's been my favorite rabbit gun ever since.

I also have a 16 311A

I shoot it lights out, unlike any else I own.

The wide field of view and the comb drop just fits.

Guess that means I have wall eyes.

Or blue eyes. One blue this way, one blue that way.

Congrats on finding it. Good purchase

Work in progress on the Stevens 311 stock. It has just a bit of grain which will hopefully come to life with the stain and Tru Oil applied. The pad is a 1" Pachmayr Decelerator, shaped and sanded in with the rest of the stock. I shortened the stock about .4" which puts my finger right between the triggers with the pad resting in the crook of my arm.

Bottom pic shows the relief bevel, ground into the top of the pad, which allows the gun to be mounted w/o the pad hanging on your clothing.

i did a similiar thing to an old stevens a few years ago. it was my neighbors gun and sat in his basement for years. cracked and loose stock painted with some kind of ugly wrinkled stain, funky triggers but surprisingly decent blue. i took my time and refinished it and had the triggers fixed and it is quite nice now. its good to take those old economy guns and breath new life into them.

I agree, rem141r. I've got four boys and two grandsons who are or will be shooters. Sooner or later they will all line up to try it.

I've got new firing pins, springs and hammer springs coming for this one along with a new ejector and screw to mount it to the forend iron. Hell it might go another 67 years with little TLC

btw, a truoil oil kit with the regular walnut stain brought out the grain on my old stevens really nice. i used the stock conditioner to rub the shine out of it too. looks pretty close to what the factory probably had. it just needs 90 years of patina now.

My Stevens Springfield 20ga came out nicely using the Birchwood Casey kit. I used a replacement buttplate from NC Ordnance Co - reproduction Stevens with the big "S" logo.

I ended up with a 1" Decelerator pad and shortened the stock .4", to land my finger squarely between the triggers with the butt centered in the crook of my arm. I also tapered the forend into the iron for a better fit in that location.

I also used Birchwood Casey's Walnut Stain and Tru Oil, with 0000 steel wool applied after each coat and hand rubbing on the last one, for a satin finish. Also applied a light treatment of the same company's cold blue to the action, for a little contrast with the darker blue on the barrels.

My first shotgun was a 311 in 16 gauge. You did a beautiful job on this shotgun!

They have a worn 16g on the rack at my local gun shop but at $350 it's a bit steep for a project gun. Wish I had the know how.

Nicely done!

The only thing I would add to your comments would be that the idea that the length of the forearm has anything to do with fit is ridiculous.

The elbow moves more than enough to make that measure a non-issue. The relationship between your shoulder and your eye is what matters there...

I was talking about the wood to metal fit, Sitka

I understand that... it is the measurement for length of pull using your forearm and hand that I was commenting on.

Gotcha.

I don't claim to be an expert on shotgun fit. I did however spend 25 years training male and female shooters, of all shapes and sizes, how to manage patrol rifles & riot guns with hard-kicking loads.

The 'crook of the arm check' or whatever you wish to call it, is not the end-all be all of stock fit. It is however a relevant indicator of whether an individual shooter is going to have difficulty managing a particular long gun. Miss that dimension by an inch or more and it requires exponentially more effort on the shooter's part. I saw it too many times to be convinced otherwise.

As an indicator, my fingertip to fingertip spread is almost 7'. My shoulders are not particularly wide. Using a stock with my measurement says I need almost 18" LOP... I am only 6'4".

I shoot fine with factory stocks on a 101, most Berrettas, Browning BPS, 870s, and so on. A 17" LOP is ridiculous for me.

That number happens to be close because it falls into the range of averages, not because it is relevant.