Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors stevens, not savage,but savage made.

Yesterday we took a ride to northern Vermont to check out a few gunshops, i usually go up that way a few times a year. I happened on to a beauty of a Stevens 414 target rifle in 22lr. One of the problems is it has scope blocks,and i have no idea what mounts fit them. now that i have the rifle i have to find the mounts and a period scope to put on it. Here a few pictures maybe someone can tell me what i need. thanks. Don

Stevens 358??

stevens 358

Very cool find! Scope blocks look like Fecker blocks to me. If that's the case all Feckers, Unertls, Targetspots, and Litscherts will fit ok. Fecker mounts were a rch smaller and won't fit easily on more modern blocks but newer scopes fit ok on Fecker blocks.

Nice finish on it. Neat that it has the factory rear aperture sight. Indigenous only to that model and so often missing.

A great scope is the Fecker or Unertl Small Game scope, 6x or 8x, but they like others of that genre are getting rare and expensive, thanks in no small part to scope collectors.

As my dear old mum says, "you need a swift kick in the fanny!" . Wow, how do you find cool things like that in a gunshop? All we have are Sears shotguns and mosin nagants and crap.

Neat old rifle. Saw one of those some years back at a gun show, at the time didn't appreciate what I was handling. Name for this thread "Stevens, not Savage, but Savage made" reminds me of my 'forum handle', Savage 94C. The single shot 16 gauge is really a Stevens, but Savage made. Guess I shoulda' been more specific. I always call the shotgun of my youth a Stevens/Savage. Sorta like the old Glenfield line, were really budget Marlins.

With the condition it has ,i couldn't leave it behind. The shop i stopped at belongs to Rick Gorham in East Burke Vermont,lots of early civil war and up stuff. Hes on gunbroker as Richards guns. thanks for the info i guess i will have to start watching for scope stuff on E-bay.

That's a really cool old target .22, in great shape no less. I'm beginning to think that most of the good gunshops are in the northeast. Either that or I should range a little farther out. Finding a great rifle like that would be hard here, I think. I like the original peep sight on it, can you see over the blocks. After a quick check and cleaning I would be shooting at golf balls on the 25yd berm.

No problem seeing over the blocks, i could shoot it like it is,but id like to get it fully decked out with the correct vintage scope.

Very nice Loggah! I have a "sporterized" 414, and hitting golf balls, or steel turkeys, with aperture sights at 75 yds is only limited by the loose nut behind the trigger

Loggah, have you ever been to the Bennington Armory in Bennington VT? It has been in business for about three years, right downtown. I stopped there coming and going to Maine in 2017 and 2018. They have the most old and newer interesting stuff I have seen in a shop in many,many years.

It would look nice with a Stevens scope on it. (?)These were factory drilled & tapped for scope blocks (edited in - I may have be wrong about these being factory, not mentioned in the catalogs) , Stevens scopes take slightly narrower dovetails than most. Savage/Stevens discontinued all scope between Jan 1928 and Jan 1929 based on two price lists. The 414 was discontinued between June 1932 and Aug 1933 based on price lists. Stevens scopes are made to set position off of the front ring so you need a scope that will give the proper eye relief with your front block location since they are not adjustable. Since the block location was factory I think a Stevens scope made for any for their single shots will position correctly. I have a couple Stevens scopes rifles I can measure for front block location if you consider looking for a Stevens.

PS, when Savage acquired Stevens they ran it as a separate fully owned subsidiary for several years, most Stevens models were still made at the same factory and on the same equipment as they were before Savage ownership.

I have lusted for one of those for years but have also been constantly blown away at how much they go for out here.

Saw a Stevens Walnut Hill rifle a few weeks ago, gorgeous gun but didn’t know if it was Savage mfr or earlier.

Yours is gorgeous, Don.

Dave, I have never been to the Bennington gun shop,pretty far south for me. Gene, I am looking for a correct scope and mount , or one of the correct style and vintage. I'm trying to figure out when this rifle was made.In Bill Wests book he states the ones with the hard rubber buttplate were made between 1912-1915. I am not really sure about that. Thanks everyone for the info. Don

Looking through the catalogs I find that last pre-WWI catalog lists these with a hard rubber butt plate, this catalog has nothing to date it to any particular year. A 1919 dated pocket catalog lists the butt plates as steel, so West was correct based on this.... so your gun was made before Savage bought Stevens & therefore does not belong in your collect & should be sold..... This catalog also list them as offered "in 22 Short or Long Rifle", earlier catalogs said "Made to order in 22 Long Rifle cartridges at no extra cost". Catalog No 53 with a 1911 date on the cover does not have the 414, catalog No 53 without a date on the cover and some testimonials inside dated 1912 has the 414. None mention them being drilled & tapped for a scope so my previous post was wrong about that being standard.

Attached picture is from a 1920 dated packet catalog, other years show the same scopes on a different models. Also a picture of some Stevens scopes with a tape measure place where the front of the forward block would be, eye relief on all is about 1.5" to 2" so where ever your eye falls when holding the gun should measure about 1" to 2" more from the front of the forward block than the measurement shown here to the end of the scope for any of these scopes to work.

Another option would be Winchester A5 or B5 scope.

PS, Rick, I think that listing mentioning a No 358 Scope was wrong with them seeing the middle digit as a 5, I think it s/b a 368 or 388. In this series of scopes the first digit in the number scope, the middle digit is the approximate power & the last digit is the type of mount, at the time of the 414 Stevens was only offering No 1 & No 8 mounts, at one time they had more than 10 different styles.

Well i see this has opened up a whole can of worms !!! gun not made by Savage, a zillion scope and mount options that may or may not fit !! I think a guy could go broke trying to find the right combo . I guess i just need to go back in time 100 years and order the right parts ! Gene thanks again for your info,even if it is confusing to me. I dont know if the blocks are Stevens ,so i cant even start there. Don

A Good thing for Don is he Collects all kinds of rifles, so Im thinking this one will stay put for a time!

Yes I agree. I didn't invest much time and am certainly NOT a vintage scope expert. They are interesting though.
A closer look at the pics and looks like No.338


Think of it as a challenge.
There may not be anything that would be considered "correct" because it sounds like scopes were added after market.
But it appears there are many "period correct" options. Figuring out blocks/mounts/scopes could take a while, but may not be as difficult as you think. Google know all. Google doesn't pay for the parts though.

Thats the problem,it has to fit the blocks that are on the rifle ! There is one on E-bay that might work,MAYBE!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-RIFLE-SCOPE/392645168091?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

That scope looks like a Wollensak or possibly an early Mossberg, the mounts are Mossberg, the front is their No 7 which allows the scope to slide forward. Much later than your rifle but has close to the correct 'look' but I think that price is to high for that setup, far less than a Stevens would be though and easier to use with the micrometer adjustments.