Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots questions on Stevens favorite

A neighbor has a 1915 Stevens favorite he might sell. Super clean metal and wood. Lever seems to be missing some king of spring or something, as it just falls when opened. The other thing is that it is 32 Rimfire. How hard is it to have these made into maybe a centerfire, or relined to 22 rimfire ,etc ?

Lever should not be a problem, as newly made parts are available. The barrel should present no obstacle, either. I simply fitted a Green Mountain, match grade .22 barrel to mine:



The new barrel gave me the opportunity to fit it much snugger than the original. There’s a little bushing, which if replaced, will allow snugging up the lever. Also, if the barrel is fitted slightly long into the receiver, it can enhance the cam-over of the lockup. A new .22 extractor is also available. Fun project.

Snugging up headspace is the surest way to cure lever droop. To that end lining the barrel is a solution for killing two birds with one stone: gives you a usable gun and by leaving the liner a skinch long you can achieve tight breeching. But, if you do line it to .22 you gotta consider the current .32RF firing pin placement - it won't likely hit the .22 rim correctly if at all, so you'll still be looking at altering the breech block anyway.

Another caveat is to check the condition of the action pins. They take the brunt of rearward thrust upon firing, and if worn the breech block will be loosey-goosey and no amount of trickery short of replacing the pins will fix it. Once they start to wear, they progress downhill quickly if the gun is shot a lot.

If the .32RF bore is good you can convert to centerfire by simply altering the breechblock to centerfire. The .32RF chamber is identical to the old .32 Colt chamber - but brass is terribly difficult to find and you also have to use a heeled cast bullet, not for the faint of heart! Alternatively, you can ream the chamber for the .32 S&W cartridge (it's a couple thousandths bigger diameter than the Colt) whose brass and bullets are commonly found. Either way I would stick with Short ammunition, Longs might be pushing it with a Favorite which was only ever meant for rimfire pressures. Lightly loaded Longs would of course be fine but I tend to consider what may happen with a gun after it leaves my hands - there's a lot of idiots out there. .32 Shorts out of a rifle barrel equal .32 Longs out of a pistol anyway.

As for breechblock conversion to centerfire, I've never done it but I understand it's not terribly difficult. There are tutorials out there on the Innerwebs. I was all set to do it on a Stevens 44 (think of it as an overgrown Favorite) until I talked to Lee Shaver who made me a brand new centerfire breechblock. Coupled with a new set of action pins, life is good.

Check with Wisner's. They make a lot of Stevens parts, but not everything is in stock all the time.

Thanks guys !

Another source for Stevens Favorite, Model 1915, parts is Jack First Gun Parts. That’s where I got mine because Numrich was “out of stock” on most everything. Didn’t think to try Wisner’s.

Thinking along the same lines as Gnoahhh, I use only standard velocity (all subsonic) .22LR ammunition in mine (or sometimes CCI Quiet 22s). 22LR SVRNs seem to have plenty enough poop to reach out:

6” steel @ 200 yards from Stevens Favorite 1915 with Marble’s tang sight elevated 8-3/8th turns above 50 yard zero.

So, what’s the number? Stolen property does not become “unstolen” simply by the passage of time.

Timely thread, I have one that needs ejector repair.

I had an old one in 32rf that a fella from here on the forum reworked into a 22lr.

Barrel liner, firing pin, and extractor were the three main mods as I recall. He made a couple new screws and I believe a spring. He had me order a couple parts from Wisners IIR.

I shoot a lot of cb shorts from mine. Just stay on top of cleaning the chamber. He suggested I stick with standard velocity ammo as well.

Good luck. They are cool little rifles.

I have one in 32 long in nice shape plus a box with 18 shells any ideas on the value

#0948 If you find it, let me know!

Who would you guys recomend for a barrel re line ? I have a Stevens Favorite and a Crackshot that both need a re line.

You never know. It could happen.