Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Stevens 425 High Power

Was just talking to a buddy of mine thats a gun smith, I buy alot of parts off him. Anyways, he told me he's got four of them in there right now for cleaning and repairs. I'll have the serial numbers sometime this week.

Mad Dog, I'd like to hear what your gunsmith thinks of the action after he's done. Over the years I've read it was complicated and not dependable. It doesn't look terribly complicated to me. We've got a great old time gunsmith here. I'll see what he thinks when I see him. Dave

Dave, I know Ed Lander has worked on them. Don

I Have 2973 in .25 Remington.

The complicated part comes from putting the gun back together. The Hammer and lifter are on the same screw and the hammer is under the stress of a coiled main spring on a plunger that goes from a stud screw on the lower tang to the base the the hammer. In order to put it all together you need to compress the coil spring and put it in place. A long time ago (1960s) my gunsmith solved the problem by drilling a small hole in the plunger shaft inserting a probe and winding the spring up against the probe. He could then put the assembly in place and pull out the probe. Another problem area is the two part firing pin. The mating surface between the pin in the frame and the rear of the pin in the bolt get worn down to where they do not transfer enough energy to fire the primer.

Will do, he told me the one guy bought the gun in 30-30 Rem thinking it was a 30-30 Win so I might be able to buy it for the price of a used model 94.

Mad Dog, Hope you get it. I missed out on a nice 30-30 Rem a while back. The guy was selling it at a show as a 30-30 Win. I tried to convince him it was a 30 Rem, and thought I could to talk him down. He sold it, and I found out later he knew what it was all along. Leroy Mertz has one now "caliber 30-30" A little deceptive I think.

The people who call the .30 Rem a 30-30 anything (Rem or Win) are just confusing the issue. To be correct, it's .30 Rem and 30-30 Winchester (not to beat a dead horse).

Mad Dog, please don't forget to get those serial numbers from the guns your gunsmith friend has in his shop (and the calibers too, please).

Peter

Peter, The early cartridges were marked 30-30 Remington, i have one from the U.S. Cartridge company headstamped 30-30 Rem. I agree this only confused people and didn't help sales. Don

The early model 8 Remington Autoloading rifles were also marked .25-35 Remington as was the UMC Ammo. After the first yr the markings were changed to 30 Rem and 25 Rem. I guess there were enough hunters trying to stuff the wrong ammo in their guns to cause the change.

You guys are correct of course. I wonder if any of the 425 Stevens guns were actually marked on the barrel: 30-30 Rem?

Peter

Peter, go back a page, Gene posted pics of one that is clearly stamped 30-30 Rem on the barrel.

Still nothing from the smith, maybe I'll send him a note and remind him.

Peter, I believe they all are,at least all the ones i have seen are. Don

In my defense, I'm old! And getting older by the moment. They say your memory is the second thing to go, and I've forgotten what the first thing is!

Peter

One 425----- serial 3950 35Rem

Thanks "FUG1899". There are now 25 guns on the list, so far. I'm still posting on other web site forums and hoping to get more numbers.

Would anyone like to take a stab at a typical survival rate for low production guns such as the 425?

Peter

Some more on the 30-30 versus 30 Remington:

I agree with Don and also think all 30 cal. 425�s were stamped 30-30 Remington even though when the 425 came out Remington probably had already changed the name. Stevens probably had the barrel stamp made and because of the limited production never made another.

What we call the 30-30 Winchester today was not called that by Winchester. It was the 30 WCF and according to �CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD� �was the first American small bore, smokeless powder sporting cartridge�. Because it was a smokeless only load Winchester did not use the old black powder standard when naming it. I think Winchester was still stamping their guns 30 WCF as late as the mid �50�s. It was other manufacturers including Savage that called it the 30-30.

When Remington brought out their rimless version in 1906 it was named the 30-30 Remington. The name was changed when they realized it caused confusion even though the Winchester round was still officially named the 30 WCF (the confusion is still around today). I have seen two early Remington Model 8 autoloaders stamped 30-30 Remington, one was stamped on the bolt, which is the normal location and the other was stamped on the barrel sleeve, which was probably the location on very early guns. The original name of 30-30 could not have been used very long.

I have 2 cartridges stamped 30-30 Remington and have seen a partial box on line. They are very scarce, the box I saw was partial and in poor condition and sold fast for well over $100 if I remember right. I paid $7 a piece for the cartridges I have and I talked the dealer down from $10 � when I had first asked if he had any he said he did and would bring them to the next show for me, his price quote then was $2 or $3 a piece � sure jumped up after he had asked around - did not make me very happy with him.

I don't have a 425 in 30 rem but my 425 is marked .25 rem not 25-35 Rem. Just a FYI/

Someone just might be interested in this:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=120852761


Mike...

You think the guns are hard to find, try to find a wood set for that, not to mention trying to find the internals.

I've got a buddy looking for a hammer for one, to bad that guy selling off the barrel didn't list the guts for sale to.