Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Stevens favorite help

Hey fellers. My boss brought a stevens favorite in we are trying to sort out. The gun has a 740 on the bottom tang which appears to be the model. It has an octagon barrel. How do I find a manufacturing date for it? reflex264

I am not real knowledgeable on all the Favorites but there basically were three versions that I know of, the early side plate receiver, the 1894 and the 1915; within these models there were many variations. About the best you can do to date them is to determine which model you have and then see if there are any part changes that might narrow the date down.

The number on the lower tang is not a model number but more of an assembly number that appears to have been used similar to a serial number, in my experience the number should be preceded by a single letter - often the letter was not stamped close to the number. My experience with this numbering system is on Visible Loaders that use numbering that look exactly the same. I think the numbers start with A 1 and go to A 999, then B 1 to B 999 & etc until Z 999 when they would get started over with A 1 again. I have never found much documentation on this and am basing this on my own observations of a limited number of examples and I have never actually seen an A 1 or a Z 999 but have seen most of the letters and some single and double digit numbers � but never a 4 digit number.

Thanks. That gives me something to go on. reflex264

Got more for you;
The lower tang number is generally conceded to be a serial number. It started at one digit then went to 5 digits. When they had to go to a 6th digit they started with an A prefix instead and ran it up to the A and 99999 then started over with a B prefix and did work their way up the alphabet. The tang # should also show up on the right side of the barrel at the frame, and on the stock on the right side where it meets the reciever, on the inside of the buttplate and on the right rear of the foream--unless those parts have been replaced
Finally, there are a bunch of other features such as type of adjustment (or lack of same) for fixing lever droop that can help identify age. Also is the extractor at the 6 O'clock position at the bottom of the barrel breachface, or at the earler 7O'clock position. A good reference is a single shot book by Tom DeHaas. I have one and will help you out Finally I suggest the ASSRA (American Single Shot Rifle Assoc.) web site and ask over there. They helped me out big time on a somewhat rare Stevens 418 Walnut Hill based on a Favorite action