Not a great pic.

I found and bought three of these old Stevens pump guns at a regional auction house. One 520 and two 520As. This is the 520. It's about 85 years old. The finish is fairly complete on it and it's very smooth but it's turned quite a bit plum/brown.

It had a bad slide lock spring in it when I got it. Somebody had tried to fix it and assembled it wrong. I installed a new spring and finally figured out the proper way to put it all back together. It functions correctly now.

In the process of locating a new slide lock spring for it I found a place that has quite a few NOS parts for it. I've ordered many new internal parts for it and I'm going to install them when they get here. Some people say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". But I don't think that applies to 85 year old shotguns. These old springs and pins have a lot of time on them.

I'll probably cap the whole project off by cutting the barrel down to minimum legal length and keep it bedside.

It would probably be smarter to just go buy a Maverick 88 12 gauge to keep around. But where's the fun in that?

what is the minimum length?

18",....but most people cut them a bit longer to make sure the AFT measures the same way that they do.

I just cant waiver, fold, give, or even be diplomatic about this. An 870 IS the answer if you'd even consider an 88. Your Stephens is old school cool, & if you have a thing for them, have several. Sub gauges, target models, etc. etc. Enjoy! We're not her for another 60.

BUT. when it comes to your hide, a trusted 870 is the final word when it comes to pumps.

Stated as it's from my belief that friends don't let friends fugg around when it comes to a personal scatter gun.

I am not following you tonight Bristoe, you just happen to post subjects of interest.............from time to time.

I always appreciate your input, gunzo.

I understand why you have the opinion you do about old shotguns. I would too. But I've dissected a few of these old Stevens pump guns and I know how they tick. That's why I'm gutting a significant part of the action and fitting it with fresh parts,...even though the majority of the springs and pins appear original and are still functional after 85 years.

It's been interesting comparing the original 520 internals to the 520As.

John Browning's original design used leaf springs on the hammer and slide lock. The 520As use coil springs that were designed to fit and function in the original design of the action housing.

For the most part, the 520As are still a Browning design. But some engineer at Stevens came up with a way to utilize coil springs in the place of the leaf springs without significantly altering the basic design.

Only time I've ever seen, the gun was older than the fencepost.

That's a pretty cool old gun.

lol,...that's true.

That’s a good looking shotgun, B.

I’m rather fond of any JMB design with a humpback.

This guy cornered the market on old Stevens pump gun parts.

https://jack-first-gun-parts.myshopify.com/collections/stevens-520-520a-620-620a-pump-shotgun

I do understand Bristoe, I've kinda got a thing for Win 97's. A joy to fiddle with.

And, if the outcome of piddling is trusted, it's as good to go as any.

Nice. I bought, I think as it is not here, a JC Higgins pump 12 gauge probably eight years ago at a pawn shop here dirt cheap. IIRC I found it to have been made by High Standard. The barrel had been cut to 20" and otherwise a rock solid machined steel and wood gun. I gave it to my middle son and just of late is working it with a barrel cut, wood refinish and a Brownells metal coat of some sort. I should see it next week.

Take a pic and put it up when you see it. Old shotgun projects are interesting,...to me, anyway.

I have an appreciation for 1897’s as well.

I’m not sure if it’s just he designed so many firearms, but I often find myself coming across an old gun that just looks “right” and then find it to be a JMB design.

I wouldn’t “fix “ it

You couldn't fix it.

Just for kicks... was looking at this bit newer Stevens today, a 77E that's for sale up here. He calls its a trench gun clone so not an actual Vietnam issue gun. I like.

This is the first Stevens Browning series action I gutted. It's the last variation they made, the 620A. It's essentially the same action as the 520. But there was a bit of a learning curve between the 620A and the old original 520 when it came to the leaf vs. coil spring situation.

Because it’s not broken , Boomer

I just sent the request...

This is what it was when I bought it.

That looks capable just as it is. And yeah, I'm pretty sure that was made by High Standard.

He wants sights to put slugs in hogs.

These are nice shotguns. I used to buy spare or replacement parts from Numrich.

This guy likes 'em.

https://gunsmagazine.com/shotguns/stevens-520/

👍new springs.
Like the look of the humpback line on the receiver.
Chop it.
Aint no reason why not too.
Refinish that wood with some tru oil to give it a shine with a grain texture on it. Probably really nice old black walnut with some character that can be brought out
Graphite black cerracoat it.
Cost ya maybe 100 125 bucks.
Put it all back together.
Go run some 4 buck thru it.
Clean it .
Stick it beside the bed.

The furniture looks pretty good on this one. One of the reasons I bought this one is because of how it had aged. It's got a finish on it now that nothing but lots of decades can produce.

A cleaning with diluted denatured alcohol and cotton balls might bring out some character.
Test in a small area to look for reaction IE white cloudy.
A good waxing afterwards.

Anything you do to it aint gonna destroy any collector value.
And can be easily done or improved to your needs or vision of it done.
Your gonna use it as a home defense gun anyways.

I bet chopped down to 18.5 - 19" at 15 to 35 ft with 4 buck it will throw a good pattern.
You know what your doing.
You have skills as a machinist.

Nice old pump gun.

Oh,...it has no collector value. Although there's some people out there that scoop these old things up.

The auction house where I found these was liquidating the gun collection of a man who had died,..400 guns. He obviously liked shotguns. I think there was at least six of the 520 variants that got sold. I bought three of them. One 520A I bought is very nice. The 520 in this thread is in very good condition. Another 520A I bought is a bit rough.

I paid $150, $160, and $180 for them.

As mentioned, there's lots of parts for them out there. I'm not sure why. The military scooped up every one that Stevens had in stock when WW2 broke out and I think maybe Stevens ran off a lot of spare parts to sell to the military. Now all the parts are being sold off,...mostly by a gun parts place called "Jack First".

From what I've read, some of the early models went to the trenches of WW1, many went to WW2, and the Military issued a lot of the 520As in combat configuration during the Vietnam War.

I like them because they're a Browning design, they're all forged steel and walnut, parts are available for them and you can pick up a nice example for a little pocket money if you keep an eye out.

They're classy old shotguns that are fun to tinker with.

Looks quite a bit like a Model 12 Winchester ....

New main spring
New ejector
New firing pin
New slide lock spring
New firing pin retaining pin

Cleaned and lubed. I declare this geriatric shotgun ready for another 85 years.

Congrats on resurrecting those old shotguns. They deserve to be shot. That is what they were built for. I see too many of them as wall hangers.

These are unusual because there's still a lot of new old stock parts available for them 85 years after they were made.