A Blast From The Past

[sealocan]

Well if you can get down to San Jose and you still need the low pressure 22 caliber ammo I highly recommend giving a call or email to...
"San Jose gun trader"
they just made the jump from a GREAT home base FFL and now have a brick and mortar gun store near the Costco.

this is from his posting here
(guns at San Jose gun trader, is what the thread is titled.)
on Calguns where he is a vendor...

"
San Jose Gun Trader
We have moved!!! We are now a walk in gun shop. Our new location is 1335 Coleman Ave. Santa Clara, right next to Costco. Drop in and say hello! Same transfer pricing and friendly service.

We also do special orders for no extra fee! Email us at sjguntrader@gmail.com with what you're looking for and we'll get you a price! Usually special orders will arrive within 3-5 days.
Check out our website at www.sanjoseguntrader.com for pictures and pricing of all our in stock merchandise!
Prices and inventory accurate as of 4/23/15

Aguila Super Extra copper plated 22LR $60/brick of 500

Aguila Super Colibri 22LR $60/brick of 500

Magtek 22LR $6/ 50rd box

CCI Mini Mags shotshell $9/ 20rd box.

"

They might even have other different brands of other low powered stuff. I don't think I'd use the slowest "Colibri" in your rifle, I believe that is the one not recommended for rifle barrels, but I would use the "Super Colibri" that he has in stock now.

they are great people and I think you would be one of the first customers at the new store.

[SandHill]

^^^Thanks, Sealocan. I think I will give them a call and see if I can buy a couple boxes of something slow. Not really keen on getting a whole brick of the Super Colibri, especially for $60+ tax. Its available online for $52 shipped with no tax. I think if I run a box through the Stevens without problems and the spent casings look OK, I will be comfortable shooting some standard velocity through it, which I already have.

[manini]

Walmart in Mountain View has recently had CCI Quiet in stock. Unfortunately, they are oos now but keep checking. I will let you know if I see them in stock.

[SandHill]

Walmart in Mountain View has recently had CCI Quiet in stock. Unfortunately, they are oos now but keep checking. I will let you know if I see them in stock.

Thanks, Manini, I'll look in there when I can.

[TRAP55]

SandHill, This is one I did for Justin4fun awhile back, it was a mess before I started on it!

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=803502

Its very simple single shot falling block action, not too much to go wrong.

Not exactly. They are simple, but one weakness in all the old Stevens, is the screws. They wear, you get slop, you loose headspace, case ruptures. If it's been used, they're worn!
Replace the screws, they're cheap insurance, and it cuts down on wear for the other parts.
Screws:

http://www.wisnersinc.com/model/26-crackshot/

Schematic:

http://stevespages.com/ipb-stevens-26.html

Soak a piece of burlap in linseed oil, and scrub the stock with it. Use a clean rag or paper towels to wipe as you scrub. Hit all the covered wood too, barrel channel, receiver inlet, etc. It will condition the wood as it cleans it by floating the dirt and grime up out of the grain. Wipe it dry after the last scrub, and let it set in a warm place to dry. If you want the wood to darken, let it set and dry in direct sunlight. When it's dry, rub in a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax, let dry, and buff clean with a clean cotton rag.

[bsg]

i can see that this family heirloom went to the right person. maintain it's integrity and enjoy your time as it's caretaker.

[SandHill]

SandHill, This is one I did for Justin4fun awhile back, it was a mess before I started on it!

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=803502

Not exactly. They are simple, but one weakness in all the old Stevens, is the screws. They wear, you get slop, you loose headspace, case ruptures. If it's been used, they're worn!
Replace the screws, they're cheap insurance, and it cuts down on wear for the other parts.
Screws:

http://www.wisnersinc.com/model/26-crackshot/

Schematic:

http://stevespages.com/ipb-stevens-26.html

Soak a piece of burlap in linseed oil, and scrub the stock with it. Use a clean rag or paper towels to wipe as you scrub. Hit all the covered wood too, barrel channel, receiver inlet, etc. It will condition the wood as it cleans it by floating the dirt and grime up out of the grain. Wipe it dry after the last scrub, and let it set in a warm place to dry. If you want the wood to darken, let it set and dry in direct sunlight. When it's dry, rub in a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax, let dry, and buff clean with a clean cotton rag.

Thanks Trap! Some good info there! I especially appreciate the schematic - I hadn't been able to find one in my searches. I had found Wisner's site. I am going to have to screw up my courage to try to get the screws out, afraid they are going to be stuck pretty good.

Great job on the restoration. I think my rifle is in much better shape than that one, although the stock is pretty beat up. I will try the linseed oil on the stock. I don't want to refinish the metal. I cleaned it with Hoppe's and then oiled it and it doesn't look bad to me at all. Can you tell me about the receiver finish? Is it case hardened? I am thinking about polishing it with NeverDull. Would that be foolish? I want to preserve the original finish, just clean it up. I have a lot of experience with rust (don't get me started) but no experience with case hardened finishes.

[SandHill]

i can see that this family heirloom went to the right person. maintain it's integrity and enjoy your time as it's caretaker.

Now that you mention it, there is kind of a story attached to that. A long story, so I apologize for that. When I was in second grade and my brother was in fifth, he really, really, really wanted a rifle for Christmas. Christmas morning, it was under the tree, a bolt action with a five shot box magazine and a plastic stock, I think it was from Montgomery Wards. The fly in the ointment, from my brother's perspective, is that the tag on it said it was for both of us. We were supposed to share!

Sharing was never my brother's strong suit, and this drove him crazy. To keep the peace, my father offered me the Stevens Crackshot if I would relinquish my claim on the new rifle. I liked this deal because I thought the Stevens was cooler, even though it was single shot. (You see, I had good taste in firearms then, just like I do now.) So I have actually owned this since second grade, close to fifty years now.

I grew up and flew the coop, traveled widely and lived in a number of cities. Didn't think much about this gun for many years, until I had kids and they started getting close to shooting age. Then I asked my Mom about it. She is in her nineties, and wasn't too sure if she still had it or where it might be. So I enquired of my brothers, nephews, etc. No one knew. Looked for it on a trip back a couple years ago, couldn't find it, asked my Mom again. She told me my brother had taken it over to his house because I "didn't need it with little kids around the house, they would just get hurt." My brother swore this never happened and that he didn't have it. My Mom is old, but not crazy, and I believed her. I was not willing to start a family feud about it and was prepared to suck it up, but it did piss me off. What really bothered me is that my brother had no interest in shooting it, no sentimental attachment to it, and I had already traded once to get it. I think he had some notion that it might be a valuable antique, which it isn't really, at least not in monetary terms. I came to the conclusion that my brother didn't like to share when we were kids, and still didn't.

Then, a few weeks ago, my brother called with an elaborate story about how it had resurfaced. I was happy to hear this and didn't question the story and made plans to ship it out here.

So yeah, I think I am the only one in my generation who ever cared about this gun, and it is definitely in the right hands for now. I hope at least one of my kids likes it as much as I do, enjoys shooting it, and someday gives it to their kids.

[bsg]

Now that you mention it, there is kind of a story attached to that. A long story, so I apologize for that. When I was in second grade and my brother was in fifth, he really, really, really wanted a rifle for Christmas. Christmas morning, it was under the tree, a bolt action with a five shot box magazine and a plastic stock, I think it was from Montgomery Wards. The fly in the ointment, from my brother's perspective, is that the tag on it said it was for both of us. We were supposed to share!

Sharing was never my brother's strong suit, and this drove him crazy. To keep the peace, my father offered me the Stevens Crackshot if I would relinquish my claim on the new rifle. I liked this deal because I thought the Stevens was cooler, even though it was single shot. (You see, I had good taste in firearms then, just like I do now.) So I have actually owned this since second grade, close to fifty years now.

I grew up and flew the coop, traveled widely and lived in a number of cities. Didn't think much about this gun for many years, until I had kids and they started getting close to shooting age. Then I asked my Mom about it. She is in her nineties, and wasn't too sure if she still had it or where it might be. So I enquired of my brothers, nephews, etc. No one knew. Looked for it on a trip back a couple years ago, couldn't find it, asked my Mom again. She told me my brother had taken it over to his house because I "didn't need it with little kids around the house, they would just get hurt." My brother swore this never happened and that he didn't have it. My Mom is old, but not crazy, and I believed her. I was not willing to start a family feud about it and was prepared to suck it up, but it did piss me off. What really bothered me is that my brother had no interest in shooting it, no sentimental attachment to it, and I had already traded once to get it. I think he had some notion that it might be a valuable antique, which it isn't really, at least not in monetary terms. I came to the conclusion that my brother didn't like to share when we were kids, and still didn't.

Then, a few weeks ago, my brother called with an elaborate story about how it had resurfaced. I was happy to hear this and didn't question the story and made plans to ship it out here.

So yeah, I think I am the only one in my generation who ever cared about this gun, and it is definitely in the right hands for now. I hope at least one of my kids likes it as much as I do, enjoys shooting it, and someday gives it to their kids.

that's a great story and as i said, the family heirloom went to the right person. i'd like to believe that your brother had a moment of clarity and went with it.

[TRAP55]

They were color cased, though I've only seen one that still had it. Hot blue usually turns the receiver red/orange, unless they have been heavily polished, and the smith doing the bluing, knows what he's doing.
Clean it up with copper or bronze wool after a soak with Kroil. Kroil will make the screws come right out too. Make sure you use a hollow ground driver bit that fits the screw slot. PM me if you have any problems.

[cstatman]

if you watch wiki arms, or LAX ammo, every so often they sell bulk CCI quiet for about 12c/round...

[BigPimping]

Very nice......still puzzles me why you would DROS it though.

[SandHill]

Thanks to Manini's tip, I was able to pick up three boxes of CCI Quiet at WalMart on Saturday morning. So it was off to the range on Saturday afternoon.

I found a pretty good thread on evaluating a Stevens Crackshot here: http://forums.gunboards.com/showthre...ot-26-22-Rifle One the posters on that thread said: "If the lever will stay up on an empty chamber the headspace is good." The lever on mine stays up, so that, together with the low pressure Quiet ammo, made me decide to give it a try without restoration.

One of the other posts in the link above gave instructions for reading the spent cases to get evidence of the condition of the rifle. I fired five rounds of CCI Quiet, and examined each spent case carefully for any sings of bulging. Then I fired five rounds of Norma standard velocity ammo and examined those cases. No signs of trouble with the cases, which was encouraging. I didn't want to shoot more until I had a chance to clean the rifle better. Rifle functioned flawlessly, although the extractor seemed a little sluggish.

On Sunday I took the stock off. The stock bolt and the screw holding the forend on both come off relatively easy, easier than I expected. I was able to access the extractor much better after taking barrel off and was amazed at how gummed up the underside was. Took a lot of gunk out of the action with Q-tips, tooth picks and rags.

I gave the stock the boiled linseed treatment recommended by Trap55. It seemed to do a good job cleaning gunk off and smoothed over the chips and scratches in the finish. I think it will look even better once I wax it. It will retain a lot of "character."

I plan to soak the receiver in penetrating oil, dissemble it, clean and lube the innards and rub down the rust spots. I was happy to discover my local Ace hardware had bronze wool in stock for the same price as HomeDepot (HomeDepot had to be ordered and shipped to store) and $2 cheaper than Amazon. Surprised by that.

Trap55 recommended Kroil to soak it in. Is that really that much better than something like WD40? Kroil is kind of expensive once you add in shipping cost, WD4 is a lot cheaper and available at HomeDepot.

All in all very happy with rifle so far. I think it suffered a lot of neglect, but was not abused and it is in better shape than I really expected.

Thanks for all the tips guys, and special thanks to Manini and Trap55!

[TRAP55]

Trap55 recommended Kroil to soak it in. Is that really that much better than something like WD40? Kroil is kind of expensive once you add in shipping cost, WD4 is a lot cheaper and available at HomeDepot.

Kroil is like using a 6 point socket, and WD40 is using a crescent wrench. It will penetrate into the threads.
When you bugger the screw slot, or snap the screw head off leaving the shaft stuck in the receiver, suddenly Kroil seems real cheap.
Now the big question, did you hit anything you were actually aiming at?

[SandHill]

Kroil is like using a 6 point socket, and WD40 is using a crescent wrench. It will penetrate into the threads.
When you bugger the screw slot, or snap the screw head off leaving the shaft stuck in the receiver, suddenly Kroil seems real cheap.
Now the big question, did you hit anything you were actually aiming at?

Ha! You are a good salesman for Kroil.

As far as aim, I did not achieve any great feats of marksmanship. I went to an indoor range and only shot it at the seven yard mark. The bar is set pretty high when you shoot a 22 inch barrel from seven yards. I am sure any respectable marksman could make all the bullets go through one hole, but I didn't.

First shot, I didn't want to get my face too close to it after reading here about burst cases. That shot was at least on the paper. The others were all in the black. The sights were not working too good for me the black front sight faded into the black rear sight and in the dim lighting of indoor rang, they both faded in the black circle on target. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!