doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Stevens 235 extractor link - repair?

The above extractor link is from my Stevens 235 project gun. I don't have a good one to compare but I'm thinking the now half-moon shape of the button that rides in the frame was once full round. The link slips out of the mortise in the frame and the barrels fall full open without the extractor being lifted.

I can't locate a replacement. Is there a way to refurbish this one?

It looks like the part could be an assembly of the basic flat piece, two cone shaped parts and a pin.

There are many options for this repair.
First, prove that the half moon part is broken or worn off.

If it is, you could have it welded and filed round again.

Or, filed flat, a hole drilled, and a new shaft sweated in, and then filed to length.

It just depends on what facilities and abilities you have, and how you wish to proceed.

Always easier to spend an afternoon calling around to old gun junk yards for the part.
Maybe start on a Savage forum locating parts repositories.

I think I have a 235 in for repair/reassembly. I'll see and if it is I'll take some pics of the part and post it.

Well,,mines a Model 335,,but the link looks about the same.
Heres a few pics.
The end of the 'pin' is full round, not half round.







It does look like an assembly of the flat lin k,,two cone shaped pieces and the pin itself.
The pin in mine is slightly 'off', being outboard a bit farther on one side than the other. I suspect it's just a force fit (hammer) and that keeps all the pieces in place. The geometry of the cone shapes and the forces pushing inward keeps the assembly together during use.
Try knocking it apart and replacing the pin with a new one.. Otherwise file off the end and drill it out for a new pin as suggested. A press fit, soft solder or even loctite shold be sufficient to hold the assembly together for whats expected of it.

Thanks for the picture. As they say, worth a 1000 words. I actually included a link for the 335 on my latest order to Numrich in the hopes it would work.



I picked this old Stevens 235 up at a garage sale for $10. It was missing one hammer, both firing pins and the buttstock. And was disassembled. An old scrounger had the pins and a left hammer that worked but off an earlier model.

Just this past week I ran across and bought what I thought was a 235 just for the buttstock and parts. I get it home and compair and it's not a 235 but a 225. The barrels look better than the ones on my 235 so I figured I'd just rob parts off of the 235 to complete the 225. (Missing hammers, one firing pin, ejector link and forend.) I had one extra firing pin. I have a small pile of new Chinese hammers that are about 20� off so I'm welding them up and cutting new holes. But the forend from the 235 won't fit. The lug on the barrel is about 1/8" further out. Also, the ejector link is missing. The one out of the 235 won't work. The leg end is too short.

In total, I have more than 2 guns but not one that is functioal. Who knows, maybe I'll run across a third parts gun.

Update.

The link is made up of 4 parts, at least now it's in 4 parts. The center pin did punch out but with a lot of resistance. One side didn't want to move so I drilled it out. The pin was reasonably soft. I'll make a new pin from a sacrificial drill and maybe use red loctite.

In other news, Mary and I made a tour of a couple of our favorite gun shops. At one, the proprietor of one went back to a storage area and brought out a Stevens 250 sidelock. It was missing the buttstock and forend assembly. The price was very reasonable. Now I have 3 Stevens projects.

Update two.

I got the link repaired. I happened to have a 16d nail on the work bench that slipped through the hole in the link with just a little clearance. The holes in the two cones are tapered. I'm guessing the factory pressed them onto the pin. I put the pin in my small lathe and put a slight taper on each end with a file until the cone would be well started but tight on the pin. I ended up securing the assembly with green Loctite.

The fitting process drove me nuts. Not understanding exactly the relationship and action of the link wasted a lot of time. I had made the new pin a litte long on purpose. This was my downfall. The link wouldn't drop far enough into the frame to slide under the ledge. The mortise in the frame is tapered. Just a few thousands and it dropped into place and did it's job.

The next problem to deal with is the top snap hold open plunger is warn and won't hold the top snap open. Does anyone know if the top snap assembly can be removed without getting the action?

I spent the morning taking the top snap assembly out. I ended up replacing the hold open plunger spring with one I cut from coil spring stock. 20 minutes to take it apart. Four hours getting it back together. I had a lot of failures getting the lever spring cam back in and correctly placed the spring plunger. Got it done but then couldn't get the top snap hold open plunger in. Start over. But I got it back together by call for lunch.

After lunch I borrowed the buttstock from a 225 Stevens. I took it out to my shotgun range that doubles as the front yard and shot each barrel twice.