doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Is this Ranger made by Stevens?

Helping a coffee buddy dispose of some estate guns. No Ithacas, Purdeys, etc but there is one double. Is this a Stevens 311 type make? or other?



It is very dirty but appears to have never to have apart or shot that much. 32 inch IM/F pit free barrels. It would make a good rainy day duck blind gun.

Yes.

Savage/Stevens Firearms and marketed through Montgomery Ward. However, the design may have begun with Springfield.

Would it be a model 400?

Mike

p.s.

Ranger was a name used by Sears & Roebuck in the 1930's. Western Field was used by Montgomery Wards. Both companies contracted with Savage Arms to make their double barrel shotguns. The Ranger was Model 400 and the Western Field was Model SB311. These were both variations of the Savage/Stevens Model 311.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Guns-Firearms-Projectile-1501/2012/9/410-ranger.htm

Thank you gentlemen.

RANGER was a Sears, Roebuck & Co. "trade name."

That G.S. Lewis Patent No. 1,136,247, granted Apr. 20, 1915, action, which used coil-spring driven strikers rather than hammers which rotate about an axle, started out prior to WW-I as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co.'s lower priced line the Riverside Arms Co. No. 315. J. Stevens Arms Co. continued to offer the Riverside No. 315 after the Great War.



After J. Stevens Arms Co. was acquired by Savage Arms Corp. they added a slightly nicer gun on the G.S. Lewis action the Stevens No. 330. From 1923 --



From 1928 --



By 1930 they gussied up the Stevens No. 330 a bit --



In 1929, J. Stevens Arms Co. changed the name of their lower priced line to Springfield Arms Co. For 1931, they introduced an even cheaper version called the Springfield No. 311 with a plain wood stock and forearm. By June 1932, J. Stevens Arms Co. introduced the option of a non-selective single trigger on these guns --



For 1936, J. Stevens Arms Co. began phasing in a new action with hammers that rotate about an axle, and the Stevens No. 330 was replaced by the No. 530 and the Springfield No. 315 was replaced by the No. 515. The No. 311 and numerous "trade brand" guns continued to be built on the Lewis action up to WW-II.

If you have a close enough view you can spot the difference in the Lewis Action guns from the later swinging hammer guns at a glance.
Just look at the placement of the two cross pins in the rear of the frame. On the Lewis actions the rear (Sear) pin is higher than the front (hammer & cocking lever) pin, as on this Ranger. On the swinging hammer guns the rear pin is lower than the front one.
I learned this from Russ, had never noticed until he mentioned it.

Researcher says "Ranger" was a Sears trade name. However, some of these neat little guns have the logo "Ward's Ranger" stamped on them, like my .410. CORRECTION, my .410 is a Model 50 Wards Hercules, not a Ranger.

I believe that at different points in time the name Ranger was used by both of these Mail Order companies. I have a re-print edition of a 1927 Sears catalog & a ranger very similar to this one is listed in it. I cannot actually say it was made by Stevens, but certainly has that appearance in the illustration. I do not recall off hand if the illustration is good enough to make out the pin placement or not, but in 1927 from Researcher's data it would seem to have been the G S Lewis designed action.
At one point in time I had a 20 gauge based on this Lewis action named Central Arms & my Dad had a 16 gauge with swinging hammers named Eastern Arms. Any differences in the frame profiles were virtually unnoticeable except for the pin placements.

Well, show us some pictures Murphy!! Inquiring minds want to know.

I corrected my earlier post. My .410 is a Model 50 Ward's Hercules, not a Ranger. It's a sweet little gun with a factory Redhead pad. I'll count the pins and describe their location when I dig it out.