doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Stevens/Riverside Arms Hammergun

I finally got it, here are some pictures. The bores are shiny up until about 4 inches from the end of the muzzles, so it's probably bee polished out, but only measurements and inspection will tell if it's safe. The lock is good, both triggers fire, and both pins are present, only missing the left hammer. It locks up tight as a safe. Chambers do seem to be 2 3/4", but again I'll have to measure. Written on the side is "High pressure compressed steel, barrel and lug forged from one shank". The solder is solid, the barrels ring like a bell when struck, but I can't figure why the solder on the under rib isn't visible at the muzzles. It seems like a half assed choke job was done to one of the barrels, anyone know if this was common practice to open the choke or change poi? I know I have some technical stuff to do before I make any solid conclusions, but just from inspection what do you guys think about it? https://plus.google.com/u/0/101346482586...482586753260765

The No. 235 & No. 335 doubles were introduced about 1908 with �Compressed Forged High Pressure Steel�.
Western Field, November 1908
https://books.google.com/books?id=UB0LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA197&lpg

1917 Stevens "Riverside" No. 225 hammergun with "Nitro Steel"



In the 1926 Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett catalog the No. 315 Riverside hammerless is listed with �Blue Steel� while the No. 330 Stevens hammerless with �High Pressure Compressed Steel, tested with nitro powder�.

What I've saw doesn't look to good...let's see the rest of it.

Measure the barrel length, the length should at least be an even number and not a fraction. It was common to open the chocks by sawing off a short bit from the end of the barrel. Try taking a barrel brush wrapped with fairly coarse steel wool and dipped in oil and then spin it in the end the barrel with a power drill to remove the rust.

Steve

The barrels are 29 7/8". Any idea what the minimum wall thickness should be? I plan to make a new hammer myself. If the barrels have been polished out too thin I'll make up some full length 20 gauge sleeves for it.

Before shooting it you should bed the receiver. Those guns are notorious for chipping the top of the stock head right behind the receiver.

Regards
Ken

Yeah, the back of the receiver is flat, and not dovetailed. I figured as much.