I bought a tin box of Stevens 44 1/2 castings at a gun show a couple weeks ago. There was only a hand written note that had the model and that it was cast from 8620 steel. Nothing else. I could tell a number of smaller parts were not there, but all the major goodies were, so I made the deal.
Been doing some research since then to try to find out who made these parts, and hopefully get some guidance for correct finishing. It is evident that these are not parts from Rodney Storie's Rifle Shop in Oklahoma. Storie's castings were based on investment castings using original 44 1/2 actions as patterns. They actually finish out slightly undersized due to casting shrinkage. They are also the same width as original guns, which according to my copy of "Single Shot Rifles and Actions" by Frank DeHaas, should be 1.1" wide.
The action casting I have is surface ground on both sides, and is 1.251" wide. This is the same as Paul Shuttleworth's CPA Stevens 44 1/2 actions. CPA made their actions wider because the original 44 1/2 had a barrel shank that was too small for bigger cartridges like .38-55, .30-40 Krag, or even .45-70. But it doesn't appear that CPA ever sold unfinished castings, only finished actions or finished rifles. CPA does have a lot of the missing parts such as extractors, firing pins, springs, and screws I would need to finish this action. They do not have the link, but it looks pretty simple to make if I had correct dimensions. The parts I bought look as nice as any investment castings I've seen with no voids, sand holes, or depressions.
I would appreciate hearing any leads on what company may have made these castings, or where I could get accurate prints showing critical dimensions. There are small countersinks marking locations of screws and pins, but of course, no information on diameters or thread sizes.
