Stevens Arms
Encyclopedia
Stevens Arms was an American
firearm
s manufacturer founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864. The company introduced the .22 Long Rifle
round and made a number of rifle, shotgun, and target pistol designs before being bought by Savage Arms
in 1920. After 1920, Stevens made training rifles and machineguns for the US Military. Savage stopped using the Stevens brand by 1950.
,, in 1864 as J. Stevens & Co.. Their earliest product was a tip-up action pistol
of Stevens' invention
. Business was slow into 1870, when it occupied a converted grist mill and had just sixty employees. The 1873 Panic
had a further negative impact on sales. By 1876 the company had recovered to the extent that it was then manufacturing twice the number of shotgun
s as it had been prior to that year. In 1886, the company was reorganized and incorporated
as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. The business was able to grow steadily with tool manufacturing and sales now accounting for the bulk of the business output.
Beginning in 1880, the company began making falling block rifle
s. These rifles, though less well known than Ballard
or Winchester
firearms, were of comparable quality. The rifles were priced lower than those of Ballard or Winchester, making the Stevens' falling block models competitive in the marketplace. Under names like Favorite, Little Scout, Crackshot and Marksman, Stevens sold millions of reliable single-shot
firearms. The total number of single-shot firearms manufactured by the company exceeded 3.5 million by 1892.
In addition, in 1887, Stevens developed the .22 LR
round
, which served as an introductory caliber
for children for decades, as well as being very popular for plinking
, varmint and target shooting. The .22LR cartridge was available beginning in 1888, in the #1, #2, #9, and #10 break-top rifles, and in their New Model Pocket and Bicycle rifles. The .22 LR would outperform other Stevens rounds, such as the .25 Stevens
and .25 Stevens Short
, designed as competitors, and offered in models such as the lever action single-shot Favorite (produced between 1894 and 1935) and the Crack Shot #15 (introduced in 1900).
As several manufacturers would later do with other wildcats
, Stevens adopted the .25-20
, developed by Francis J. Rabbeth in 1882. The unpopularity of the bottlenecked case led Stevens to develop the .25-21
in 1897. Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, the .21-21 Stevens was essentially a shortened version of the company's own .25-25
of 1895. (This is an odd reversal of the relationship of the .38 S&W Special
to the .357 Magnum
.) The .25-25 would be used in Stevens' model 44 and the model 44½ rifles manufactured from 1903.
Stevens and Taylor was bought out in 1896 by I.H. Page, who was one of the new partners and the bookkeeper. Page led the company to significant growth, such that by 1902 Stevens had 900 employees and was considered one of the top sporting firearm
s manufacturers in the world. In 1915, Stevens led the U.S. arms business in target and small game guns. Stevens military productions and offerings were generally limited to prototypes in an attempt to garner military contracts.
Stevens was bought by the Savage Arms Company in 1920, the operations of the two companies merged, with Stevens operating as a subsidiary of Savage and sometimes identified as "Savage-Stevens" until 1936. This merger made the company the largest producer of arms at the time. Stevens introduced the Model 87 in 1938, which sold over a million units. Further units were sold as the Savage Model 6 by the Sears
. By 1950, Savage had stopped using the Stevens name on their guns.
The model 416 rifle had a dramatically over sized bull barrel and a large wooden stock. The heavy barrel design added a great deal of weight which compared unfavorably with that of larger rifles such as the military's various .30 caliber offerings. It had adjustable peep sight apertures and a hooded front sight. The rifle had a small, removable magazine.
Other U.S. military offerings by Stevens included two shotgun models in 12 gauge. These were modified versions of the model 520 and 620 shotguns. Stevens produced a version of the Russian Mosin-Nagant
rifle during the First World War for use by the Russian (Czarist) government.
Some of the other more military firearms produced by Stevens include the Savage Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle and the Thompson submachine gun
. During the Second World War, Savage produced the Browning Automatic Rifle
(BAR), as well as 0.3 in (7.62 mm) and 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine gun
s.
Two well known examples of the Stevens-Lord No. 36 were custom ordered by Buffalo Bill
, serial no. 29 for himself and serial no. 32 as a gift for Ben Thompson
. The deluxe set of pistols had ten-inch barrels chambered for the .32 caliber Colt center-fire cartridge, iridescent mother-of-pearl grips, and custom engraving with gold inlay by Louis Daniel Nimschke. The one given to Thompson included "From Buffalo Bill to Ben Thompson" on the spine of the handle.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s manufacturer founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864. The company introduced the .22 Long Rifle
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
round and made a number of rifle, shotgun, and target pistol designs before being bought by Savage Arms
Savage Arms
The Savage Arms Company is a firearms manufacturing company based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with a division located in Canada. The company makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as marketing the Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns...
in 1920. After 1920, Stevens made training rifles and machineguns for the US Military. Savage stopped using the Stevens brand by 1950.
History
Stevens Arms was founded by Joshua Stevens with help from backers W.B. Fay and James Taylor in Chicopee Falls, MAMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
,, in 1864 as J. Stevens & Co.. Their earliest product was a tip-up action pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
of Stevens' invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
. Business was slow into 1870, when it occupied a converted grist mill and had just sixty employees. The 1873 Panic
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
had a further negative impact on sales. By 1876 the company had recovered to the extent that it was then manufacturing twice the number of shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s as it had been prior to that year. In 1886, the company was reorganized and incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. The business was able to grow steadily with tool manufacturing and sales now accounting for the bulk of the business output.
Beginning in 1880, the company began making falling block rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s. These rifles, though less well known than Ballard
Ballard
-Places:*Ballard, California*Ballard, Utah*Ballard, Seattle, Washington, a neighborhood that was once a city before being annexed by Seattle in the early 20th century*Ballard County, Kentucky*Ballard Down, an area in Dorset, England*Ballardvale, Massachusetts...
or Winchester
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
firearms, were of comparable quality. The rifles were priced lower than those of Ballard or Winchester, making the Stevens' falling block models competitive in the marketplace. Under names like Favorite, Little Scout, Crackshot and Marksman, Stevens sold millions of reliable single-shot
Single-shot
Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded after each shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, and many centuries passed before multi-shot designs became commonplace...
firearms. The total number of single-shot firearms manufactured by the company exceeded 3.5 million by 1892.
In addition, in 1887, Stevens developed the .22 LR
.22 Long Rifle
The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...
round
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
, which served as an introductory caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
for children for decades, as well as being very popular for plinking
Plinking
Plinking refers to informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles, and balloons filled with water. The term is an onomatopoeia of the sound a bullet or other projectile makes when hitting a tin can, or other similar target, referring to the sharp, metallic...
, varmint and target shooting. The .22LR cartridge was available beginning in 1888, in the #1, #2, #9, and #10 break-top rifles, and in their New Model Pocket and Bicycle rifles. The .22 LR would outperform other Stevens rounds, such as the .25 Stevens
.25 Stevens
The .25 Stevens was an American rimfire rifle cartridge.Developed by J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company and Peters Cartridge Company, it was developed between 1898 and 1900; catalogs suggest it was introduced in 1898, but most sources agree on 1900. It was offered in the Crack Shot #15 rifle, which...
and .25 Stevens Short
.25 Stevens Short
The .25 Stevens Short was an American rimfire rifle cartridge, introduced in 1902.Developed by J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company, it was intended to be a lower cost, less potent variant of the .25 Stevens, on which it was based. It initially used a black powder charge; this was later replaced by...
, designed as competitors, and offered in models such as the lever action single-shot Favorite (produced between 1894 and 1935) and the Crack Shot #15 (introduced in 1900).
As several manufacturers would later do with other wildcats
Wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...
, Stevens adopted the .25-20
.25-20 Winchester
-External links:* * *...
, developed by Francis J. Rabbeth in 1882. The unpopularity of the bottlenecked case led Stevens to develop the .25-21
.25-21 Stevens
The .25-21 Stevens was an American centerfire rifle cartridge.Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, in 1897, the .25-21 was a bottlenecked round, based on the longer .25-25. It first straight-cased cartridge. It would be used in Stevens' single shot Model 44 rifle, as well as the...
in 1897. Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, the .21-21 Stevens was essentially a shortened version of the company's own .25-25
.25-25 Stevens
The .25-25 Stevens was an American centerfire rifle cartridge.Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, in 1895, the .25-21 Stevens was the company's first straight-cased cartridge. It would be used in Stevens' single shot Model 44, as well as the Model 44½ rifles, which first went on...
of 1895. (This is an odd reversal of the relationship of the .38 S&W Special
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
to the .357 Magnum
.357 Magnum
The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
.) The .25-25 would be used in Stevens' model 44 and the model 44½ rifles manufactured from 1903.
Stevens and Taylor was bought out in 1896 by I.H. Page, who was one of the new partners and the bookkeeper. Page led the company to significant growth, such that by 1902 Stevens had 900 employees and was considered one of the top sporting firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s manufacturers in the world. In 1915, Stevens led the U.S. arms business in target and small game guns. Stevens military productions and offerings were generally limited to prototypes in an attempt to garner military contracts.
Stevens was bought by the Savage Arms Company in 1920, the operations of the two companies merged, with Stevens operating as a subsidiary of Savage and sometimes identified as "Savage-Stevens" until 1936. This merger made the company the largest producer of arms at the time. Stevens introduced the Model 87 in 1938, which sold over a million units. Further units were sold as the Savage Model 6 by the Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
. By 1950, Savage had stopped using the Stevens name on their guns.
Rifles
Stevens produced a notable number of military arms with the most common being the Stevens Model 416 bolt action rifle in .22LR caliber. The United States Military used the model 416 as a training rifle around the time of the Second World War. There is some debate and speculation regarding the extent to which the United States Military made use of these rifles with their roles almost certainly being limited to basic firearm training. The military's Model 416 was stamped with "U.S. Property" on the rear left of the receiver. Rifles with this stamping have been found with serial numbers around 100,000. Various ordinance markings and proof marks can be found on this military rifle.The model 416 rifle had a dramatically over sized bull barrel and a large wooden stock. The heavy barrel design added a great deal of weight which compared unfavorably with that of larger rifles such as the military's various .30 caliber offerings. It had adjustable peep sight apertures and a hooded front sight. The rifle had a small, removable magazine.
Other U.S. military offerings by Stevens included two shotgun models in 12 gauge. These were modified versions of the model 520 and 620 shotguns. Stevens produced a version of the Russian Mosin-Nagant
Mosin-Nagant
The Mosin–Nagant is a bolt-action, internal magazine-fed, military rifle invented under the government commission by Russian and Belgian inventors, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations....
rifle during the First World War for use by the Russian (Czarist) government.
Some of the other more military firearms produced by Stevens include the Savage Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle and the Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
. During the Second World War, Savage produced the Browning Automatic Rifle
Browning Automatic Rifle
The Browning Automatic Rifle was a family of United States automatic rifles and light machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge and designed...
(BAR), as well as 0.3 in (7.62 mm) and 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s.
Target pistols
Joshua Stevens produced three lines of single-shot tip-up target pistols named after contemporary gunmen.- Stevens-Conlin No. 28 – named for James Conlin, owner of a Broadway Avenue shooting gallery in New York City.
- Stevens-Lord No. 36 – named for Frank Lord, a prominent target shooter. Six hundred were produced from 1880 to 1886.
- Stevens-Gould No. 37 – named for Arthur Corbin GouldArthur Corbin GouldArthur Corbin Gould was an avid shooter and member of the Massachusetts Rifle Association. He published "The Rifle" [Riling 1160] in 1885. "The Rifle" was the forerunner to the official publication of the National Rifle Association "The Rifleman", later "American Rifleman". Mr...
, a firearms expert and writer.
Two well known examples of the Stevens-Lord No. 36 were custom ordered by Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
, serial no. 29 for himself and serial no. 32 as a gift for Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometime lawman of the Old West. He was a contemporary of Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday, John Wesley Hardin and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock, some of whom considered him a trusted friend, others an enemy.Ben Thompson had a colorful career,...
. The deluxe set of pistols had ten-inch barrels chambered for the .32 caliber Colt center-fire cartridge, iridescent mother-of-pearl grips, and custom engraving with gold inlay by Louis Daniel Nimschke. The one given to Thompson included "From Buffalo Bill to Ben Thompson" on the spine of the handle.