Stevens favorite No.17 Model 1889

[Sharpie443]

So I was cleaning/restoring a 100 year oldStevens favorite No.17 Model 1889 for a friend. It was very badly rusted when I got it but after a week of working on its actually looking much nicer than I expected. I was able to save the finish in most places except over the hand guard and the left side of the receiver. Where most people would be carrying the gun so it had the most contact with their hands.

Sadly the bore is not in good shape. It's very dark with pitting but the good news is it's not keyholing rounds at lest not at 25 yards.

So my problem is he offered to sell it to me. I don't know what I should give him. I've seen guns in this condition go for as low as $150 or as high as $300. I like the gun and don't want to rip him off but I also restored it for free. Don't know.

 

[Jim Watson]

Looks like it would be worth a barrel reline which will put you in the hole very fast if you pay him much at all.

 

[plodder]

I am envious! My grandfather bought a Stevens Favorite when he was a young man. Passed it down to my father. It was the first firearm I ever shot, and at age 9 or thereabouts my father would issue me 5 .22 shorts and allow me to go out "hunting" around the farm. Although well worn at the time, the rifle still shot well and over the next 2-3 years it bagged a number of squirrels and rabbits.

I had visions of receiving that rifle from my father and passing it down, but alas, a house fire in the early 1980s took it and all my father's other guns.

I am currently blessed to own a number of very nice and exotic firearms, but I would trade almost any one of them if I could get that old Stevens back.

 

[Sharpie443]

Well that is an idea. The reline would run me $250 but it's factory tapped for a tang sight. That would be worth getting if the bore was good.

 

[tark]

That is an early one! I would be wary, it is full of flat springs which, if they break, are difficult to replace. The model 1915 went to coil springs. The bore condition is perhaps not as critical as you think. I have fired many 22s with horrible looking bores that shot quite well. If it doesn't keyhole at 25 yards, try it at fifty. Try standard velocity ammo, also. The slower speed might allow the damaged bore to stabilize the bullet. If that doesn't work try longs, or even shorts. The long rifle twist over stabilizes the 29 grain bullets, normally, but here again it might get enough grip on the lighter bullet to give acceptable accuracy.

Whether or not the gun is worth putting any time or effort into depends largely on the action. Is it tight, or loose and sloppy? If the lever droops and doesn't stay pressed against the lower tang when you close the action, you have problems. It can be tightened up again, but that is a major project for a skilled gunsmith. A simple test is easily done. Chamber a round and see if the action will close on a .010" feeler gauge inserted between the case and the breech block. If it does it is pretty loose and I wouldn't shoot it.

Single Shot Rifles, by Frank De Haas is a classic reference piece. There is a long chapter on the "Favorite" which details and explains everything you need to know about these little rifles. These guns aren't exactly rare and parts are easily found. I see them at gunshows all the time.

I would offer the guy a hundred bucks, assuming the action isn't loose. It could be a wonderful restoration project, as it has no collector value now. It probably would cost more to restore it to as new than it would be worth when finished.... And I say SO WHAT! The pride and joy of doing such a project yourself and the pride you would take in the completed gun is worth many times the cost ...at least to me it would be.

Good luck

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

i'd be less concerned with "bore"...

than chamber and muzzle conditions.

To me, it's a $85-$100 dollar rifle.

Todd.

 

[flightsimmer]

Here's one my Uncle past on to me.
I cleaned it up some.

 

[C.R.]

I have whats left of my great grandfathers favorite it is missing some parts and the parts that are there are rough. I inhearited it and got curious and looked them up on google.savage still makes them,I got one of the new production models and I enjoy the heck out of it,Favorite Indeed I stumbeled across mine when I swung through a local shop,and there she was on the rack

 

[tark]

Here are a few pics of my 1915 model.