Reader Forum

Refurbishing Stevens M-44 I recently purchased a Stevens M- 44. It was priced right and was a very clean rifle. The problem is that it’s chambered for the .32 Long Rimfire. I expect the cartridge is the reason the bore is in such good shape inside and out. I took it to my gunsmith and to have it rechambered to .32 Special. He said he would try but explained that the breech block was a hardened casting that would be very difficult to drill for fitting the new firing pin.

I told him to do the best he could and left the rifle with him. He called several days later and told me that his drills would not even scratch the surface of the breech block. I was planning to put some fancy wood and color case the frame as a gift to my daughter in law. I hate to scrub the project and turn the rife into a wall hanger. I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Dominick Pisano Beware the gun "priced right" but not chambered for a readily available modern cartridge.

Whether the intended alternate chambering would be suitable, meaning safe, is a question to be answered by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (saami.org, Since we do not know the metallurgy of the casting mentioned it’s possible your gunsmith needs better drills, like titanium or diamond. Fancy wood costs plenty even before a stockmaker lays a hand on it and color case hardening is a complex, closely guarded process that may not "take" on the casting and requires specialized equipment.

A gift of anew rifle would be a far more economical choice. One that comes immediately to mind is the Savage Model 30. It’s a ringer for the old Stevens Crackshot. Optics on Air Rifles I just received the February 2012 issue of American Gunsmith and got hung up on the Benchwork article "Scope Mounting An Airgun" by Norman Johnson. I thought the article was well done but that it left out one very important point. It appears that the author is mounting a cartridge rifle scope (Tasco four power) on an air rifle.

Nowhere in the article did I see any information to the contrary. I have always been taught that centerfire rifle scopes and air rifles are not compatible. Special scopes are designed and built for airguns because the recoil of an airgun is the reverse of that of a cartridge firearm, therefore the air rifle will ultimately damage or destroy a cartridge rifle scope.

If I am incorrect in my training please advise, if not please clarify for your readers so that the damage or outright destruction of a scope can be avoided. Norman E. Johnson responds: While your point is well taken, in that a standard riflescope may incur damage when used on an air rifle, there are two sides to this issue with no firm answer. In my communication with scope manufacturers I get mixed advice on the matter.

But I do want to give you information from a very reputable scope manufacturer that I have worked with in testing and evaluating a large percentage of their scopes. Many of their scopes are used on modern airguns and they do provide a lifetime warranty on these scopes, including for use on airguns. I was told none of their scopes sustained damage as a result of airgun use. In my own experience, I have conducted dynamometer tests on all types of firearms, including airguns.

Even though the air rifles have a double recoil spring piston, readings taken at both ends of the airgun against the dynamometer were extremely low. This, in part, I feel may have been due to the extremely short thrust resulting from the recoil spring piston. I have had airguns slide a firmly mounted scope rearward on the dovetail, which tells me there is a short intense thrust on dischargine these guns, but I have never had a scope show any damages mounted on an airgun.

I am not aware of the nature of the reported airgun damage to standard scopes designed for use on cartridge type firearms. I do know that modern scope lenses remain intact on some awful shoulder pounding recoil and the scope erector lens systems withstand recoil beyond belief. Each Redfield scope was subjected to punishment equivalent to 3,600 recoil blasts per hour generating a G-force of 1,300 to assure perfect alignment of the internal optical system.

Does all this mean the modern airgun won’t raise havoc with some scopes designed for cartridge type recoil? Perhaps not. But thus far I have come to place great trust in the reliability of these scopes whether used on airguns or the big kickers. Ron Matney Winchester Model 12 Featherweight Looking for info on how to take out the breechblock and magazine of a Winchester Model 12 Featherweight. I have worked on many take down model 12’s but there doesn’t seem to be much info on the Featherweight.

Tom Gregorich Instructions for the Model 12, discontinued finally in 1980, appear in The Gun Digest Book of Firearms Assembly/Disassembly, Pt. V: Shotguns (2nd Edition). Reassembly Of Commercial BAR I have a customer’s Browning Auto Rifle (commercial civilian version, not military) disassembled, cleaned, and partially reassembled. My problem is that the bolt is now stuck in

the rearmost position with the trigger group and the stock mounting plate in place. I cannot move the bolt forward to complete reassembly. What do you think I have overlooked? Advice requested and provided as follows: Consult The Gun Digest Book of Firearms Assembly/Disassembly Part IV—Centerfire Rifles (Second Edition). Proper methodology is described in a picture and caption format.

We believe you might have gone a little off track in your reassembly effort and if you must purchase the book include that cost in billing your customer. Said individual is a suspect with us for omitting a key component, or possibly several components, from the sack of parts handed to you. Nikko Shadow I have a heavily rusted Nikko Shadow and need to know if I can blue this in Oxynate No. 7 or need to sub it out. Nikko stood for an area, province or county about 50 miles north of Tokyo.

The manufacturer located there, Kodensha, went out of business after unsuccessful results from partnering with Olin/Winchester, The Golden Eagle Brand, Parker Reproductions, Charles Daly and, prior to those, High Standard. We understand the lack of success was due to internal production and quality problems. Jack Morris All semi-auto shotguns were basically the same design. The same may be true of pump models but parts are assuredly not interchangeable.

We know for certain that at least one of their stateside connections turned its back on the Rising Sun in favor of Spain, Italy or Turkey for their offshore needs. We’d prefer you check in with Brownells on the Oxy 7. However, if there’s heavy pitting beneath the rust we wouldn’t advise draw filing, sanding or grinding the substrate smooth enough for polishing and bluing. It might further weaken a poorly made barrel or receiver of questionable reliability.

One or more applications of Gun-Kote to a reasonably smooth, meaning lightly sanded then degreased, surface could be sat- Jim Thiel JW Custom isfactory in appearance and lessen safety concerns. Stevens Visible Loader Referring to the June 2011 issue, could Mr. Scott give some other reference’s where I might find parts for the Visible Loader, I am trying to locate the outer magazine tube for the weapon.

Thank You for Your Help David Knight Author Robert Scott responds: Here is a list of the suppliers that I have found. None of them had the outer tube when I was doing the repairs on my VL. I was able to salvage my outer tube. You could make one on a lathe and thread it to the 40 threads per inch. Seamless tubing, if it could be found, would be easier to work with. Otherwise I would soft solder a close fitting plug into an old outer tube of the proper size and thread it on a lathe.

The seam can cause problems unless it is supported this way and very small cuts are taken with a very sharp tool on each pass. Parts suppliers worth contacting include, Wisner’s Inc. (wisnersinc. com), Numrich Gun Parts Corporation (gunpartscorp.com), Chas Jones Gun Parts (chasjonesgunparts.com), Bob’s Gun Shop (gun-parts.com), and Poppert’s Gun Parts (poppertsgunparts.com). Marlin Magazine Modification I need a magazine for a Marlin A1 .22 Rifle but cannot find one.

Someone told me that they had heard that a magazine for the Marlin model 80 could be modified to fit the A1. Do you know of any information or have the instructions for performing such a modification? Stewart F. Strickland Strickland Firearm Service LLC We haven’t heard of the modification. For a replacement, contact Tom Forest, Lakeside, CA. Last phone on file is G