Working The Stevens Visible Loader

While doing my research on the Stevens Visible Loader for this article I found considerable information available on it but no single resource had all the necessary information. I hope that putting all my research in one location will aid other individuals. My interest in this rifle started when a friend presented me with one that was is rough shape and had parts missing. I studied it and went to my NRA Firearms Assembly Manual.

It has a good exploded view which gives the relationship and the relative size of the parts, unlike all the parts catalogs that I have seen which are simply a reprint of the original Stevens parts list, which is not to scale. While this project interested me, I had others in the works and the Visible Loader was relegated to a closet as a "‘round to it." My interest was renewed when a customer requested that Ifi nd parts for his VL which he had owned since new and wanted it to returned to operation.

Research on the internet revealed that several sources made new replacements for the most commonly needed replacement parts. I will list these suppliers at the end. For those adventurous types, Leroy Wisner’s Handbook of Hard-To-Find Gun Parts Drawings, available from Brownells, has detailed dimensional drawings of most of the parts. History The history of the Visible Loader started in 1907 when Edward Red- 22 ever built but is an interesting design.

My rifle broken down with the parts arranged showing the relationships between them. field was awarded patent number 852241 for anew repeating firearm. Edward was the brother of John Redfield of Redfield scope fame. The initial design had a completely different breech locking system. If any firearm other than the prototype was built it would be quite rare because a second patent, number 953291, was received in 1909 which removed the original locking system and added new locking systems to the initial design.

This second patent describes the design that was actually produced. These patents can be found by using Google’s Patent Search engine. While the first is interesting, the second explains how the rifle works with the improved locking system and is invaluable to understanding the function and fitting of all the parts. According to the NRA assembly manual Stevens started producing the rifle in 1908. Stevens continued to produce it through the 1920s and then Savage continued it until 1934.

During production, numerous small

changes were made to the rifle, such as the Hammer Spur, Butt Plates, and the extractor widths. The numbers stamped in the lower tang do not appear to be serial numbers because they never exceed three digits preceded by a letter. Since 100,000 of these rifles were produced over the course of a twenty six year period, the primary alphabetic character was repeated several times and would lead to duplication.

As far as I can determine, the only way of dating them is by the above changes or by the Savage logo such as as found on mine. Of course, this would only give an approximation of early, mid, or late production. Function When the slide handle is moved to the rear, several things occur. The locking cam retracts into the slide handle. The breech moves to the rear, cocking the hammer. The lifter moves the firing pin to the rear and lifts a cartridge up between the extractors.

When the slide handle is returned to the forward position, the cartridge enters the chamber, the locking cam rotates out to block rearward movement and the hammer lock lifts to block the slide. As long as the hammer is cocked the breech remains locked and the slide is prevented from rearward movement. Disassembly After double checking that the rifle is unloaded, remove the inner magazine tube. Next, remove the barrel pin screw from the forward upper right side of the receiver.

Using a punch small enough to clear the internal threads of this pin, drive it out of the receiver. Note that the fl at side of the pin faces down. While holding the breech block to the rear, grasp the barrel and work it forward out of the receiver. Invert the receiver and note the position of the locking cam. The forearm can now be drawn forward from the receiver. The locking cam can be removed once the forearm assembly is clear. The locking cam sleeve can now be unthreaded from the breech block.

It will require many turns because of the 40 TPI pitch. Unless the outer magazine tube must be replaced do not disassemble it from the breech block assembly. The likelihood of damage during removal is too great. Remove the top and bottom tang screws and slide the stock off to the rear. The NRA assembly manual states that the breech block and outer magazine tube can be removed to the rear by twisting it past the hammer when it is over cocked, however, on mine I had to remove the hammer for the necessary clearance.

To remove the hammer insert a thin screwdriver through the top tang screw hole and pry the mainspring shoe away from its retainer. Release the spring tension and remove the shoe, mainspring, and mainspring plunger wire. The retainer can be removed by a screwdriver through the upper tang hole if needed. The hammer screw on the right rear of the receiver can now be removed and the hammer pin removed in the same manner as the barrel pin. Remove the hammer and the breech block and magazine tube assembly.

Just forward of the hammer pin is the hammer lock screw and pin. Remove it in the same manner as the hammer pin. Note that the hammer pin and hammer lock pin are different. The hammer lock pin has a shoulder to retain the lock. Remove the hammer lock. The screw on the lower right front of the receiver is a dummy screw that must be removed for reassembly. Now remove the trigger spring using an offset screwdriver. Far The fl at side mounts toward the receiver. Left: Modifi ed Locking Cam

The trigger removal is accomplished by drifting out the trigger pin. If required, the extractors can be disassembled by removing the screws through the top of the breech block. The firing pin and lifter are removed by drifting out the lifter pin at the lower rear of the breech block. Inspect all parts for damage or wear and repair or replace as required. Carefully remove any burrs. On my particular specimen the hammer lock and spring, and the locking cam was missing.

The outer magazine tube was beyond repair and needed to be replaced as well. Some parts I was able to find on Gunbroker or Ebay and others came from the suppliers I have listed at the end of this article. Reassembly Reassembly is simply stated in the NRA manual as the reverse of disassembly. It isn’t quite that easy. I will cover the problem areas. Note that the rear magazine hanger ring is fl at on one side. This side mounts toward the receiver. Reverse all the assembly until you get to the hammer lock.

I have found that you must insert the hammer lock from the rear between the tangs, hold it in alignment with a small screwdriver or punch, then install the hammer and hammer pin and screw. After installing the hammer, carefully align the hammer lock and insert the hammer lock pin and screw. When properly installed, you will see that the lock moves up when the hammer is cocked and down when it is in the fi red position. Headspace is determined by the locking cam.

I had to buy anew one since it was missing in my basket case rifle. While the basic profile was there, some minor fitting was required. When the action is locked, the cam moves out to fitin the angled notch at the front of the receiver. When the slide handle is moved to the rear, the angle of the notch in the slide handle bar retracts the cam to allow it to enter the receiver. Ifi led the front angle of the cam, keeping the angle the same until the cam would retract into the notch.

This required removing a small amount and then test fitting. When the cam would fully seat in the notch, test fitting showed that the fl at side of the cam needed some material removed to allow the cam to enter the receiver. Again remove a small amount and test fit. After fitting I rounded the corners slightly with a stone. To set the headspace, thread the locking cam sleeve onto the breech block tube until it is approximately 1 ¼-inches away from the front of the receiver.

Replace the slide bar and handle with the locking cam in position inside the sleeve. Insert the barrel into the receiver ensuring that it is fully seated. With the slide completely forward observe how much gap is present between the face of the receiver notch and the cam. Remove the barrel and rotate the sleeve either in or out to the point where the cam just touches the face of the receiver. One complete rotation will move it 0.025-inches.

Continue to test fit until the cam will not seat and then back off one rotation. Headspace is now set. Remove the dummy screw at the forward lower right of the receiver. When the cam is seated, you should be able to see the hammer lock. Cock the hammer. The lock should move up to seat in the notch at the end of the slide bar. Do this several times to ensure that it is repeatable. If it is, you are finished. Replace the dummy screw and the action pin and screw.

If, however, it occasionally goes above the slide bar, as was the case on mine, build up the end of the action bar to block the lock. This can be done with weld or braze, but must done carefully as proper dimension here is critical. I believe that this one fault is the cause of many broken hammer locks. Other causes could be high velocity ammunition or trying to force open the action with the hammer cocked.

The VL was designed before high velocity rounds were developed and should only be used with standard velocity or CB type ammunition. The rifle is now ready to test fi re. The Visible Loader is not the best slide action .22 ever built but it is interesting nevertheless. Considering the prices shown on Gunbroker.com, the VL is beginning to show collector interest for operational examples.

My sample of VL was in rough shape cosmetically and I plan to refinish and reblue it now that I have returned it to operational condition. AG

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