This firearm belonged to my father, his father passed it to him when he was 16 (1965). He told me that he remembers it being in the condition that it's in currently which isn't anything too bad but he always used itnas a single shot, you'll see why below. He grew up poor on a farm in East Tennessee, obviously repairing this shotgun wasn't a priority and more than that wasn't an option when they were trying to figure out how to put food on the table. I've recently come into ownership of the firearm which I didn't even know existed up until a few years ago. My father has a few nice firearms but he was never big into the hobby and I didn't grow up in close proximity to firearms I suppose because it wasn't all that interesting to him. He did have a special attachment to this shotgun so I would love to honor him by bringing it back to life, I believe it would mean the world to him. He is very successful and made it to the top of the pile through his hard work and ingenuity so he could go buy any kind of gun he wants and could have easily had this weapon professionally repaired, but he mentioned in passing one day how he would love to have it restored.
This is where I come in.
Now I'm certainly no gunsmith but I know enough to be dangerous so I would like to take a crack at repairing it. I have no problem refinishing wood, have done several blue jobs, and haven't found anything yet that I couldn't repair with factory parts. The thing is I know very little about shotguns (we can add that to the ocean of other things I don't know). I've begun looking for replacement parts on numrich but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right stuff. On top of that I have no clue what the gun looks like in perfect condition, and can't find a photo to be sure of it. Lastly there is conflicting info on the make and model and I'm no historian so I'm not sure of the guns actual age, I'm going to guess it's at least 60-70 years. My dad seems to think my grandfather ordered it out of a Sears&Roebuck catalog but I couldn't find the receipt (joking).
I've tried to take pictures of the gun and engraving but they are starting to wear off pretty bad so it's not 100% clear.
The known problems are:
1. Magazine will not hold the shells in place, the follower and spring compress just fine but when you take your thumb off the shell it pops back out. I'm assuming it's missing some kind of retention spring/latch, although when the breech is closed there is a small lever that covers the magazine tube (will try to get a photo)
2. The stainless "latch" you normally would see when looking at the bottom of the loading port with the breech closed is missing (or should there be one at all?)
3. Looks like some rusting on the bolt, can this be removed without damaging it's integrity?
4. The rest that I can see is strictly cosmetic, chunk missing from buttstock, some oxidation (possibly light pitting), surface rust, dings a scratches...etc.
5. I have no idea which parts will work on this because I'm obviously to stupid to figure out exactly who made the gun. It says Springfield on the receiver but when I look up the model some times it's listed as a savage, sometimes a stevens, and have yet to see actually it listed as a Springfield. There are conflicting model and part numbers as well.
Any and all advice will be most appreciated. Please let me know what other details I can provide.
This is where I come in.
Now I'm certainly no gunsmith but I know enough to be dangerous so I would like to take a crack at repairing it. I have no problem refinishing wood, have done several blue jobs, and haven't found anything yet that I couldn't repair with factory parts. The thing is I know very little about shotguns (we can add that to the ocean of other things I don't know). I've begun looking for replacement parts on numrich but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right stuff. On top of that I have no clue what the gun looks like in perfect condition, and can't find a photo to be sure of it. Lastly there is conflicting info on the make and model and I'm no historian so I'm not sure of the guns actual age, I'm going to guess it's at least 60-70 years. My dad seems to think my grandfather ordered it out of a Sears&Roebuck catalog but I couldn't find the receipt (joking).
I've tried to take pictures of the gun and engraving but they are starting to wear off pretty bad so it's not 100% clear.
The known problems are:
1. Magazine will not hold the shells in place, the follower and spring compress just fine but when you take your thumb off the shell it pops back out. I'm assuming it's missing some kind of retention spring/latch, although when the breech is closed there is a small lever that covers the magazine tube (will try to get a photo)
2. The stainless "latch" you normally would see when looking at the bottom of the loading port with the breech closed is missing (or should there be one at all?)
3. Looks like some rusting on the bolt, can this be removed without damaging it's integrity?
4. The rest that I can see is strictly cosmetic, chunk missing from buttstock, some oxidation (possibly light pitting), surface rust, dings a scratches...etc.
5. I have no idea which parts will work on this because I'm obviously to stupid to figure out exactly who made the gun. It says Springfield on the receiver but when I look up the model some times it's listed as a savage, sometimes a stevens, and have yet to see actually it listed as a Springfield. There are conflicting model and part numbers as well.
Any and all advice will be most appreciated. Please let me know what other details I can provide.
Last edited:
