Help IDing a Stevens shotgun model

[Joshboyfutre]

If anyone can help me id this is Stevens shotgun I would be eternally grateful. And has no serial number very few stamp markings. I have a picture of the markings on each side and view it has 4 pins instead of 3 and a 30" barrel. Markings are hard to see I think it says J. Stevens company some City Massachusetts and then on the other side it says Stevens the guaranteed single gun. If anybody has any info it would be super helpful I also need to know if this thing is even safe eschewed and wouldn't mind knowing how old it is even if it's not worth anything

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

You need to have a gunsmith check that for safety purposes if you want to shoot it. It’s inexpensive and a reasonable smith will steer you right.

With these old single shots (they are a universe unto themselves) it’s not really feasible to give a thumbs up/down over the internet for shootability.

as far as age, that gun could have been made at any point in the first third of the 1900’s. There are folks who study mail-order catalog pictures and stuff that could nail it down a bit more, but cheap singles like that could be found in any catalog and hardware store in America back then. It isn’t worth much in the marketplace, but if it is sentimental to you then it is priceless.

 

[Joshboyfutre]

Yeah my buddy asked me to put a firing pin in it for him so I'm just trying to figure out what the actual make is I think it's a model 107 or a model 89 Stevens cranked out so many different models of single-shot it's insane LOL. Judging from some of the markings on the side after looking around I think it's the early nineteen hundreds probably anywhere from 1910 to 1930 which worries me because the Metallurgy back then was different. Originally we both figured it was from the 60s or 70s but after looking around online I'm not sure

 

[Oldschool shooter]

The town that Stevens guns were made is Chicoppee Falls, Mass. As to model #, I am not that familiar with them, except, as you are finding out, they made several models.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Stevens Arms was incorporated in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts in 1864. Chicopee is near Springfield. In 1864 the name was changed to J. Stevens and Company. In 1886, the company was reorganized and incorporated as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. The company went through several other names until it was bought by Savage in 1920. Savage was in nearby Springfield, so this made a lot of sense. The Stevens Favorite was a very popular 22 Rimfire single shot boy's rifle. Stevens made a great variety of pistols and shotguns too.

I have three or four Stevens shoguns, my favorite is this 12 gauge hammer gun from around 1908 or so.






Here is a closeup of the left side plate with the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co name on it, with the location underneath.




I have taken photos of two pages from Jay Kimmel's book, Savage & Stevens Arms.

These are reproductions from the 1929 Stevens catalog.

The first page shows the #107 shotgun. It was available chambered for 12, 16, 20, 28 gauges and .410. This model had an automatic Ejector, meaning when you broke it open the shell was ejected. The Model 105 was similar, but did not have the automatic ejector. The Model 108 at the bottom of the page was for 410 and some other calibers. The Model 108 had the automatic ejector, the Model 106 did hot have the automatic ejector.






Sorry, the page was curled when I took this photo. It looks like the Model 115 was a higher grade model than the previous ones.









Hope you can figure out what you have with this information. No idea if it is safe to shoot without first hand inspection.

 

[Joshboyfutre]

Thank you Driftwood Johnson I genuinely appreciate your input. I'm honestly surprised he's older shotguns don't at least have a little more value to them. I feel like one day overnight they're going to go up in value. Kind of like the Mosin and the SKS did. But I digress I really appreciate your input now if I can figure out which one of the two it is because it is definitely one of these two. I think it's the 115 because it looks like the 107 is flat-sided in the 115 has a little bit of Contour right above the trigger. Anyway thank you very much sir

Edit- after reading the descriptions I figured out it's a model 107 as the model 115 had a full pistol grip with a rubber cap on the bottom of the pistol grip this one does not

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Glad I could help.

 

[bangswitch]

I'm honestly surprised he's older shotguns don't at least have a little more value to them. I feel like one day overnight they're going to go up in value. Kind of like the Mosin and the SKS did.

These guns were inexpensive when new (even by the standards of the day; a shotgun like that could sell for less than $10) and made by the thousands; Stevens sold these guns under many brand names through catalog sales, they were simply made with little fancy machine work or checkering, the stocks were not high-grade wood; built in a time where the owner usually bought one to put food on the table. They spent their lives standing behind a door or hung over one whenever they weren't out getting dinner.

I had a 20 gauge very much like what you show, but it had no discernable marks on it at all. I had no idea who made it until I got the Stevens 94 I also now have. It's a .410, but is made exactly like the older one I had, except it's a new enough model to have a serial number and in better shape.

The military guns you mention have greater value because they are military arms and more complex; there tends to be a much greater interest among collectors for those types of firearm than a simple break-open single barrel shotgun, so their value climbs with time.