Just some old wood and steel

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mrcabinet

mrcabinet

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I've been messing around with different HD shotguns for a few years and finally came to the conclusion that I just don't care for the plastic stocked guns. I want old school wood and metal, but something a little different than an 870 or 500. A '97 would be great, but anything in half decent shape is way out of my budget so I've been keeping an eye out for a Stevens 520. Finally ran across this one a few months back. It's a last iteration (1938 - '39) Western Field branded 520 in great condition. Well, except for a ding in the barrel 2" down from the end. That ding let me walk out the door with it for dirt cheap. So anyway, after some cutting, filing, accessorizing and just good old TLC, here's the finished product.
20200801_091750.jpg
 
Nice!
I agree with you about wood stocks and blued steel....classic looks and get the job done.
Also tends to add a bit of weight....
 
Nice work. I got the plastic and all weather/stainless urge out of my system in the late 90s. Anything shoulderable in a centerfire hunting cartridge that comes home with me these days is wood and preferably blued steel, and if possible...sporting a mannlicher stock.
 
I agree, OP. And that's a nice gun there!
I have 2 short shotguns, one a 1952 model pump and the other a 1954 semi-auto. They are two of my favorite guns I've ever owned. Old wood and steel guns have soul. ;)
 
Although I prefer something a magnet will stick to, I'm actually OK with some aluminum. I've dropped an awful lot of ducks and geese with a 1200 Winchester.
 
mrcabinet said:
I've been messing around with different HD shotguns for a few years and finally came to the conclusion that I just don't care for the plastic stocked guns. I want old school wood and metal, but something a little different than an 870 or 500. A '97 would be great, but anything in half decent shape is way out of my budget so I've been keeping an eye out for a Stevens 520. Finally ran across this one a few months back. It's a last iteration (1938 - '39) Western Field branded 520 in great condition. Well, except for a ding in the barrel 2" down from the end. That ding let me walk out the door with it for dirt cheap. So anyway, after some cutting, filing, accessorizing and just good old TLC, here's the finished product.
View attachment 936384
Click to expand...
You did a nice job putting that together. Hard to beat a John Browning gun. I have owned a few 520's and 620's. I picked up a riot 520 with the Military flaming bomb for under $100 at a pawn shop a few years back.
 
Dang mnrivrat, you scored on that 520! I paid almost twice as much for the heatshield as I did for the gun, so I didn't do too bad I guess.
 
The riot model was different then the Trench gun as it had no heat shield or bayonet lug. (you probably already knew that) The same year I picked up the riot gun I went to AZ for the winter to stay with my two brothers there. I drove my oldest brother to the VA in Prescott one day. We stopped at a pawn shop there and what did I pull off the shelf but a full length barrel 520 with the Flaming Bomb. In excellent condition for $125. Since I live in Minnesota I had to pass it up. Actually I should have bought it and had it shipped back to my dealer. In WWII they did Military flight training at the base by Kingman, AZ. The full length barrel version was used to train piolets for leading their targets.
Not very smart of me to pass that one up. Another old school riot gun I had a couple of , were the Hi-Standard guns. Smoothest pumps I ever owned. I could stand them on their butts and hit the bolt release on a empty gun and they would drop completely open. They also came with an extended magazine.
These days I shoot a Remington standard weight 1100 in 20 ga. A lot less recoil on my damaged rotor cup. It is set up for HD with a 22" barrel and I also have a skeet barrel for it although I no longer hunt or shoot skeet or trap.
 
I couldn't agree more on the old Hi Standards - fantastic shotguns. That's one that I regret selling years ago. I passed on a Mitchell riot gun last year that was in beautiful condition, but the seller was firm at $600 for it. If it was an original Hi standard maybe, but not for a Mitchell.
 
I grew up with a synthetic 12ga in the 50s and because of that garbage came to really love real wood. Nothing looks as fine as a high grade wood stock with an “in the wood finish” that looks like polished stone.

Fake wood and dipped fake finishes are criminal. All the dings turn grey and look like a BB gun was used to decorate them.
 
Armorer 101 said:
I grew up with a synthetic 12ga in the 50s and because of that garbage came to really love real wood. Nothing looks as fine as a high grade wood stock with an “in the wood finish” that looks like polished stone.

Fake wood and dipped fake finishes are criminal. All the dings turn grey and look like a BB gun was used to decorate them.
Click to expand...

For a great looking gun that you can show off to your friends, or take some special personal pride in , the wood in higher grades in particular , can't be beat. Some things mother nature creates stand on their own. When I built my custom rifle I used a fancy maple.
That said , I have repaired a whole lot of wood stocked guns that were cracked or broken over my years of gunsmithing. For a hard working gun , the composite stocks are clearly the winner in durability.
 
mrcabinet- THAT is so cool! Plastic is for kids...... Curious about what you load it with?
 
When shooting “old” shotguns two things to be concerned with, pre war steels aren’t as strong and stocks with excessive drop.

If you can accept these and work around them old shotguns are cool, I used to collect pre war double guns.
 
This ol' girl has eaten anything I've stuffed in it. It's so heavy that low brass 7 1/2 feel like a 20 gauge. I did score on 1/2 a case of S&B 2 3/4" 00 buck that shoots really nice patterns out of it, but it definitely lets you know that it's a no-nonsense round.
 
I see those 520s and my mind goes straight back to my first year turkey hunting. I was 16. I had a Mossberg 20ga and after shooting (at) a bird (way too far away) I jumped up and ran after it thinking I had wounded it (because that’s what they do on TV too), and in the process I dropped my gun and the walnut stock broke off everything between the wrist and reciever above the stock bolt. I finished the season with my dads 16ga western field. No more turkeys, but a high brass pheasant load will mess up a coyotes morning.
 
EMT40SW - here's a couple pics of the shell holder. A friend gave this to me a couple years ago, and I believe he found it on the world's largest auction site. I hate to admit it, but the cheek pad does make for a more pleasurable shooting experience.
20200927_173552.jpg 20200927_173614.jpg
 
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