Stevens 311 help please!

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greg c

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I just picked up a very clean example of a Stevens H series 311. Does anyone know the production years for this gun? Mine has a D serial number prefix.

In addition, this is my first 311 (after searching for almost a YEAR for a good one!)- after I remove the forearm screw, do I just pull the wood off? Mine seems a little tight, and I don't want to force it unless you guys say it's ok.

Thanks!
-G
 
First off, Congrats on a great peice of American made shooting iron.

D prefix is a 1952. Great year by the way, my first and favorite is a 1952.

No need to take the forearm screw out at all, just pull down on the front and it should just pop on down.

Give it a good check out, then shoot the heck out of it and report back.
 
Okie, thanks for the congratulations- I am really surprised to hear you say 1950s- my friend and I agree this piece looks like it could have been made in the 80's, it is that well preserved.

Went out and shot it over the weekend- picked out the clays as well as my red label or my friend's Beretta 391. That may be due in part to the fact that the length of pull and stock configuration are almost exactly the same as my red label when put side by side.

Any advice on a recoil pad for this gun?
Any harm to firing both barrels at once?
 
My first (which started a nasty obsession) was given to me by my Grand dad, he bought it new way back when. I've been shooting it now for over 20 yrs and when I pick it up now it feels like a natural appendage. It has a Pachmayr White line on it that I really like, but I'm not sure if those are made anymore. Not sure about touching off both barrels at once, seems like it would be alot of extra wear and tear.
 
Okie, reading about your 8 (!) 311's on various threads was a prime motivation to check them out in the first place. I'm glad I did!

Thanks again,
-G
 
I do have a nasty habit of becoming obsessed with an idea. Once got side tracked on 380's, ended up with over a dozen laying around. But for some reason the 311's just hold a special place in my heart. Maybe because of the direct connection they give me with my Grand dad, a man I've always strived to be like. It's his birthday today by the way.
 
Thet 311 is a FINE shootin' iron... I have them in 12, 16, and 20 GA. love 'em dearly...

best advice I can give you is what Dave McC always says... "BA,UU,R" (Buy Ammo, Use Up, Repeat)

these are FINE old double guns, and are a BLAST to shoot!
 
My brother has a Stevens 311 (actually, a Sears "J. C. Higgins" store brand, but definitely a 311). He shoots it better than any other shotgun he's tried.

My late father's was (if I recall) a Stevens 630 (I may have the model number wrong). It's basically a 311 with better wood, both stock and forend are checkered. I can't find a serial number on it, but this isn't surprising since he purchased it second-hand many years before GCA 68 mandated serial numbers on long arms.

I really know no history of this vaiation. Can anyone provide input?
 
I don't know of any 630's, but Stevens had a 530 that sounds like what you're talking about. They were made from 1936-1954. I've never owned one, but from what I've seen they are basically a 311. Up until around 1948 the 311's were actually produced under the Springfield brand name and the 530 was the Stevens brand, once the Springfield brand name was phased out, everything became a 311.
 
Curious on what date my Stevens 311A was made. Right underneath the barrel is marked (H) F C. The H is in a circle. I would guess from reading this makes it manufactured in 1956 ?

Thanks,

Brad
 
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Chokes

does anyone know how to find out what the barrels chokes are in the 311A?
 
The Tenite stocks will fail sooner or later. The good news is that wood stocks are available to replace them with.

A good bet on the 311's insofar as determining chokes is that the ones with 26" barrels were mostly choked Improved Cylinder and Modified and the 28" tubes were Modified and Full. I'm sure there are exceptions, but those are the most common configurations if unaltered. I have a 28" gun choked Skeet and Improved, but it has been reamed to those dimensions.

Clemson
 
...thread bump...

Okiecruffler:

pull down on the front and it should just pop on down
Click to expand...

Can you be a bit more specific? I'm suffering from a senior moment...

It may not be applicable to what I'm trying to accomplish - I'm only guessing that a 335 will take down identically to a 311.

If anybody has anything to add, the saga of the 335 is here.

I notice the experts ('specially Harley Nolden, Dave and SM) haunt both forums. I posted this here because the THR search turned up somebody that knew how to take down a 311; thread started at TFL as a search turned up a 5 year old thread on 335's. Not that the 335 search turned up dry here - was rather fascinating to find out that Gibson made such an item :)

...hope this doesn't constitute gratuitous cross-posting. My apologies if so.

Thanks.
 
With the action closed, you should be able to pull straight down on the end of the forearm closest to the muzzle. The front part (muzzle end) of the forearm should pop away from the barrels first, then the locking lug will slide out of the reciever. If it isn't pretty easy then either the 335 has a different setup, or something ain't right.
Under no circumstances should you attempt this with a Gibson 335, as that is not a forearm, but a neck, and if it separates you're dim 7th chords will suffer greatly.
 
Friend Okie: I just got an education and thought I'd share.

The 335 takes down in the same manner as Beretta O/U except the fore stock has to have the screw removed rather than by spiffy finger latch.

Here's my dunce move: remove screw, pull down on fore arm, remove forearm, open action, remove barrels, etc.

This works just fine uncocked but then the forearm can't be replaced. Hey, it's my first SxS; took me 20 minutes to figure that out.

Hold forearm against receiver, engaging cocking rods (or whatever they're called), crank down on forearm until one hears "clicks", cocking thingies are now angled down. Replace barrels, close action, forearm now slides back on slick as you please, replace screw, open beer, post on THR.

This would be a cross-post but TFL didn't get the dunce move confession. I save that for here.

There's enough conflict in the reference docs, it's time to proof it.

Thanks

PS - for a moment there, I was pretty sure it was a Gibson.
 
Hummm ????

What happens if you cock the gun, leave the forearm screw in and then just pull down on the front of the wood ? The forearm should come off in one piece (wood and metal) no ? When assembling, put the barrels on the reciever and bring them to the closed position, then place the forearm back into position at the rear and push upward to snap in the forearm latch.

Or did I miss something since it's almost 4 am here ?
 
Now you've gone and done it

Now I've got to hunt down a 335 so I can take a look, having never handled a Berretta. This can't end well....
Interesting info on the laminated barrel, I'd never heard of such a thing.
 
My assumption about where the screw was on the 311 is probably what's confusing me.

On the 335, the screw physically attaches the fore end wood to the barrels (in approximately the same location as the finger latch on a Beretta). No way the wood is separating from the barrels with the screw in place.

Now you've got me curious as to what kind of screw was being referenced when this thread started.

Is the 311 fore end similar to the L.C. Smith "yank down in front" deal? I was playing with one of those for the first time last night and found it to be fascinating. If it is similar, where would the 311 have added a screw? :confused:
 
311 Guru:

Embrace inclusion! Handle a Beretta.

Celebrate diversity! The Stevens and 870's will forgive you. The Lion and the Lamb shall lay together.

Kumbaya, y'all.

Gotta go - ran outa exclamation points.
:eek:
 
One cannot shoot clays with a Gibson 335, but I believe some folks can make music with a Stevens 335 or 311. The right tool for the job....
 
My 311 is the "Guard Gun", 18" barrels. It's parked in my tactical collection next to a couple of Stoeger Coach Guns, and a Browning BSS that has been cut down (not by me!) to 18.25", and has an extra stock-pistol grip only(somewhere a Browning collector is shedding tears and trying to bring me to trial in front of the Browning Collectors Association). The 311 compares favorably against them all as far a shooting qualities go, and is very rugged in the bargin. Been trying to get a cousin to part with his 26" 311 for some time, he won't.
Great piece of US gunmaking history, too bad they perished in the sea of rising costs. Take mine Grouse hunting every October, I have gone from simply capitalizing Grouse, to Mr. Grouse. Someday I WILL get one. But the 311 is a great rabbit gun, very fast with the short barrels. BTW you can double them(fire both barrels) with no ill effects-to the gun. But it will get the shooters attention, right now!!!
 
Be careful with the both barrel at one time thing. My dad knew someone who broke a finger doing so and I cracked my Norinco double 12ga stock doing so.
 
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