Old J. Stevens .22 Question

JVasky · Sep 9, 2014

Hey guys,

I have been looking at an old .22 my grandmother gave my father a while ago that I never got around to shooting. It's a J. Stevens Arms Crackshot 26 and it's in pretty darn good condition considering how old it is. I wasnt sure on what I could shoot out of it because my dad thought you could only shoot shorts through it but it says it's a 22 Long Rifle, I know J. Stevens invented the 22lr cartridge plus I've seen others confirm it does shoot lr so I'm not too concerned about that.

What I am concerned about is that the lever seems a little loose and when the hammer is cocked does not remain up. It just drops right down opening the action. I was wondering if this was typical and if I can just hold it up when firing or if something is broken/loose. Otherwise it seems good. Bore is clean and the hammer fires with each trigger pull like expected. Any expertise is appreciated. Thanks again guys.

Deltaboy · Sep 9, 2014

Get a gun smith to check it out. But I seen one before that did that and all they did was hold it up and shoot it.

fast14riot · Sep 10, 2014

First off, only shoot standard velocity ammo through it, not modern high velocity.

The lever and breech block were held up by the lever camming over center. Given nearly 100 years and wear it's no surprise that things just don't stay where we want them to. Try taking a sheet if paper and closing the breech face one it to see if that's enough to bring it over center. It will likely take more than just one sheet, then decide how you want to deal with it.

Some of the later models had threaded barrel stubs to correct just this problem.

JVasky · Sep 10, 2014

Thanks guys for the replies. I think I fixed it actually. There is a screw that I noticed looked loose. Sure enough after tightening the lever now locks and the breech closes tightly even while cocked. Can't believe I overlooked that but it seems to be good now.

mglindo · Sep 10, 2014

A quick look gave me this; Stevens Crackshot 26 .22 caliber rifle. Single shot boys type rifle. Produced 1912-39.

oldbluelight · Sep 12, 2014

JVasky, you might want to try the American Single Shot Rifle Association forum http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl . They just love old Stevens and they're a very fine resource for information about your rifle.

nymtber · Sep 17, 2014

rimfirecentral.com LOTS of info there about all things rimfire (obviously!)

Anything chambered in .22lr can shoot .22shorts, .22 longs, OR .22lr, but most clip-fed or repeaters may not feed longs or long rifle properly. Single shot? Just drop it in the chamber.

Definitely only shoot standard velocity or "match" ammo. Look for 1050fps (or less) ammo!

Now, where are the pics?

JVasky · Sep 20, 2014

Hey guys thanks for the helpful links! A wealth of information, couldn't be more grateful. I can't today, but tomorrow I'll post a few pics for anyone interested!

fast14riot · Sep 20, 2014

Oh yes! I've been a member of RFC for years, if the info you want isn't posted already, some there knows about it! Of course, we all love pics!

I have the same user name over there.