Stevens Crackshot lever droop

[Bullshop]

A customer brought in for repair an old Stevens Crackshot 22 LR.
At full cock on the hammer the lever will drop of its own weight and open the breach.
Before I go it alone without experiance I would like to call upon the wisdom and experiance of the membership of this forum.
Many Thanks!

[trevj]

Maynard looking one with a underlever, or the side lever?

The side lever is as basic as they come. The underlever is almost as basic.

I'd suggest starting by checking that the barrel is fully seated in the action, if it's a take-down. No filth or damage preventing it from seating? Then look at all the link pins and their respective holes. I'd think that you could count on this gun having at least some wear in the pins. The link itself may be sprung a bit too.

Essentially, these were made down to a (low) price when they were new. High Velocity ammo was not on the scene, either.

Consider that, short of extraordinary measures, this one may be at end of life, esp. if it has been fed a steady diet of Hi-Vel modern ammo.

Cheers
Trev

[Bullshop]

This is the under lever model. The bore looks good. The main spring is weak but after several tries I got it to fire. Holding the lever fully up and firing I see no abnormality in the fired case. No bulges anywhere. In the full up position the breach block has a wee bit of for and aft play but does not seem excessive.
Is there a source for new threaded pins?

[Pavogrande]

Frank deHaas says -- "It is likely the link pins and holes worn" - When the action is closed there is a bit of over center between the links, breech block and barrel face that keeps the lever from drooping. Enough wear will allow the lever to drop, opening the action.
my paraphrasing -
I don't know if parts are available, but I seem to recall the threads were a bit "different".
I am too cheap to buy anything that takes less than a year to make -
PS -- there is a pretty good article in the oct 94 am gunsmith on the rebuild of a 1915 favorite which is similar. --

[Bret4207]

BTDT Dan. The pins/screws and holes are likely worn. IIRC we used to bush the holes and make new pins/screws for any of those old types of rifles. Done right they would tighten right up. De Hass book has some good info and so does Grants.

[twotoescharlie]

make a new roller for the underlever, worked for me.
TTC

[John 242]

Here's a link to a parts list that may or may not be useful.
http://www.wisnersinc.com/exploded_views/Stevens_26_crackshot.htm

I have no experience with these rifles and the only reason I'm posting is to see if I can learn a little bit.
If I understand correctly, it seems like part nubers 20, 21, and 19 are what's being talked about.

By looking at the picture and from whats been posted, it seems that tension should be between 19 and 20 in order to hold the bolt shut. As the two wear, tension decreases, alowing the bolt to drop, correct?
What about checking out 21 to see if it's worn?

I like to learn stuff.
Sounds like a cool project.
Regards,
John