Stevens .44 caliber shotgun

[richhodg66]

Looking in a used gun rack and what appeared to be a Stevens Favorite but it had a ,44 caliber smoothbore barrel for shooting shot shells. I'd never heard of these or that shells like that were ever available. Pretty neat to see.

[Tatume]

Hi Rich,

Here is a short article that may benefit you. Funny this came up when it did, as I just this morning got out and was admiring my 44-1/2 rifle. Good find, if you get it I hope you enjoy it.

http://jefenry.com/main/The44-Shot.php

Take care, Tom

[richhodg66]

That's a good link, the one I saw looked exactly like that. I'm surprised that little gun would pattern that well at 15 yards, looks like it would be a good little pest gun around the garden.

I don't recall ever seeing one before, I wonder how many were made?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Looking in a used gun rack and what appeared to be a Stevens Favorite but it had a ,44 caliber smoothbore barrel for shooting shot shells. I'd never heard of these or that shells like that were ever available. Pretty neat to see.

I know of the cartridge, and that Stevens used it. But was it really a Favourite action? I think it would be more likely to be the 44. It would indeed be a fine close-range pest cartridge, especially for the reloader - and only for the reloader now, possibly. But I should think it was killed off by the .410.

[Tatume]

...But was it really a Favourite action? I think it would be more likely to be the 44...

Take a look at the link I posted, and you will see that it is neither a Favorite nor a Model 44. The Model 101 44-Shot was an entirely different design that only looked like a Favorite or Model 44 when closed. When the action is opened, it is seen to be a tip-up, quite unlike the others.

[elk hunter]

Rifle caliber shotshells were popular for close range game and pest shooting years ago. The Stevens was most likely chambered for the 44-40 version that was also used in the "Marbles Game Getter". I remember reading that some of the old time exhibition shooters used them in special smooth bore 73 Winchesters.

[Tatume]

...The Stevens was most likely chambered for the 44-40 version that was also used in the "Marbles Game Getter."...

Take a look at the link I posted and you will see that the Stevens Model 101 44-Shot was chambered for the 44-40 shot cartridge.

[country gent]

Several used to make what were termed Garden guns. Smooth bore rifles with a shot charge to defend gardens and yards from varmints and predators. Remington had several single shot smooth bores for 22 rimfire. We had a 222 dia reamer lengthend with 3/16 round stock and a stop collar for making these up from single shot 22s in one job shop I worked. But alot were made early in this century or so before GCA 68 made them short barreled shotguns.

[longbow]

My uncle had a Marbles Game Getter but would not part with it. Not sure what he did with it but it wasn't around when he died. It was in perfect condition too. Too bad.

It seems odd that these shot and ball cartridges were fairly common many years ago and more than one gunmaker made models specifically for them but no more.

I have to agree though that a .410 would be more effective.

Longbow

[Outpost75]

I use Starline 5 in 1 blank cases to load .44 shot which I use in my .44 Magnum, .44-40, .45 Auto Rim and .45 Colt revolvers, as well as in my rifles of those calibers, and as a close-range load in my cylinder-bored .410 shotgun. These patterns were fired on the D1C repair center which is ten inches square with 4 inch inner and 8 inch outer rings.

Top pair of targets at left is factory 1/2 oz. .410 #6 shot fired from cylinder bore at 25 feet. At right .44 Shot assembled in Starline 5 in 1 blank case with 5 grains of Bullseye, Remington 2-1/2 primer, Buffalo Arms .45 card over powder, then Federal 410SC shot cup trimmed to case mouth, 1/3 oz. No.8 shot, with overshot card crimped in end of shell.

140867


.44 Shot & Ball in Starline 5 in 1 blank case, 5 grains Bullseye, Buffalo Arms card over powder, Federal 410SC shotcup, 1/3 oz. No. 8 shot and Lee .390 round ball crimped in end of shell, fired from Marlin 1894S .44-40 lever action with 38" twist Microgroove rifling.
140868



.44 No. 8 Shot fired from Ruger .44-40 Vaquero with 5-1/2" barrel.
140869


.44 No. 8 Shot comparison in 20" twist H&R Handi Rifle rifle vs. Ruger revolver patterns at 15 feet.

140872

[Mk42gunner]

I saw one of those at an auction last year. There was also a .22 made on the same action there. I did not stay to see what they went for, just plain junk was going pretty high so I left.

I had thought about trying to get the .44 shot then lining the barrel to .32 S&W Long, since it was already centerfire. The action did not seem to be large enough or strong enough for anything more powerful.

On a side note, my great grandma is supposed to have killed a Canada goose that landed amongst her tame geese with hers, Dad said she had to shoot it three or four times. I could be wrong on that, he told me the story about forty years ago and it happened either when he was a kid or before.

Robert

[Blackwater]

If it'll take .44/40's, it should also chamber shortened .410 cases, I think. I'd at least try it, and with these, you'd have the option of a crimp, either fold type or rolled with an over shot card. Just a FWIW. They could also be used, I think, with round balls for bigger stuff at close ranges, too, but for most uses, I think I'd stick with 8 1/2 or 9 shot since at the close ranges involved in its use, they'd provide all the penetration you'd likely ever need simply because their velocity, which all smaller "bird shot" loses rapidly as distances increase, would be sufficient. I'd chrono loads, working up slowly to get a min. of 900 to a high of something like 1100 fps for any shot charges. That ought to be sufficient for any job it'd be suited for, and with the right powders and the long rifle/shotgun lenght barrel, should be easier on the old gun - a combination that'd be pretty hard to beat, I think. With the shortened .410 shells, too, you could use shortened .410 plastic wads, which might improve patterns a bit also, when used with a crimp. Just a FWIW?

[drinks]

My maternal GM used the .44xl cartridge in her model '92 carbine, the shot chamber was a blue paper container and it did well on snakes, cats and skunks at the short ranges

[Bent Ramrod]

The rim fire rifle version was called the No. 12 Marksman. It was a lever-actuated tip-down barrel mechanism, significantly stronger than the Favorite. Good enough for .44-40 shot or round balls at blackpowder pressures, but I wouldn't think it would hold up long rechambered to .410.

[richhodg66]

This one was in decent shape and it seems like it was in the $400ish range. Not sure what one is worth, but I need a project like that one like I need a hole in my head. Would be a fun thing to play with, but I have a neat little .410 if I get an itch for something like that.

[slumlord44]

Yes it was the Marksman. A lot of them have been reamed out to use .410 shotgun shells. I have one so modified. I have shot few 2 1/2" .410 shells through it with no problem but I would not want to shoot it a lot. Probably would never blow up but I would think it would loosen up eventually. This was actually one of the strongest boys actions that Stevens made. DeHass recommended converting them to .22 Mag and some centerfire pistol cartridges.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Take a look at the link I posted and you will see that the Stevens Model 101 44-Shot was chambered for the 44-40 shot cartridge.

Would you like me to turn back the clock and see it between posts 3 and 4?

Both Remington and Mossberg made .22 shotguns and traps for tiny clay targets in the 1950s or 60s, but it never really caught on, perhaps because even accurate shots were uncertain of breaking them. I am a long way from my books at the moment, but I think one of them used a special cartridge. As a pest killer the .22 shot cartridge has been around a long time, but they have to be small pests, and really close up. The 9mm. shot cartridge was much more effective, though nowhere near as good as a .410.

I bought a large quantity of primed but unloaded ".22LR" Winchester-Western cases for making .22 jackets minus the firing pin indentation. The seller swore he had boiled out the primers for postal transit, but fortunately I decided to anneal some on a cooker ring, and they went off with exactly the same crack as an unloaded rifle case. They turned out to be well over rifle case length, but not of .22 Magnum diameter, so they must have been intended for shotshells or some even more unusual project.

[Chev. William]

Those Primed RF cases may have been for Old Powder Actuated tool loads for the OLD Industrial rated tools (Grade 7 or higher Load rating) as I bought some Grade 7 .22 Cal PTL Cartridges back in the Early 1970s. They were shaped like a .22 Shot Shell with a Star Crimp tip (Nickel plated with a Grey Painted tip) and Fed Nicely through a Ruger Standard .22 Pistol with a Blank Firing Adapter on the muzzle. I used them in Reserve Training for Simulated OP-FOR equipment. The Ruger in the dark looks like a Luger or Nambu Pistol. The Blanks ROARED and put out a 16" 'Flame' through the BFA with NO chance of a Projectile making it out the Front by accident.
The BFA was machined out of a section of Heat Treated Alloy Steel about 1-1/2" OD and about 4" long with six .093" holes on .500" diameter circle out the Front.
I was in the Training unit for about four years and it worked as intended.
I believe OHSA has outlawed the Tools that used the High range PTLs now as I have not seen ANY availabel for sale over Grade 6 in the last 15 years.

My Ruger has been again modified with a 6" Bull Target barrel and Adjustable rear sight so the BFA no longer will mount. It is more accurate than I am now.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Just about any blank will make a large flash in the dark, although they normally use peculiarly fast powders. Yours was larger than the little Christmas tree I got by photographing my .300 H&H Magnum in the dark.

I used to know a British army colour-sergeant whose loader forgot to put in the shell, while on manoeuvres with the Chieftain tank in Canada. He claimed that the plume of fire went 400 yards. They gave the shell discreet burial, in case they were put under stoppages of pay for the charge.

[richhodg66]

Does that tank use separate loading or semi fixed ammo? I'm an artilleryman, most of my time being on 155s which use separate loading ammo, i.e., you ram the projectile then load the specified propellant in the form of bags of powder. 105s use a cartridge case and small bags that are loaded to whatever specified charge in the case then the projectile is set op top like seating a bullet before loading. Every tank I ever knew of here used fixed ammo, though, like small arms ammunition just one big cartridge.

A 155 uses a pretty healthy charge of powder, I've never seen it happen, but it would look pretty spectacular to see a "blank" firing from one. Periodically, gun units burn the unused charges during operations and it's quite a sight.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Up to the Chieftain fixed was usual, but then separate, probably because the assembled round would have been too bulky. I think it was originally a bagged charge, but now it is a combustible rigid casing. They are stored in tubes in a water-filled cistern, so that anything that penetrates into the charge will also drown it.

[EDG]

one of my grade school buddies in the early 1960s had a Stevens looking single shot marked 44XL. It was a smooth bore and he shot .410 ammo in it.

[Mk42gunner]

About time to resurrect this thread. I was at an auction last weekend and bought one of the little Stevens Model 101's in .44 Shot. ~26" barrel, no idea if it has any choke at all or not.

My first thought was to reline/ rebarrel it to .32 S&W Long for a neat little bunny gun, but then I got to thinking (uh-oh). The chamber looks straight, i.e. no neck, and measuring with the depth gauge on my dial calipers it is awful close to 2".

Then I remembered that I have close to a box of .444 Marlin brass for an ill fated attempt at brass .410 shells, (they didn't extract from Grandpa's Iver Johnson Champion). A short amount of time with the brass trimmer and I had one case that fits the chamber.

After a lot of google and bing searching; my plan is to use:
WW large pistol primers,
6.3 gr of Power Pistol (slightly slower than Unique, slightly faster than Herco and I have a four pound can of it)
a cut down Winchester .410 wad
3/8 ounce of shot
glue in an over shot card wad.

Does this sound reasonable for a first try?

The little gun might still get converted into a .32 S&W Long rifle anyway.

Robert

[marlinman93]

The Stevens in .44 Shot are not .410, they are .44-40 shot. I also have one here I'm selling and have fired it using .44-40 cases and Speer .44 shot capsules loaded with #7.5 or 9 shot.

[John Taylor]

Funny this came up, one of my customers gave me a 44 shot barrel the other day for a model 44 Stevens. Thinking of setting it up on my model 44 which is 44-40 now.