That #4 is a sett litte action. Green Mountain barrels offers an octagon "pistol caliber" barrel that is .875 tapering to .675 or something like that. That's as close to the right diameter as you'll get for the tiny #4. That's what I intend to replace my ruined 32 Long barrel with.
I just finished converting a Stevens 44 from 32 Rim fire to 32 centerfire with a new barrel and I have done several 32 rim to 22 conversions in the past. To convert to 22 rim fire you may not have to change the firing pin but it would be a good idea to make a new pin that won't impact on the breech as most of the old ones willl after years of use. Relingin the barrel is a straighforward reaming job for the 5 /16 liner. This should cost your from $90 to 130 bucks. Turning a new firing pin will be another 20 bucks or so. If you want a new barrel yo are looking at the same money and for a rim fire action I would not want to go with anything other than 22 lr. Also before you do any conversion make sure the pins and links are n good condition and the lock up is tight because if you have to make new links or ream and re fit the piins you will get a LOT of money in the job.
Liners are life savers. I have my Dad's 44 32-20 and the barrel is near useless even with jacketed. A liner will make all right in the world again.
A word of warning on liners- for the do it yourselfer- spend the bucks and gbuy or make a PILOTED DRILL. I didn't one time and that why I need a new barrel for my #4........
I made two liner drills, one with a pilot ground on and one as a flat bottoming drill.
I do the bulk of the drilling with the piloted drill to within about .250 of the muzzle and finish with the bottoming drill to within .080 +/- and clean up with a new crown.
It's a bit more work but I think worth it as you end up with a seamless job.
I really have to find one of these lil guns, that .25 Hornet or a shorter version on the .22 Squirrel sounds real good. The Squirrel is the one in my avatar.
roadie
The difference is night and day, the 44 1/2 breechblock is supported by steel shoulders.
The 44 is a big version of the Favorite with all the shortcomings pointed out by trevj.
Try a Google search.
roadie
Suo Gan,
I was just answering, did'nt mean it as a personal affront to you either.
I tend to give short and to the point answers. But really, a Google search with "Stevens 44 1/2" as the search term will tell you a helluva lot more then I can, even has a link to exploded views at wiseners.
roadie
The Stevens Favorite action is very weak. It was designed for the low pressure rimfire cases. I would not convert it to 25-20. A better option would be to have the barrel relined to 22 LR. I had a Favorite in 32 Long RF and finally sold it.
Physics lesson. Force equals pressure times area (pounds per square inch). The area of a 25-20 case head is several times that of a 22LR case head. Therefore, the potential force is several times as much for the same pressure. There are other factors involved, of course, like the strength of the case. But the point is that 25Ksi in a 22lr is a lot harder on an action than 25Ksi in a 25-20.
People sometimes tell me they dont own guns because guns are too expensive. I tell them guns dont cost anything. They are essentially another form of currency.
Uh, yeah, there is a lot more to it than that.Originally Posted by rickster
All well and good if you're talking about an action with some kind of safety margin. The Favorite has absolutely none in this application because of the fact that factory ammunition can be chambered in an action not designed for it.
Thats a major physics lesson waiting to happen.
roadie
I bring it up because all too often I have seen it written that xzy action is factory chambered for some little cartridge that develops xxxxxx psi pressure, so obviously the action should safely handle a much bigger cartridge at the same pressure. Well, it doesn’t work like that at all. Yet, I have seen such pronouncements in mainstream gun rags. And there was a similar comment in the thread above. So, it seems to me that there is a widespread and unsafe misunderstanding of what pressure is and how it acts.
People sometimes tell me they dont own guns because guns are too expensive. I tell them guns dont cost anything. They are essentially another form of currency.
The Hornet operates at a whole heck of a lot more pressure than 24,000, 50-75% more at least. Coupled with the larger area subtended by the head of the case against the breech face= a lot more thrust backward against said breech than with a .22RF.
Even in .22RF I would be a bit cautious with a century old Favorite. In a rifle made from low grade steel and cast iron, depending on pins and screws for lock-up, designed for ammo in an era when .22 black powder and low pressure smokeless was the norm, without much of a safety margin built in anyway. Certainly I would ignore the current crops of hyper velocity .22 ammo and stick with the most sedate stuff I could find. Converting one of these things to centerfire, or even a .17 RF would , in my humble opinion, be ill advised.
I am amazed at this thread! Someone is going to build a Fav. in a totally unsafe caliber due to some of these threads and When they end up with a portion of the action in their forehead who will be responsible? THIS is not a safe conversion.
I did one in 32 S&W. The breach block went AWAY! Low pressure? Who will explain the coming wreck to the widow? I hope anyone who attempts this has lots of life insurance........
Rant off........but (here comes the warning) PLEASE test fire the thing with a string before you shoot it on your shoulder.......it might be the thing that saves your life if not a nice old Stevens. I'd gladly loose a gun to save a fellow caster.
Lewis AKA Wright Brothers Gunsmiths
"Illegitimus non carborundum"
Political Correctness: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t*rd by the clean end!
I hope no one took it that way. The simple rule is that in 2 cases loaded to the same pressure and of the same shape the one with the larger case head exterts more pressure on the breech block.
And how do you know it wasn't your conversion that caused the failure? Anytime someone does a conversion or hauls an old gun out of the closet it pays to do a thorough check of the rifle. It still ends up being the individuals decision. A 22 or 32 S+W, 25 RF...I can see then in the Favorite. No one is advocating a 22 Hornet or 25-20 in one.
Actually it's the internal square area of the case web floor. Granted if that's larger usually the head is larger, but wonder if that area is the same size, but one case is rimmed and the other is rimless? Also the body taper plays into effect here too.
Joe
The breach block was not modified in any way except to move the firing pin. Look at a #4 breach block. Two small ears are ALL that keep it in place these "ears" broke off with 32 S&W factory ammo.
I'm reading that it is OK to do these conversions with down loaded ammo. That's great for a reloader but someday a non loader could put a factory round in it...
It seems to me that the safest way to enjoy these vintage old guns is to err on the safe side. I was lucky that Bruce is still my friend,alive and well. And yes we talked a some length about the safety issues........we were WRONG! It just wrecked a really clean nice old Stevens.
I won't do it to any typical weak action design. Fav,44 ect. are not strong even if made with modern steel.
Lewis AKA Wright Brothers Gunsmiths
"Illegitimus non carborundum"
Political Correctness: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t*rd by the clean end!
Exactly right. Rifles (bridges, piping, etc) are designed with safety margins to allow for overloads that might reasonably be expected to occur. Taking advantage of these margins to build a rifle in a different caliber eliminates the safety margins and makes the rifle an accident waiting for a place to happen.
People sometimes tell me they dont own guns because guns are too expensive. I tell them guns dont cost anything. They are essentially another form of currency.
I'm not an engineer and can only put it in term I understand- If you have 2 cases of the same shape- lets say they're straight walled and rimless to make it easy- and both are loaded to the same pressure but one has a .400 case head and the other .425 the .425 exerts more force on the breech block all other factors being equal. It's kind of like hydraulics where 2000 psi pushing on a 1" ram can lift a certain amount but the same 2000 psi on a 4" ram can lift several times what the 1" can.
There are a mess of variables- case shape, chamber finish, lube in chamber (remember the 22 Jet?), probably a bunch more that don't come to mind.
This is the same argument that results from ANY conversion to ANY gun. I'm not saying anyone HAS to do it, but there is still a bit of freedom of choice left in this country and if some one goes into something with their eyes open and knowing all the pro and cons it ends up being the owners choice.
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