I just won one on Gunbroker, a 12ga that looks to be in great shape, it's the Takedown model. Does anyone have one? How do you like it , How easy does it takedown?
I've got two of them an early one and a late one. Pretty good guns built on John M. Brownings patent from 1904-1932. The early ones had the Browning hump with an extra step and the safety inside the trigger guard. Later ones were flat the full length of the receiver and have a thumb safety on the tang. To take it down take out the screw that holds the front of the mag tube. Take out the spring and unscrew the mag tube then bump the barrel/tube assembly out the bottom. When you unscrew the tube you'll see the V shaped wedges in the plate at the bottom of the tube that hold the whole thing in place disengage. One thing about it is that it has an inertia release on the bolt. If you dry fire it you can't rack the slide until you put forward pressure on the pump. It will work fine with live fire as recoil unlocks the bolt.
In the pic the one on top is a late model and the bottom is an early model. Stocks have been replaced on both.
Thanks Rebel, Mine is the late model like the top one in your photo. I was wondering how it broke down,Thx.for the info. Mine has either been a safe queen or has been refinished,the wood and blueing look great in the photos,can't wait to recieve it,and try it out.
My guess would be a refinish. Stevens have always been working guns not generally safe queens. Especially guns bought back in the 20's-30's. Not saying it's not just kinda unlikely. If it's pure black like a modern blue job it's a refinish. If it has a blue tint to it it could be original.
Oh yeah I forgot. The bolt has to be partially unlocked to remove the barrel assembly. It doesn't need to be fully retracted or getting the action bar back in the notch may be a little harder, just far enough to clear the extractors is all you need.
Hey Txhillbilly, congrats on the new old gun. I see you are from Burleson. I live south of Rendon. It's kinda cool to see people from my area on here. I hope she is a shooter and good luck with her.
Whoopee, I finally got to speak to the person that I won my 520 from and he assured me that it was the original finish on the gun. I thought it might have been an old refinish,but was I wrong. Now I'm going to have to go buy a camera so I can show off my guns to everyone here. I can't wait for it to get here and see it up close. The funny thing is I was the only one to bid on this gun, I know it is not a highly prized collector,but finding an old working mans gun in great cond. is rare.
[quote=Texan4life;593983]see you are from Burleson. I live south of Rendon. It's kinda cool to see people from my area on here. I hope she is a shooter and good luck with her.
T4L, I see we are kind of neighbors. You ever go to Alpine and shoot? If I'm home during the week I will go out there,but on the weekends it gets too crowded. There was a great range just west of Joshua but the owner was offered a load of money and sold the land. The Shooting Place Indoor range in Burleson is a great place to shoot pistolas.
Glad to meet ya,Txhillbilly
Whoopee, I finally got to speak to the person that I won my 520 from and he assured me that it was the original finish on the gun. I thought it might have been an old refinish,but was I wrong. Now I'm going to have to go buy a camera so I can show off my guns to everyone here. I can't wait for it to get here and see it up close. The funny thing is I was the only one to bid on this gun, I know it is not a highly prized collector,but finding an old working mans gun in great cond. is rare.
Congratulations. I hope you got a good deal on it.
I only go to Alpine for reloading supplies in between Cabelas trips, or to see what is in the used rack. I got a decent sized piece of land for out here and I do all my shooting here. My backstop is the berm of my old stock tank. If I clean out all the growth, I can shoot to about 100 yds. Give me a pm sometime and maybe we can get together for a cup of coffee or something.
I haven't been able to get home from truckin to pickup my old 520 until today. I tell you what,this gun is built like a tank and still has a very tight action. For a gun like this to be in as good condition,someone really took care of it. The bluing isn't as good as it looked in the sellers pictures but it is still better than I have seen on most guns this old. And it is so neat how this gun comes apart,I don't know anything about this model of gun except for what Rebel and a few others have told me and I took it apart and reassembled it in a few seconds. Here are some pics,tell me what you think about it. TxHB
Hi. Newby here.
I have a 520 that my father bought in the 1930's for hunting Ducks for the
Market. It has surprisingly little wear on it and all the original wood.
The newer, more expensive, Ithaca Double had proven more popular for the Pheasant hunting we did and it shows in the wear.
My father in law has one of these with serial number 32796. How do we find out history and manufactured date? This weapon is in great shape with all of the factory wood still in tact. Has not been shot in over 22 years. One the side are the dates Feb 7, 1905, Aug 27,1907. What are those dates related to? Thanks for the info. I'm wanting to locate a owners manual for the 520 for him as a surprize. I've not even tried to take down for cleaning until I get one. This thing is older than I am, I think.
The following information was obtained from: John M. Browning: American Gunmaker.Second Edition. John Browning and Curt Gentry. Published by Browning. 1964. Page 258.
History: Patent application on this model was filed July 10, 1903 and U.S. Patent No. 781,765 was granted February 7, 1905. Manufacturing and sales rights were acquired by the Stevens Arms Company in 1903 and the gun was placed on the market in early 1904 as the Stevens Model 520. A streamlined version, the Model 620, was introduced in 1927.
The following specifications refer to the Model 520:
Gauge:12
Chamber: 2/3.25"
Magazine type and capacity:Tubular. 5 shells
Model styles: Field, Trap and Deluxe
Barrel lengths 26, 28, 30 and 32"
Choke: Full choke, modified choke, and cylinder bore
Weight: 7.5lbs (approximately)
Stock: Field and Deluxe, checkered, semi-pistol grip, rubber butt plate. Trap, checkered, straight grip rubber butt plate.
The Model 520 was discontinued in 1932 though it's likely Stevens was still assembling the model from already fabricated parts and selling it for a few years after manufacturing was stopped.
The Model 620 was designed to eliminate the abrupt angle at the rear of the reciever. The 620 was also specifically manufactured for police and military (riot) in addition to the above named styles. The 620 was discontinued in 1955. Production numbers of either model are unknown. At least they were unknown when this book was written.
I just got out the old 520 I got a couple of years ago. Gave it a good cleaning and started wondering how old it was. I new nothing about it ever since i got it. It was left to me when my brother died. I do know that it did a good job on the pheasants we used to hunt and i seen him take a turkey out of the air with it. Me i used fancy new guns that did not shoot any better than the 520. In my brothers hands the gun really impressed me. I have not shot it yet but plan to in the near future. I noticed that it did not have the guage stamped on it. I dropped a 12 guage empty in it and it fit nicely. From what i,ve gathered from all the reading on this page is i have an early model cause my safty is in the trigger guard. I didnt even know the model no.till today because i did not see it on the gun. But now i will look again cause i seen that some of the guns listed here had the model no. on the slide . thanks to all of you for all the good information. Happy shooting Longrun s.n. 23237
These are fine old shotguns,all steel and well made.A friend of mine with no interest in firearms recently gave me his dads,a 16 guage in very nice original condition.
I have 4, the 12 was my father's which he got ca. 1937; the 16 I rarely use by had it fixed up; the 20 has taken brant, buffs, bluebills, old squaw, mallards, rails...a workhorse for salt water, parkerized and very effective. The trench model sits in the closet...
Hard steel, wonderful takedown system, and points like a charm with that squareback. Don't know why I have other guns, but the Browning a5's shoot like the 520....
Ive had a Stevens Model 520 12 gauge pump since I was about 10. A friend of my dads said if I could fix it, I could have it. I opened it up, and found that it had a broken firing pin. I fixed the pin for about $20 and it has been my favorite gun ever since. I think the barrel has been cut off a bit though. Not sure.
Now, I was wondering if there were any after market parts I could order for it anywhere. I really would like to put a Pistol grip butt stock and fore grip on it. Maybe even a heat shield. Anything like this anywhere?
I "made" a pistol grip butt stock for it using the old plastic stock off of my Hi-Point 9mm Carbine. It is very crude, but, it does work nicely. It certainly is not going to be permanent since it doesn't look nice at all. But if I cant find one to buy, I may see about making one.
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