Greg,
In this case Springfield Arms is a trade-brand name owned by the J Stevens Arms Co. This shotgun is cataloged as the Springfield Model 95, an economy version of the Stevens Model 107. It was made from around 1929-1942 and it will not have a serial number as they were not required on long guns before the 1968 Gun Control Act.

 

Other info.......

Note that many older shotguns had chambers shorter then today's 2 3/4 inch.
Firing shells longer then the chamber is can be very dangerous, especially in a bottom of the line budget gun made to sell for a few dollars.
Measure the chamber before firing.

Never shoot modern Magnum level ammo, and never shoot steel shot.
Depending on the condition, I probably wouldn't ever fire it, just to be safe.
There's no good reason to shoot these old guns, which were not made to high standards of steels.

 

Greg,

Depending on the gauge, this shotgun is chambered for the following shells:
12 gauge (2 3/4”)
16 gauge (2 5/8”)
20 gauge (2 3/4”)
24, 28, .410 gauge (2 1/2”)

You can get replacement butt stocks from Numrich (gunpartscorp) and possibly Dixie Gun Works, search Stevens Model 107.

 

Nice old shotgun. I have a couple. One thing to look for, does the receiver lock up tight with no wiggle? Is there any gap at all between the receiver and the barrel when the action is closed? chris

 

No wiggle. It seems to lock up tight...

 

The stock is loose, but I don't know what's under the tape. The stock screw may be loose. I'll see if they'll let me work on this a little. The bore looks good but I'm sure the rest needs a good cleaning. The wood is super dry as well.

 

Gun Parts Corp has a butt stock for a Stevens 95 in stock. 58 bucks plus shipping.

 

I have a .410 that looks nearly identical, but is labeled as "Wards-Hercules Model 10". Stock was trashed on it when I got it, took me years to find anything close. Partly because mine doesn't have the J. Stevens address line, so I had no real idea what to look for. The early thin-wrist stocks seem to be scarce.

One hint for you: I fired 3" shells in mine for a couple of years, because they fit fine - or so I thought. Shotgun shells are measured by the FIRED length, not unfired. So an unfired 3" shell might fit a 2 1/2" chamber, but is 3" when fired. I immediately got rid of any 3" shells I had. I think the only thing that saved any issues was that the receiver and barrel size at the chamber are pretty much the same for all the gauges on these types of guns, so there is a lot of extra steel around the chamber on a .410.

 

My marked 'J Stevens Arms Co, Chicopee Fall, MA Model 107 ' was also stamped 'Proof Tested 2 3/4 inch chamber" on the side of the bbl.

Great single shot. Used it for many years. Bought it in a garage sale for $10. Traded it for an Iver Johnson single shot in 20ga!
That's gone now too.

The butt stocks on these and other mfg'rs of similar design often crack at the wrist.
Rough handling, trying to 'snap the action shut' and other such things lead to the damage.
The stocks are a 'through bolt' design so they can be easily tightened up or removed if necessary.
Take the butt plate off and access to the trrough-bolt is right there for you. You do need a long shank screwdriver to get to it down in there.

But that type of attachment also leads to over tightening sometimes & also loss of the flat & lock-washer that is supposed to be under the head of the flat head bolt
Once that happens the stocks continue to get loose just from firing and use and they crack even easier.

Wire and tape wrappings were the usual fix back in the day.

Carefully removing all the electricians tape bandages and cleaning the cracked wood, you can very often glue the stocks back together stronger than new with modern epoxy glues. Careful clamping and alignment of pieces using the frame as the guide, and not attempting to all the work in one pass are some of the tricks if there are any.
Any missing wood can be carefully matched up and included to bring the damaged area back to near new again.
A simple checkering patter that many had on the grip can help hide a repair.

A bit of work, but it's Covid time and winter's coming.,,,project time for many.

 

If anyone is still on this thread, I have some additional info regarding a serial number. On the left receiver rail is stamped 975 A. On the bottom of the barrel is stamped 5 over 975 over A. The handguard is stamped 55D . I'm now not sure that this is a Springfield Model 95, as the internals are quite a bit different than those I have seen in the Model 95 schematics I have found on line. I'm wondering if there is an earlier model Springfield/Stevens that this might be. If any of you are still with me here, I'd appreciate any other guesses you might have as to what this is. Later tonight I'll post a pic of the disassembled parts for you to have a look at.

 

More info re: Old Stevens/Remington Single Shot

I posted an inquire several weeks back about a Remington marked single shot shotgun given to my step-son by his father-in-law. I've been working on it off and on and I don't believe that it is the model number that a couple of guys here came up with, basically because the internals don't match the schematic for the Remington Model 95 that was suggested. I did find a serial number on the inside of the left rail of the receiver: 975 A. The bottom of the barrel is also marked 5 over 975 over A. The handguard is stamped 55 D. I thought I'd post a pic of the internals and see if anyone can better identify it by that. So here goes. Pls let me know what you think.

 

Gpcooke,
Those numbers are not a serial number, they’re likely batch numbers with no meaning outside the factory and used in the assembly process.

You have what I believe is a Springfield Model 95 (Stevens Model 107). Look at the Numrich schematic for the Stevens Model 107. There is a later Stevens Model 95 from the 1960s, which is a different shotgun made by Savage Arms (Savage Model 96) after they’d torn down the Stevens factory and were using the Stevens name as a trade-brand name in much the same way Stevens used the Springfield name. Kind of confusing, but welcome to the world of Savage/Stevens firearms.

 

Gpcooke,
Those numbers are not a serial number, they’re likely batch numbers with no meaning outside the factory and used in the assembly process.

You have what I believe is a Springfield Model 95 (Stevens Model 107). Look at the Numrich schematic for the Stevens Model 107. There is a later Stevens Model 95 from the 1960s, which is a different shotgun made by Savage Arms (Savage Model 96) after they’d torn down the Stevens factory and were using the Stevens name as a trade-brand name in much the same way Stevens used the Springfield name. Kind of confusing, but welcome to the world of Savage/Stevens firearms.

the numbers are assembly numbers,
simply to keep the 2 halves together in the manufacturing process,

 

Gpcooke,
This is not a Remington shotgun. Springfield was a trade-brand name used by the J Stevens Arms Co of Chicopee Falls MA. It was used on their economy line of guns.

From my response to your original post:
”You have what I believe is a Springfield Model 95 (Stevens Model 107). Look at the Numrich schematic for the Stevens Model 107. There is a later Stevens Model 95 from the 1960s, which is a different shotgun made by Savage Arms (Savage Model 96) after they’d torn down the Stevens factory and were using the Stevens name as a trade-brand name in much the same way Stevens used the Springfield name. Kind of confusing, but welcome to the world of Savage/Stevens firearms.”

Here’s a picture of the Stevens catalog page for the Springfield Model 95. Stevens is known for making frequent minor changes to firearms and not changing the model designation making it very hard to find exact parts or an accurate schematic.

 

If the OP's shotgun is as much like mine as it appears, none of the stevens 107 stocks that numrich has are correct.

Here is where I found the only stock that was even close, several years ago:

https://gun-parts.com/savagestocks/

Scroll down the page, and near the bottom on the left hand column, there is this entry:

Click to Enlarge Picture
#1 Crack Shot Walnut Semi Finish.........OUT
#2 Favorite Walnut Semi Finish..............OUT
#3 Stevens Very Old Model 85 and 89
Single barrel Stock. Very Thin at the wrist
Walnut Semi Finish With a Butt plate...$85
Below Favorite Exact duplicate forend in good
Straight grain walnut like the original.
Semi Finish walnut.............................$45

==========


Enlarge the picture and take a close look at stock number 3, the bottom one.

 

I merged the two threads about this shotgun for continuity. I just figured if anyone was reading the forum later they might not be able to find both threads together and it might be confusing.

 

Thanks much Iam! I wasn't sure how to continue the thread after time and thought it might be lost to current viewers.

I have another issue with this gun that I hope one or two of you can help me with. The internals of the gun I have are most similar to the parts pic that Numrich has of the Stevens Model 85/89. I have disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the gun, but I have a small - very small - issue that I can't figure out. In the handguard, there is a latch that is held to a bar in the wood by a pin. The latch is slotted for a very small spring that hold the latch out of the wood so it is ready for reassembly. I paid no attention to this as I was disassembling it, and now can't figure for the life of me how this spring is mounted under tension to hold out the latch.

I'm wondering if any of you have a similar era gun, if you might take off your hand guard and attach a closeup of how the spring is mounted so I can finish up this puppy. I'd sure appreciate any time and effort you could provide. Here's a pic of the latch, bar and spring for reference.

Thanks much for continuing interest in this project.

Greg

 

Well, apparently you can't send pics through pm...which is dumb, imo.

Here are the best I could get without taking it apart myself.

Edit - yes, the screw twisted off when I took it off...yay

 

I wouldn't worry about the barrel of the OP's gun. It is steel, not twist, and the weight of a 12ga. is governed by recoil. A double may be as thin as will resist accidental denting, but a single is likely to be thicker in the walls. The underlug is also forged integrally with the barrel, eliminating the possibility of the steel being impaired by brazing. You should be able to do it without "burning" the steel, and the introduction of marginally lower-temperature silver solder in the 1940s reduced the likelihood still further. But it can happen, and short of polishing an area and using a microscope to do some very expert examination of the grain structure, there is no easy way to find out.

There might be some more doubt about the receiver. It is probably steel, and safe with conventional smokeless loads, but how do you like the sound of "probably"? Some early ones may have been made of malleable cast iron, as I believe the Stevens Favorite .22 was. Most of the common Belgian .41os are good for smokeless, but I have seen a very old one with an open crack running down from the bottom of the breech face, and I am sure that that one was iron.

You could drill into some hidden and non-weakening part of the receiver, such as the web into which the stock drawbolt screws, with a drill of about a sixteenth of an inch diameter. If it produces a curly, wiry shaving with some strength in it, it is steel. But if the metal exits in short chips, particularly dark ones, it is iron.

Here is a crossover list of store brands, as ppublished in an old Numrich printed catalogue. It will sometimes be of help, although not this time. It simply shows some store brands as being made by Springfield.

www.nramuseum.org/media/940938/store brand crossover list.pdf

 

Can't thank you enough for those pics! I was able to get the spring and latch assembled correctly. I'll post a pic of the original and restored gun later today, if anyone remains interested.

Really bad about the screw! Do you, or does anyone here have a replacement screw for Ash? That's quite a sacrifice! Thanks again, very, very much!

Greg

 

So here is a shot of the restored Stevens, which, based on internals, may be a Model 85 or Model 89. I've ordered some parts catalogues to confirm this, but is a solid bet based on additional research I've done. I know these aren't worth much, but it's one of those family things that I hope my daughter-in-law can enjoy.

 

Gpcooke,
Here is a catalog page for the Stevens Model 85/89. It’s known as the Dreadnaught for its extra heavy barrel and reinforced receiver (note the extra metal in the side of the receiver). This is perplexing as the receiver doesn’t seem to match your shotgun but the internal parts from the Model 85/89 do. Maybe this is some hybrid that Stevens put together to use up extra parts and sold it under their Springfield name. I wouldn’t put it past Stevens do do something like that, they’ve done similar things with leftover parts before. New England thriftiness.

here’s a later 1930s ad for the Model 89 Dreadnaught. The fore end is like yours but the receiver still has a different shape and more metal reinforcement.

 

Hey Keydet,

I recently received an early Stevens parts catalogue from Cornell Publications that stirs the pot even more. I've attached a page below that shows parts that match the 85/89 models, but illustrates a frame and butt plate that match the one I have. The page references Models 948, 958, 106 & 108. Ever heard of those? This is one incredible model hunt!

 

Greg,
Is your shotgun a .410 bore or 32 gauge? The Stevens Model 106 (plain extractor) and 108 (automatic ejector) are scaled down versions of the Model 105/107 which is the gun I initially thought you had. The Springfield 948 and 958 are the trade-brand versions of the Stevens 106/108. All four of these guns are dedicated .410 or 32 gauge guns weighing just 4 1/2 lbs.

 

No, this one is 12 gauge... More confusion. My stepson is coming to pick it up tomorrow. I think I'll just let him figure it out....

 

Did you ever figure out what it was?

 

I have one identical to the one he mentioned, I was send pics if anyone is still active on this thread.