stevens crack shot-26

[eric conrad]

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can get some info on a stevens crack shot-26?
My brother gave me this rifle and i'm cleaning it up.
I'd like to make a shooter out of it again.
Stock is in good shape, barrel is pitted. There may be issues with the hammer or trigger. Not many parts to this little beauty but parts seem to be rare?
Thanks Eric

 

[Pinecone]

eric, You didn't mention what caliber the Crackshot is in. They came in three different calibers: .22 LR, .32 Long Rimfire and .25 Rimfire. If it's not in .22LR, ammo would be very difficult to come by! There is not much to them and they are very easy to disassemble even without a manual. You can though, find disassembly instructions in the NRA Book of Assembly Rifles & Shotguns. Gun Parts Corporation (Numrich) occasionally has a few parts for them. I have made parts for them on occasion and any good "competent" gunsmith can do also. I once had a book called: J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. but can't remember who the author was that had "some" info on the Crackshot. Another reference would be "Savage & Stevens Arms Collector's History" by Kimmel. It would be a great project for you to "restore" this little "jewel" of a rifle and once again, any good "competent" gunsmith could re-line that barrel for you if it is in .22LR. Good luck................................Dick :wink:

 

[eric conrad]

Thanks Dick. Yes it is a 22lr.. Worked on it today. The barrel is looking better but still iffy, Everything else looks ok except for the hammer. It has like a notch or full cock? latch that is replaceable. It is pitted . I hope to get it cleaned and back together tomorrow. Then again I might go shooting if it don't rain.
Thanks for your help Eric

 

[Anonymous]

New to this forum but found it searching this same topic.
Here's a website I ran across...

http://www.wisnersinc.com/rifles/steven ... lever.html

They make some replacement parts for various Stevens rifles.

 

[SAJohn]

Here is my Crackshot Model 26 in .22. Fun to shoot and a great first firearm for a kid. I will be passing it on to my Grandson for just that purpose as long as it is understood that it will remain in the family. He will be the 5th generation for this little rifle.

 

[eric conrad]

zalfmon, welcome to the forum. If you are into Rugers you have found the best forum there is. I found the same site and will contact them, thanks. I'd like to locate a hammer.
John, your grandson is lucky to have a grandpa like you. I have a 5year old grandson and he allready wants to go shooting. Walker texas ranger is one of his heros :lol:
Thanks guys. Eric

 

[Pinecone]

SAJohn, Nice pic of that Crackshot and it looks to be in very good shape. I just refinished a Sears Roebuck (Marlin) single shot .22LR for my cousin for his grandson (10 years old), which had been butchered pretty bad. You should have seen the look on his face when I handed it to him! He didn't think it was the same gun. That look on his face was absolutely worth all the work I put into that rifle. His dad is a Maine State Trooper and he couldn't wait to get it home to show his dad! To see a little boy get his first gun is one of the greatest pleasures I have enjoyed in this business........................Dick

 

[SAJohn]

Pinecone. Mine went from my grandmother to my mother at her passing and then to me at my mother's passing. I never had it for my boys to learn with. I am breaking the pattern and passing it to my grandson. Of course his father can also shoot it. I am looking forward to that same pleasure.

John

 

[Rocdoc]

I like those so much I got one of the new versions Stevens is now selling, it is a fun gun, but can't compare to the originals.

 

[I_Like_Pie]

I love these guns...very safe, very fun, and often.....very accurate!

 

[exbuckeye]

Long ago Ive seen references that Stevens also made a barrel for a center
fire cartridge. If you look at the 22 barrel you will note its bored -off center-
so the firing pin will strike the rim of the 22LR cartridge on its lower edge.

The only logical reason for that off center drilling is that the placement
of the firing pin in the falling block allows a center fire version to be
made without having to re-design any parts of the action, just bore the
CF barrel in its center.

I've never seen one of the CF barrels so dont KNOW what the calibre was
but I suspect maybe the old Stevens 25-20 or later 25-21, possibly the
old 22WCF (pre 22 hornet blackpowder). Whatever calibre, it obviously is
not meant for any cartridge of much more pressure than 22LR!!

I've toyed with the possibility of chambering an old Marlin barrel I have for
.22 Hornet and loading blackpowder 22WCF.
I would replace the forestock with one that is TAGGED PROMINENTLY with
a brass plate advising ONLY BLACKPOWDER - similar to that on another old
rifle I have in my posession (a bolt action 45-60-330). That forestock/warning
tag would remain part of the 22WCF barrel.

 

[SAJohn]

Exbuckeye, You just brought back a post from history. I never thought about why they are bored high off center. What you suggest makes sense. Maybe they were keeping their options open for the .25-20.

A couple of points about these neat little guns: always wear safety glasses, a case rim rupture would shoot gases straight back in your face. Shoot nothing hotter than standard velocity ammo. Check your fired case for bulging. Do not over tighten the take-down screw. Break it and you are screwed.

John

 

[exbuckeye]

John, You brought back a memory to me too from 1972 LOL
I had a case burst!! Some old 22 longs and a few shorts had
oxidized and not thinking about the larger dia - I fired one. The
case split from end to end and my ears rang for days. I wear
glasses so hearing was my only loss.
I shuda known!! I had seen the stock of a nice old shotgun that
was split in two because an early owner had wanted to increase
its weight (for balance) by drilling a large deep hole under the
buttplate and filling it with birdshot - pounded in to compress it.
As the lead oxidized it expanded and ruined a good walnut stock.

BEST NOT TO SHOOT ANY AMMUNITION THAT HAS OXIDIZED
SLUGS!!!!!

And let me ask you something else relating to my old Crackshot.
It has a shorter barrel than any of the pictures I've seen on the
net or yours John. ???? Right now my son has it in Tn. so I cant
take a picture or measure it. My barrel is little more than twice
the length of the forestock in your picture (my forestock is same
as yours). I'd guess its about 18". It hasnt been cut off as the
muzzle is properly crowned and the front sight appears original.

 

[exbuckeye]

John, I had trouble with my computer and ended up getting shut out (??)
before asking the question: Do you know (or have any idea) how many
different barrel lengths were offered for the Crackshot?

I also should have said earlier, I have no idea exactly where this gun came
from. A H.S. classmate gave it to me in 1953. It lacked a firing pin and its
retaining cross pin. I made both in my father's shop so I could shoot it.

 

[eric conrad]

I have two of them now. Both 22lr one is 18" other is 22"
Great guns for a kid.
Eric

 

[SAJohn]

I am only aware of the above two barrel lengths (mine is a 22 incher). I have heard of 20" ones but suspect it was a measuring or typo error. Other model number Crackshots came with other barrels including a half octoginal.

Another important check point is that the loading lever must snap tightly closed.

John

 

[dreamer]

A few years back GUN REPORTS magazine did a feature on the Crackshot.

 

[Chev. William]

Re: Stevens Barrel lengths. I have some Stevens Favorite barrels in .25 Stevens Rf and .32 Long RF they measure 21.75 inches and 22.0 inches in length Breech face to Muzzle. I also have a Ideal barrel in .22 Long Rifle that measures 28.0 inches in length. All are the "Half Octagon" style with Ideal one being larger in overall sizes. All of my barrels are bored on center at the breech end.

I am 'resurrecting' two 1894 series Stevens Favorite actions and intend to have a spare breech block reworked into Center Fire type for m Rim Fire type, and am replacing the original soft, low alloy and low carbon, steel screws and pins with modern higher strength replacement materials.

My initial intent is to get one action operating with a modern cartridge of similar length and pressures to the .25 Stevens and .25 Stevens Long, these are the .25 ACP Semi rimmed cartridge and some resized and shortened .22 Hornet cases reworked to Cylindrical bodied and the length of 1.125 inches, similar to the .25 Stevens RF case.

From information posted on the website "Ballistics by the inch" I gather that the .25 ACP Factory Loads (SAMMI Pressure Limit 17,400psi) will have a MV of around 1000 to 1100fps from the 21.75 inch Rifle barrel. As to the .32 Long RF, it will be loaded to the Lower SAMMI pressure limit of 13,700psi for the .32 Colt.

This will allow these old firearms to "Speak" again with lower cost re-loadable cartridges.

Enjoy your restored .22LR Stevens Crackshot, it should be good for "Pot Meat" and local 'varmints', as it was originally used for these purposes by the youth of the era.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

 

[Precision32]

I have one of the newer Favorites in 22 mag with the full octagon barrel. Great little rifle.

I also have a Page-Lewis that is very similar to the Favorite.

 

[Chev. William]

Since my last post about my experiments to develop modern replacements for Stevens long and short .25 Stevens RF cartridges as reload-able CF cartridges in 2013 I have had some Success.

First: reforming .22 Hornet cases down to .276" diameter IS doable by Swaging in a .25ACP Carbide ring sizing die. The result is a straight walled case of about 1.380" length which then requires trimming down to more usable lengths.
I have tried .75", 1.00", 1.055", 1.125", 1.250", 1.260", 1.350" and found the 1.055", 1.125", and 1.250' the most convenient to work with.
There is already a 1.125" case length cartridge design, the ".25-10 Halsted" which is similar but is intended by the originator to use .257" bullets rather than the .250"-.251" bullets of .25 Stevens/.25ACP cartridges.

I have had Pacific Tool And Gauge make both roughing and Finishing Chamber Reamers to cut my chambers for my 1.250" case length .251" bullet case design I call the ".250ALRM" (.250 Automatic Long Rifle Magnum). i can use the two reamers carefully to short chamber to fit the 1.125" and 1.055" designs which I cal respectively the ".250ALS" (.250 Automatic Long Stevens) and the ".25MACP" (.25 Magnum Automatic Colt Pistol) or ".25 Magnum Auto".

Second: I have had success reforming 5.7x28mm 'once fired' cases by swaging down to .276 body Diameter and the resulting cases seem to come out between 1.215" and 1.260" long with the majority falling into the 1.230" long area.
These end up with .312"-.314" diameter rims the same as the Parent case and with Rim thickness that does not need re-cutting to .25ACP dimensions unless to be used in .25ACP type applications.

The initial version is called the "6.35x32mmSR Stewart" and is specified with a Case length of 1.250" +0.0"/-0.040" to allow maximum formed case use.

The Next version is called the "6.35x28.6mmSR Stewart" and has a case length specified as 1.125" +0.005"/-0.015" to cover the 'Long Stevens' length range.

The Last version so far is called the "6.35x26mmSR Stewart/.25 Magnum Auto" and is specified with a case length of 1.024" +0.032"/-0.008" to allow coverage of many potential applications.

1.055" is the case length of the .22WMR cartridge and its maximum overall length is specified as 1.350" so this is a Very viable combination for a .25 Caliber Handgun Conversion. I own such a conversion; A Ruger New Model Convertible .22 Cal. "Single Six" that is now a Center Fire Single Eight in .25ACP and similar Cartridges.

The Conversion used a "Lothar Walther Pistol Barrel Blank in .25ACP/6.35 Browning" diameters, of 23.8 inch length and 1+ inch diameter to make a 10-5/8" barrel. The Cylinders used are some Replacement '22-MAG 8 shot cylinders reamed and chambered for each of four cartridge designs using the same .250"-.251" bullets.

Best Regards,
Chev. William