Need info on an old Stevens .22

[houndawg]

My dad came upon an old Stevens Model 121. It's a single shot bolt action .22 rifle. You have to pull back on the end of the bolt to cock it. It has no serial numbers. Mounted on it is an old Springfield 3-7X15 scope. The scope has Savage-Suwa Japan Model 1537 3-7X15 printed on the underside. The scope has a wierd one piece ring/mount setup on it that doesn't come off. Anybody have any ideas on when this stuff might have been made?

Rob

 

[johnbt]

Well, I don't have a book that specifically lists the 121, but it is probably one of numerous similar utility guns they have made over the years. The '99 Stand. Catalog gives one general price range for all of them: VG=$200 down to P=$50. They stopped marking all of their production with J. Stevens Arms Co. in the late 1940s, but if it was made after 1949 there is hope.

According to the chart in the Standard Catalog of Firearms, if the rifle was made between March of 1949 and December of 1968 there will be a date code behind the hinge pin or in front of the triggerguard on the frame. It will be a small circle containing a number and letter. The letters correspond to years: A=1949, B=1950, etc....through N=1962, skip O, P=1963 and so on to V=1968.

To quote the Catalog: "Significance of the numbers is not known."

Hope this helps some.

John