Stevens Model 43 Single Shot Pistol

[wachtelhund1]

Hello, I was browsing in General Handgun and saw another post on Single Shot Pistol, didn't want to hi jack it so I started my own.

I picked this Stevens model 43 .22lr pistol up at a garage sale about a month ago. Owner wanted $200.00 for it. After looking at for a while I decided to buy it and got it for $185.00. It is in very good condition, tight action, very good bore, exterior metal and wood are good for a 110 year old gun. Haven't done anything to it. I did fire it at 20 yards, held 20 low velocity shots within a 2.5" group. It is very small, I have a picture of it with a Beretta Mod. 70 .22lr pistol which is also small. Barrel is 6" long and it weighs 10 ounces.

I new it was old, but not how old. The butt sold me. You see people in western movies nailing and tacking flyers with the butt of their pistol. This butt was used that way.

 

[turtlehead]

That's awesome.

 

[mete]

Use ONLY standard velocity ammo !!
Old guns are always fun to shoot .Stevens apparently made many of those single shots .Target shooting with those guns was the start of target shooting for handguns .The best of the sights developed is still with us and they are great - E.E. Patridge - with square front and square notch rear .

 

[carguychris]

Never having seen one of these first hand, it's deceiving how large it looked until I saw the picture of it sitting next to a Beretta 70! That Stevens is tiny!

Cool find.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I have a similar one, only mine has the fixed sight.

Apparently many of these guns were chambered for .22 Short or .22 Long, and others for .22 Long Rifle.

As has been said, firing with anything other than standard velocity ammo is a big no no.

It's possible that your gun was made on a black powder frame, so it might not be a good idea to shoot it with anything other than the Aguilla primer-powered stuff.

 

[wachtelhund1]

Clarification on the model name, this was Stevens model 43 Diamond. Produced in nickel and blued frame models with either 6" or 10" barrels. I did use standard velocity .22 lr ammo when I fired it.

 

[carguychris]

Just out of curiousity...

How does the barrel latch operate? Is that the purpose of the narrow rectangular button (I think) on the starboard side of the frame?

Does the pistol have a rebounding hammer? I can see the projecting firing pin in the picture with the barrel swung down, so I'm thinking that the answer is no, but I'm not certain.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"how does the barrel latch operate"

See that big screwhead under the breech on the left side of the gun, just in front of the hammer?

You push that in to unlatch the barrel, which allows you to tip the barrel down for loading/unloading.

"Is that the purpose of the narrow rectangular button (I think) on the starboard side of the frame?"

That's not a button. That's part of the latch mechanism. When you push in on the latch button (see above), that piece moves out. In a lot of ways it's similar to the sliding latch on a lot of single and double barrel shotguns from the same time period.

"Does the pistol have a rebounding hammer?"

No. These were the epitome of well made but extremely simple.

 

[wachtelhund1]

Mike, Thanks for answering the question,

 

[carguychris]

Ditto.

Regarding the hammer, I gather that the designer(s) presumed that the gun would not be loaded until the shooter was preparing to fire immediately, and that the gun would be decocked and unloaded if this did not happen.

Also, does this pistol share design elements with the Pocket Rifle?

 

[mavracer]

Never having seen one of these first hand, it's deceiving how large it looked until I saw the picture of it sitting next to a Beretta 70! That Stevens is tiny!

+1
Very cool thanks for sharing.

 

[James K]

They were target pistols, not carry guns, so the general idea was that the gun would be loaded and fired for each shot, not left loaded.

The pocket rifles were based on the pistols, sometimes with no difference except the use of a skeleton stock and a longer barrel. I believe the first "pocket rifle" (the 6" barrel version) actually had no shoulder stock. The whole series is confusing, but AFAIK, all the shoulder stock pistols are now either antiques or have been exempted from the NFA as C&R. After the passage of the NFA in the 1930's, many owners had the stock attachment holes welded up and the stocks welded to be unattachable or destroyed. A few had the stocks welded permanently to the gun, perhaps due to a misunderstanding of the law, and registered as short barrel rifles.

The "pocket shotguns" employing the same idea of a medium length barrel and skeleton stock, were popular for informal hunting (some called it "poaching"). Many were chambered for .410 gauge (2 1/2"); others were in the Stevens "Everlasting" .38 and .44 and shot versions of the .38-40 and .44-40. After the passage of the NFA in 1934, many of those were modified or altered, although, as shotguns, removing the stock did not remove them from the purview of the law as it did with the rifled pistols.

The "named" pistols, "Lord", "Conlin", "Gould", were promotional items, made to the specifications of the shooter and (presumably) used by the celebrity shooter so honored.

The last of the Stevens target pistols was the No. 10, which looks like an auto pistol but is actually a tipping barrel single shot It was made only in .22 LR (about 7,131, 1919-1933).

Jim

 

[rock185]

Neat little guns. I have a similar J. Stevens Tip Up with a trigger guard chambered in 22LR. I've been trying to figure out which model mine is. I "think" mine might be a Model 35. If so, one source indicated the last of those was made in 1942.

 

[wachtelhund1]

[QUOTENeat little guns. I have a similar J. Stevens Tip Up with a trigger guard chambered in 22LR. I've been trying to figure out which model mine is. I "think" mine might be a Model 35. If so, one source indicated the last of those was made in 1942. ][/QUOTE]

Rock, It looks like a Model 35 to me.

 

[rock185]

Wachtelhund1, Thank you sir.