Stevens 311R

[Thomas Fitch, SASS #63180]

Do any of you guys ever come across these? How do they hold up compared to the Baikals and Stoegers?

[Remo, SASS #17644]

Got one. After some work and springs it makes a great shotgun. Springs solved the barrel closing problem. And it will hold up well.

[Marshal Barks Fuller]

I don't know the model number (wasn't on the tag) but I found a Stevens SxS on consignment for $150, so I bought it. Haven't gotten it out of gun jail yet, but I figure, for $150, it'll at least get me some practice on a double, and could possible turn out to be a good gun!

 

I tried lookin around the forums, but not a lot of chatter about Stevens shotguns.

[John Boy]

Stevens 311 and 315's were built like tanks. And one can't beat the used gun prices using them for CAS

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

I have four Stevens shotguns. I love them. Here is a pair of 311s, the top one is a 16 gauge, the bottom one is a twelve.

 

311s

 

Here are a couple of older Stevens shotguns, the top one is a model 250 and the bottom one is a model 355. The hammer gun is my current main match shotgun. It has beautiful lines, nothing made today can compare to it. The lower gun was my main match shotgun before I found the hammer gun.

 

Stevens 250 and 355

 

The Stevens company was founded in Chicopee Falls, Mass, in 1864. They made a variety of guns, including some very popular single shot 22 caliber rifles. The company name changed a few times. Eventually Stevens was bought by Savage Arms.

 

Stevens made good, tough, reliable firearms. Nothing fancy, but with reasonable care they would last a lifetime. That old boxlock of mine was made around 1916, the hammer gun around 1906. The 311 was a later gun and it was made in large numbers. My 16 gauge was made sometime before 1968 because it has no serial number.

 

There are two drawbacks to the 311. The first is, the cocking springs tend to make the barrels want to partially close. NEVER CUT A STEVENS because the longer the barrels, the better the gun will stay open. The extra weight up front helps keep it open.

 

The other drawback is the design of the locking lug. That big square locking lug can sometimes get in the way when someone tries to load two shells at once.

 

Locking Lug

 

Because of these things, you will seldom see a 311 in the hands of a top contender. But they are reliable, solid shotguns. My 16 gauge 311 was the first shotgun I ever used in CAS.

[Solo_Sam]

311 =

 

-Solo Sam

#91319

[Mustang Gregg]

 

I use a Stevens M-311D for my main match scattergun.

So I reckon an M-311R would be a fine iron too.

Them Stevens SxS are stong shotguns!

 

You might see how far it opens up, though. Mine took a little bit of work.

 

MG

[Clemsum]

There are two drawbacks to the 311. The first is, the cocking springs tend to make the barrels want to partially close. NEVER CUT A STEVENS because the longer the barrels, the better the gun will stay open. The extra weight up front helps keep it open.

 

Pay attention to this advise.

 

I have an old Savage "Fox B",that is mechanically a Stevens 311 that I had not shot in about 30 years, and when I started CAS I had the barrels cut back. Any bump to the gun or jerky movement when reloading will cause the barrels to close enough to prevent loading fresh shells until I push the breach all the way open again.

 

Looking back, I regret not doing more research before having the barrels cut.

[Hellgate #3302 L]

The way I fixed the problem of not opening far enough on my 311s was to grind off the rounded nob on the top of cocking lever (part that is attached under the barrels that pushes up on the cocking cam on the receiver). Basically, I made the cocking cam into a wedge shape rather than having a rounded top. Don't take too much off to shorten the length or it will jam really tightly if the lever ever slips over the cam. I have gotten spare cocking levers from Gun Parts Corp before grinding on the original (table top gunsmith insurance learned the hard way). Taking off that hump gained about another 1/4-3/8" opening that allows nice clearance over the frame for reloading. My 311 is cut down and i have no trouble with loading other than my own clumsiness.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

You mean like this?

 

Stevens $7 Fix

[Hellgate #3302 L]

YUP!!

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I have a Stevens 5100 - essentially the same gun but with an "engraving" of a dog stamped on one side and a bird on the other...

 

I have no idea when it was made, but it was before serial numbers. Paid somethin' like $80 for it from the San Francisco Gun Exchange when I was 18 years old. Used it for pheasant, ducks, geese, dove (not too well on the doves! ) and it's been my main CAS gun since I joined up 'bout '95 or so.

 

By the way... I'll be 60 in a few weeks, so I've been shootin' it a loooong time, with nary a hiccup.

[Cabalero Chuck]

The cocking lever part as described is NOT available from Numrich gun parts Co. . I ordered mine last week, and got a replacement with the hump on it. I will just go ahead and file down the one that came in the gun, and send the other back once I'm certain that the modification performs as planned.

The spring sets from Wolf are quite complete for a very reasonable price, But, you will be hard pressed to install the hammer springs. I contacted a renowned local gunsmith about the job and he is stridently reluctant to take on the job.

Even someone who knows what they are doing told me to bring it in and he would "get around to it" , there was uninhibited muttering about how that job is a "sonofabitch" or some such comparable epithet.

I want to get those springs in the gun (my boy deserves any advantage I can muster for him) but find that I have little confidence and really don't want to take the dissasembled gun to the 'smith to finish the work. I guess I'm just trying to say to think twice and maybe get professional advice before tackleing the re-spring of a Stevens/Springfield/Fox ect. ect. SxS shotgun.