Any experience with Stevens 425 High power rifles?

W

Willy Tincup

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I'm looking for some help with a Stevens 425 high power rifle. The lifter/ carrier will lift the cartridge from the mag up into postion but it doesn't stay there when you start to close the lever. Thus the round drops back down and will not chamber. Any experience or ideas? No, I haven't started to disassemble it yet. Trying to decide if it may be within my limited capabilities or if I should be looking for a smith with some experience with this model......Thanks in advance for any assistance..............or ideas where to find a parts diagram.
 
I have no direct experience, but I would imagine there is a dog of some sort that times the carrier as the lever is closed. Without knowing the configuration of said dog, ie. whether it is self or separately sprung, that is the first area to zero in on. I don't know how easy it is to remove the lever but that should allow inspection. I seem to remember (I have a good memory but it's short) that the carrier pivoted on the hammer screw and that made reassembly a bit challenging.
Interested in how it turns out, please keep us posted. Which caliber is it in?
 
WTC:
I've had 4 of them apart and they are different than any of the regular levers we normally encounter.
The biggest "part" that fails is a tapered bar that is engaged on the lever but cocks the hammer.
It's been a while but I do have one apart on the bench.
PM me with any questions.
Chris
 
Have one in a 35 rem that i got from my dad and it has the same problem, has always been that way. The only way it will cycle properly is run the lever as quickly as possible, pita but it works
 
I'm stalled now till I get some 35 Rem ammo to test it. I've had it partially apart and the only problem I've found is wood interference in the butt stock. The lifter activation lever extends back into a cavity in the stock and when the breech block comes back it pushes down on that lever and lifts the opposite end of the lifter up. The lever was hitting the wood and wouldn't go all the way down. After removing a slice of wood it 'appears' much better but needs a real live testing session. Thanks to all who have replied. Cheers...wTc
 
Good to see the update wtc. My curiosity got the better of me (as happens too often) and I looked up the patent online. I'll be darned if I could find anything in either the drawings or description to indicate any kind of detent or dog to time the carrier for the closing stroke. In light of this, darrel1's post makes a lot of sense but I can't help but think there must be something, even friction, to hold the carrier up long enough for the ctg to start chambering.
An interesting thread, an interesting rifle. Thanks.
 
Peter: Thank you so kindly for the patent info. Another good example of a picture being worth a thousand words. We are in the middle of a winter blizzard here today, can't go anywhere..........so the timing is perfect. It really is amazing how electronics and communications have evolved so much in the past 100 + years and yet firearm language, mechanics / drawings etc remain basically unchanged.
One very interesting difference is the flat leaf mainspring in the patent drawings and yet the rifle I have has a coil type main spring. All interesting stuff. Thanks again, muchly appreciated.
 
G-- glad you enjoyed it. Interesting about the mainspring difference---the inventor would have been most familiar with leaf springs but the rifle was put into production around the time that Stevens started using coil springs, for example, the coil sprung 1915 model Favorite vs its leaf spring predecessors .
Anyhow, my pleasure.
 
There is a thread on Firearms Talk. They are trying to find how many of these rifles are out there, somebody over on that site might have some info.
 
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