
The demands of World War Two and its aftermath, as well as the changing social attitudes towards firearms of the 1960’s and later were significant factors in the decline of the boy’s rifle genre, but the concept of a reliable, safe, and inexpensive rifle suitable for young shooters has never quite died out single-shot. The Hamilton Model 27 was by far the cheapest. 22’s sold for prices ranging from $3.80 for the “Junior” to $12.50 for a pump-action repeater. 22 boy’s rifle listed in the 1927 Sears, Roebuck catalog. The original Favorite was by no means a cheap gun: it was actually the most expensive single-shot. 32 rimfire calibers and came in a number of minor variations at least a million original Favorites were produced between 18. Pre-eminent among Stevens’ products of this type was the aptly-named “Favorite.” The Favorite was chambered for. Stevens Arms & Tool Company was probably the most prolific maker of good-quality boy’s rifles, turning out vast numbers of them for many years. 22’s, boy’s rifles were usually just one component of a manufacture’s overall product line. Hamilton Company) whose entire production was low-cost. While there were one or two firms (most prominently the C.J. 22 ammunition on tin cans, bottles, rats and other vermin and similar “targets of opportunity.” Shooting and gun ownership were so completely a part of normal life and growing up that a few manufacturers even formed special “junior rifle clubs” to encourage sales of their products. Boys armed with these little rifles hunted squirrels and rabbits and burned up millions of rounds of. Almost every gun maker produced a "boy's rifle," generally an inexpensive single-shot, to serve this segment of the market.
#STEVENS FAVORITE 22 RIFLE MODEL NO HOW TO#
22 rifle, show him how to use it, and let him have fun. Leeson imported the Favorite in classic rook rifle calibers.Although it’s hard to imagine nowadays, not so very long ago it wasn't socially unacceptable (in some places, actually a criminal act) to give a responsible 10- or 12-year old boy a. through one Joseph Leeson, a well-known gunsmith and dealer. Although Stevens made and sold the Favorite mostly in The U.S., they also did export trade in the U.K. I bought one of their kits and was also able to track down a few boxes of factory ammunition, loaded by CBC in the 1970s. However, a company in France makes reloadable. 32 S&W Long a very foolish thing to do, because the Favorite is a weak action and hot handloads will stress it beyond its limits. Some people have converted these little rifles to shoot. It’s a great pity that this cartridge is no longer manufactured because it’s an outstanding small game round, and there are many high-grade rifles like mine languishing for want of ammunition. This little rifle is chambered for the now discontinued. I had it refinished, added an original Stevens folding tang sight to match the factory’s “Beach’s Patent” folding front sight, and fitted up a case for it. Here is my Stevens Favorite Model 1894 “rook rifle.” It was in decent, shootable shape when I bought it, but I wanted something special. Tom refinished his Stevens Favorite and had it fit into a hard case. Some of the models made for export were chambered for traditional British rook cartridges. 32 rimfire, and it was very successful, with about a million made. The Favorite was made in various versions from 1889 to 1930, in. 22 Long Rifle cartridge), and it was sold both here and in England where it fit right into the rook rifle market. In the United States, Stevens began making the “Favorite” in 1889 (two years after they developed the. 360, which was able to take roe deer as well as small game. Rook rifles were chambered for a variety of small-game cartridges from. Among the most popular were rifles built on miniature Martini actions, based on the Martini-Henry single-shot service rifle of the 1870s-80s. Often very well-made, rook rifles were break-action, falling- or rolling-block rifles. “Rook rifles”–sometimes known as “rook and rabbit rifles”– were small-caliber, single-shot rifles popular in England for shooting small game and rooks (close relatives of our crows) both for pest control and food.
