doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Found the gun.. now need Stevens 22-15 SS Ammo...

Found a new shop that likes old stuff... came away with some new toys... including this Stevens 44 in 22-15 SS I had never heard of it before... but the gun was so pretty (I think it's been refinished) and the price was ridiculously inexpensive, I had to bring it home! I'm sure my wife will understand... If anyone here has a box of ammo, brass or dies, I'm in need. The single round pictured was from a customer that came into the shop after I bought the rifle... he was going to buy the rifle. He wasn't very happy... the shop owner said he had been beating him down for the last 6 months on the price and decided to sell it for less than his last offer... I got very lucky. Obviously, the guy with the round wouldn't sell it to me... still, life is very good.

Congratulations! I couldn't have walked away from it either. Looks at first blush to be a Model 47. Is there such a number stamped on the face of the receiver behind the fore arm?

Sorry, can't help with any cartridges. I sold the .22-15's I had a couple years ago. Cartridges are impossible to find anymore. I would keep an eye out for an individual case or two and plan on breech seating with them. The cartridge was a tough sell even when it was new - black powder fouling generated by the relatively large volume case in the tiny bore was appalling. Maybe post an appeal on the ASSRA forum?

Perhaps have a couple cases custom lathe turned?

Really nice looking rifle! Check over on the ASSRA site.

Yes, there's a sticky on ASSRA in the For Sale section at the top. ssdave is selling a bunch of new old stock Jameison brass and I believe he had some in this cartridge.
Any 44 model with double set triggers is a very rare gun. I see far more 44 1/2 than 44 with set triggers.

edit-I just checked and Dave doesn't show the .22-15 cases anymore on his list. Only other source is Rocky Mountain Cartridge for lathe turned brass. And it's very expensive at around $5-$6 per case last I checked.

The nice thing about Stevens 44 & 44 1/2 rifles is that the barrels are interchangable. They are simple to remove, The extractor is very simple to replace. You could get a 25-20 barrel & extractor and shoot your gem.

I believe your rifle is a model 47 and has a very nice Stevens 103 tang sight.

Your best source for brass is RMC as Vall mentioned. I suggest that you do a chamber cast and send that to RMC,

I have not seen any 22-15 brass for sale for many years. I almost bought a Stevens 44 in 22-15 from James Grant but could not find any brass.

Was able to pick up 10 pieces of used brass and several hard cast bullets for the rifle from Denny Hanel this week. He also gave me his favorite load ( 3.4 grains of Unique. Using a .22 Hornet shell holder... don't crimp the bullets... Today brought more interesting news, while visiting a good friend, Jim Wisner, he laughed when I told him of the rifle. He then proceeded to pull a Steven's 44 1/2 in the same caliber out of his gun vault! I tried to buy it off him, but he wouldn't sell it. He did say new brass was available... so, this might get a bit more interesting.

OSS,
The best (only?) case to modify would be 22 Hornet, but someone not in the business of doing it would find the procedures very difficult, special equipment would be required, and the donor case might be too short to be redrawn to the full length. If you can find a source of new cases, I suggest you "jump" on them.
Mike

There's a sticky in the Reloading section on the ASSRA website about making 25-20SS brass from common .223 brass.
In that thread there are also some responses about making .22-15SS brass from the above converted brass.

Nibbing is the process used to draw out the case to a longer length.
An involved machinist type project that requires a lathe and some special tooling for holding and forming.
The 'drawing out' process is done with a roller in the tool holder. Something like the knurling tool, but smooth faced roller(s) instead.

An involved project for sure, but the reading may be interesting in itself.

I want to try the 25-20SS brass conversion for a rifle I have,,just need one more thing to start and that is Time.

The .22Hornet case might be able to be 'retubed' to meet the great length the 22-15 demands. I think the 22-15 is a 2" length case.. The Hornet is something like 1.4"
That would make it a BP only case I believe. Retubing is generally kept for BP loads.
I don't know if there is enough wall thickness in the 22H to allow for drawing it to that 2" length and still have a case wall near the mouth that is sturdy enough.

Old cartridges and making them from common brass can be a fun project if it wasn't so frustrating at times.

RMC makes new brass… $95. per 20. Denny said a small pistol primer worked well too.

Kutter,
I think "nibbing" is limited in the length to which cases can be extended, I believe it saw use in making 45-90 from 45-70 before Starline started making it. I also questioned whether hornet cases could be "redrawn" to the required length, because of the same concerns you had. I haven't tried "retubing" because a friend (more experienced than I) tried to make 9.3x72R norm. that way, unsuccessfully. The use of .223 (or 222 also not too common) would require procedures/equipment that mostly only those engaged in the business would have but would be possible. I have, in my "pile" a couple 8x72R cases that were made from 30-06 and would have required similar procedures. Since post WW2 producers are mostly gone, I would be happy to find someone that can do this work commercially now. I am not convinced that lathe turned cases have the correct grain structure but can see the possibility for black powder cartridges that are large enough to permit thick " everlasting" type case walls.
Mike