I laughed. I asked why I got the sweet deal. Did he hate the other guy?
"Naw, he makes me work too hard, that's all."
I waited two weeks to make sure I wanted it. Yeah, like that ever works. Anyways, payday came, and I bounced up the shop stairs, past the honest to god zebra hide, and went straight to the rack. It was there still, so it was mine.
The gun is a straight up project gun, in my humble assessment. The bore was seriously messed up. Lead, rust, pitting, grooves, etc. Receiver was a nice rust brown patina. Wood was nicked, dented, chipped urethane. And the hammer/mainspring is ridiculously stiff. So, after trying to find out how to break it down, I decided to take my chances. Maybe this will give some help to the next guy.
Step 1: Remove the barrel by twisting the bolt under the receiver.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step1.jpg)
Remove the knurled nut and the stock.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step1a.jpg)
Step 2: Remove buttstock by removing screws on top and bottom of tang.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step2.jpg)
For giggles, remove the shoulder plate.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step2a.jpg)
Step 3: Cock hammer to remove tension from breech block.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step3.jpg)
Step 4: Drive out lever connector pin from right to left. Bad picture.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step4.jpg)
Step 5: Remove lever pivot screw from left and remove lever. This screw also releases the extractor.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step5.jpg)
Step 6: Drop breechblock down into receiver as far as it will go. CAREFULLY, release the hammer. With the breechblock fully lowered, the hammer will go forward far enough to fully release the spring. Note, if you need to recock the hammer at this point, you have to compress the spring with some pliers or a vice or something. Picture below step 8.
Step 7: Remove hammer pivot screw and remove hammer through the top of the receiver.
Step 8: Remove the mainspring screw and mainspring.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step6-8.jpg)
Step 9: Remove trigger spring and screw.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step9.jpg)
Step 10: Remove trigger pivot screw and remove trigger through bottom of the receiver.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step10.jpg)
Step 11: Remove the breechblock pivot screw and remove the breechblock through the top of the receiver. No photo, but seriously, there is just one screw left on the receiver, so take a chance.
Step 12: Inside the receiver, there is a screw that holds the breechblock spring in place. Remove the screw and spring.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step12.jpg)
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/step12a.jpg)
I tried to remove the other lever link pin and the firing pin out of the breechblock but couldn't.
Okay. So I decided to cold blue the receiver. I don't know if that brown patina is the original finish, but I wasn't hot on it. See my other post on DIY cold bluing. The receiver came out pretty good, but I will probably do it again.
The buttstock had a crack in it. Snicker. It's a butt crack.....
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/buttcrack.jpg)
A bit of two ton epoxy sorted that out. The buttstock was well used. Plenty of dents, scratches, and the urethane was not in top form. After consulting some guys at work, I sanded the wood down, cleaned it with mineral spirits and rubbed in some linseed oil.
The worst part of the gun aside from the bore, was the hammer tension. A boy's gun shouldn't require a grown man to use both hands to cock it. And I have strong thumbs. I was the fifth grade thumb wrestling runner-up, behind Vicki DeGregorio. She cheated.
The main spring is really thick, and kind of shaped like an S. The tip nearest the hammer is about a quarter inches long. I first tried to grind this down.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/mainspring1.jpg)
That didn't work. But remember I did it. It's going to matter later.
The thing was, I thought, there is no easy or safe way to reduce the spring tension of steel. But, I thought if I could angle the spring slightly down, the tension wouldn't build as much while cocking the hammer.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/mainspring2.jpg)
I always hated that screwdriver. Its glorious sacrifice made for a perfect wedge to tilt the spring slightly.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/mainspring3.jpg)
I cut it off with a Dremel and tried the hammer. It was just about perfect. Hopefully, it would still fire.
I put the buttstock back on and, oh snap, the hammer slacked back a half inch. I removed the buttstock and the hammer tightened. Hmmm. When I ground down the tip of the spring, it allowed the mainspring to rise up a bit and the channel in the wood stock was pressing down on it.
That's okay. Problems are best when you have to buy a new tool. I bought a great little chisel at the wood workers store and carefully removed some material from the channel.
And voila.
![Image](http://www.viciousbunny.net/stevens/done.jpg)
So I am totally an amateur. I am loving working on this gun, though. Now that it's looking good, I think I'll save up and have the barrel relined. Then it'll be perfect.