In Nov. last year we were at the Reno gun show, and I saw a fella carrying an old long tube scope around. I asked to look at it, and after seeing it was a very early J Stevens A&T scope, and had great optics; we worked out a price. In my mind I had a gun that I hoped it would fit! I've owned an old Ballard special order #3 in .22 Long for many years, and it had holes with plug screws in the barrel, which were an odd long spacing for an early scope. I tried to put it on, but realized that this old scope used an odd size base block, and nothing I had would fit. I had a machinist friend carve me out two blocks, with the correct screw spacing, and mounted it up.
The combination of the gun, and the scope's patina appeared to be a perfect match! If I didn't know better, it looks like what was most likely on this Ballard many decades ago! The Ballard dates to around 1877, with a 4 digit serial number, and the scope dates to the early 1900's, when many old rifles began to be scoped. The #3 has special order maple stocks, with shadow line cheekpiece, and a brass crescent buttplate. The optional checkering is well worn, and barely visible on the forearm. The forearm is tipped with ebony also. The #3 was ordered sans a rear barrel sight, and has a midrange gallery tang sight, and a globe front. After nearly 140 years, it's still got a surprisingly good bore, and shoots well. Now it looks complete, and I don't have to look at those filled holes and wonder what it used to look like!
