Stevens 87A..... The Gill gun

JunkCollector

I picked this one up today.
I did it for 3 reasons.......
In my small brain 🧠 they seemed to work anyway.

The first and an important one for me  was the price 53 bucks OTD.

The second .....I wanted to shoot one so figured well.... it's a free ride.

The third and best/ easily justified one was I saw a nicely checkered stock on another one locally. I'm thinking I could swap stocks with this and make this  one something special.
That's the end hope anyway.

Well here it is.
Decent walnut ...probably worth refinishing if it comes to that.
Great bore.
Kinda Rough on the outside of the barrel....I would probably fix that if I can get the other stock.

gunner81

Im always amazed in the level we can use to talk our way into something LOL nice grab

JunkCollector

gunner81 said:

Im always amazed in the level we can use to talk our way into something LOL nice grab

That is without a doubt my main talent.

sakodude

How can you possibly go wrong at that price. Great find!

JunkCollector

sakodude said:

How can you possibly go wrong at that price. Great find!

Thanks buddy
Well it could not work.....

It does.....I know because I got my first jam after about a dozen rounds.
I Just got done clearing that.
Wasn't bad at all.

I got bit as I knew the action was a little gummy to run great beforehand.

Break kleen and Kroil baby
Break kleen and Kroil 

It feels like it will run like a Singer sewing machine now.

It does earn that clickity clack name for a reason I found out.

sakodude

It's probably been 35 years or so but I do recall a very distinct sound of one of those in operation. Maybe next time clean first  

Big Al1

Bang Click, Bang click!! 

JunkCollector

sakodude said:

It's probably been 35 years or so but I do recall a very distinct sound of one of those in operation. Maybe next time clean first  

Yeah but the sun came out and it went to 65 degrees.
I did want to try it bad too....lol

JunkCollector

This will run great now.
Loaded some in the tube to try and ran the action manually and it was smooth and fast 
.
Voom,voom,voom voom,voom.
Fed right in.
Spit right out.

It didn't have a rear sight initially but he gave me one and an elevator.  

Luckily it was on steel and close to center before jam time.

Yeah yeah.....don't worry about it

Bigslug

Have fiddled with a couple of those - none of them extensively.

After long experience with rimfire fouling buildup on the action wall opposite the ejection port, I can only figure the "gills" are there to let that fouling out.

$53 would have left me needing zero convincing.  Well done sir!

Freezer

Shooting an old semi like that....you can't have more fun with your cloths on!

JunkCollector

I brought it back out.
I Got through another early jam,not sure why, before it started running like the Singer.

The click clack ding click clack ding click clack ding of shooting  steal is not conducive to shooting slowly with it at all.

Bigslug

J.C. . . .got an operational theory here on that gun.

How snug-fitting is the bolt where it rides past the left receiver wall where those gills are?

When you run an AR-15 bolt carrier heavily juiced with Break Free, the action of the moving parts scrubs away carbon and allow it to flow away to where it can't cause a build-up problem.

Wondering if the same concept could/should be used on this Savage:  Clean CLP in through the side; flush the dirty out through the same holes from the inside when cleaning.

JunkCollector

It Doesn't seem overly snug there Bigslug.I appreciate the help.

It ran like a champ after that  initial hangup/jam. i Went through about 4 tubes worth afterward in quick succession flawlessly.

I'm thinking maybe one of the springs had to settle in to get flowing smooth again. It feels like it will chew em up and spits em out now.

Wambli Ska

JunkCollector said:

sakodude said:

It's probably been 35 years or so but I do recall a very distinct sound of one of those in operation. Maybe next time clean first  

Yeah but the sun came out and it went to 65 degrees.
I did want to try it bad too....lol

When I buy an old gun and have no time to clean it before heading to the range I flood it with CLP and basically run it clean.  Keep a rag handy and sop up the goop as it squirts/seeps out.  Re-flood as needed until CLP run clear.  Pretty darn effective.

JunkCollector

Wambli Ska said:

JunkCollector said:

sakodude said:

It's probably been 35 years or so but I do recall a very distinct sound of one of those in operation. Maybe next time clean first  

Yeah but the sun came out and it went to 65 degrees.
I did want to try it bad too....lol

When I buy an old gun and have no time to clean it before heading to the range I flood it with CLP and basically run it clean.  Keep a rag handy and sop up the goop as it squirts/seeps out.  Re-flood as needed until CLP run clear.  Pretty darn effective.

I've never used CLP I probably should invest in some.

Day one I was just happy it went bang and hit steel....lol

I used break cleaner yesterday with Kroil and an airgun.
I think 🤔 it worked well.

Wambli Ska

Seems like it did.  A big can of CLP is a good investment.  And after I work through that routine I wait a day or two and when I get to detail cleaning any old carbon inside has softened up to the point that a toothbrush will take it off.

Rafterman

$53 ....you suck! My Savage 6A (refinished) which is (pretty much) same as yours set me back $200 before tax. Dates somewhere 1938 - 1941. Fun shooters!

Rafterman

Also I found pipe cleaners work well for cleaning the gills. Better than everything else I tried.

Wambli Ska

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

Big Al1

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

That's almost sacrilegious. You need at least an old Remington 550 series and a Mossberg!!

Rafterman

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

"assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable"   No, you are correct to a point. I have been burned buying a lot of used firearms that on the surface looked perfect. Missing screws, cartridge lifter, worn extractors, springs, you name it. It's the chance buying anything new or used. Lemons exist every where. Buyer beware. Then when you get the diamond.....  

JunkCollector

Big Al1 said:

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

That's almost sacrilegious. You need at least an old Remington 550 series and a Mossberg!!



I'm not really into the semi auto 22's.
But AL is right.
I believe we've only shot this one once and it ran fine. Even all pre sighted in.

Old 22's are my nemesis 

JunkCollector

Rafterman said:

Also I found pipe cleaners work well for cleaning the gills. Better than everything else I tried.

It is kind of funny how the smoke comes out there.
I like the tip.

Wambli Ska

Rafterman said:

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

"assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable"   No, you are correct to a point. I have been burned buying a lot of used firearms that on the surface looked perfect. Missing screws, cartridge lifter, worn extractors, springs, you name it. It's the chance buying anything new or used. Lemons exist every where. Buyer beware. Then when you get the diamond.....  

I've been pretty lucky so far with used guns, which is basically everything I buy nowadays.  BUT, every time I buy a gun I take into consideration that there might be surprises waiting and pay accordingly.  That assures that I'm either getting a great deal or I'll have enough $$ cushion in the venture for spare parts or my time if some gunsmithing is needed.  

And since I LOVE "rescues" I've also learned a BUNCH by fixing my own guns to the point that I can even do more-than-passable cosmetic work on wood and metal.  I've been able to fix just about anything mechanical I've come across so far, even fabricated simple metal parts that were impossible to come by in order to get old/neglected guns running again. It helps that I love the hunt for old gun parts, and eBay has made it almost impossible to NOT find something that's needed or something close enough that I can use it to make the right part.

It's also fortunate that many .22 rifles of that era seem to have a bunch of interchangeable parts since plenty of the manufacturers were cross fabricating for each other.  I've fitted Mossberg parts to Savages and other guns enough times that I don't even sweat those anymore.  I even have a huge box of donor parts somewhere in my garage that has saved my bacon on plenty of occasions.

Wambli Ska

Big Al1 said:

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

That's almost sacrilegious. You need at least an old Remington 550 series and a Mossberg!!

Yeah I know......  

Even when I was collecting Mossbergs I totally stayed away from the semi-autos.  I'm now thinking this was a mistake.  A 550 or a Mossberg would be nice to have...  And from what I've seen, they don't really bring premium $$s as the bolts tend to do.

Oh hell, there goes THAT Pandora's Box

Wambli Ska

Rafterman said:

$53 ....you suck! My Savage 6A (refinished) which is (pretty much) same as yours set me back $200 before tax. Dates somewhere 1938 - 1941. Fun shooters!

Oh you never want to compare your expenditures with this boy.  He's got the Jedi Mind trick on gunstore owners mastered.  

Rafterman

^^^^^ No comparison for sure! I'll just go sit in the corner. 

JunkCollector

Rafterman said:

^^^^^ No comparison for sure! I'll just go sit in the corner. 

I think we have very similar interests in guns.

I just have a local store with an owner that believes in quick flips.
I also ask about everything I see before it gets priced.

Certain things I have told him are worth far more.
He doesn't really care.
I've even offered to sell them for him.
Nope just give me x dollars.

Justsomedude

Very nice. I just repaired one of those that gave me a run for my money last week. They have a double sear setup, one for the bolt and the other for the striker. Took me a bit to figure out that if one gets worn, they act really wonky. The sears are hardened so I think someone likely fiddled with it. Had to tig the surface with a high carbon filler and recut the geometry correctly. Worked great after that.

Bigslug

Wambli Ska said:

You know, I keep passing on a ton of semi-auto .22s from that era assuming, obviously incorrectly, that they will be unreliable.  I might have to reassess that thought and pay closer attention.  Right now the only semis in my collection that I can think off are all 10/22s.   Hummmm…

The 10/22 is like the AR-15 in that it's "better" because it's ubiquitous, modular, and easily worked on.

In typical Bill Ruger overkill, it's a solid firearm, but there is a whole world of autoloading .22's out there with what I can only describe as "better balanced" operating mechanisms, different control layouts, etc...

Rafterman is right - you are rolling the dice on these things.  To that end, it's worth looking into how much of a nightmare taking "whatever" apart and finding parts for it is going to be, but an impulse buy is an impulse buy and there's much fun to be had.  Sometimes you end up learning more than you thought you would.