WFC Peep Sight for the Stevens 325-B

I lucked out and found on eBay a vintage WFC peep sight meant for the Stevens 325 / Savage 340 and snagged it.

This should noticeably improve the practical accuracy of the rifle compared with an open rear sight. It's missing the mounting screws but I just checked the threads on the rifle and they are 10-32, so sourcing a couple suitable cap screws will be easy. I may have some in my shop but if not, Lowe's or Home Depot will have them.

Since this peep sight design hangs off the back of the receiver it's a bit more vulnerable to damage than a barrel-mounted open sight. So, I want a backup. I have a Marble's #95 sight on the way from Midwest Gunworks. The #95 has a folding leaf so it will be down and out of the way of the peep sight.

Stevens 325-B .30-30

Several years ago when Ruger introduced their Ruger American Ranch Rifle in 7.62x39 I had immediate case of the wants. I have a large supply of the caliber and it would be very useful here in Pennsylvania. However, I generally don't buy right handed bolt action rifles unless they are a classic or military surplus. So, I've held off on getting one.

However, yesterday I got my hands on a suitable alternative in another caliber I stock with similar ballistics. It's a right handed boltgun but for this case I'll make an exception. It's a Savage Stevens 325B in .30-30 Winchester.

In 1947 or '48, Savage Arms' Stevens subsidiary introduced a new rifle, the model 325. It was designed to appeal to returning GIs who'd gotten used to shooting bolt action rifles and was chambered initially in .30-30 and .22 Hornet. After a few years it was renamed the Savage 340 and in addition to these two calibers, was chambered in .222 Remington, .223 Remington, and .225 Winchester. Savage sold the 340s until 1985.

These rifles used modern manufacturing techniques including many stamped sheet steel parts, to help keep the cost down. Instead of walnut the stock was made from birch. It sold for $38 in 1948, which an inflation calculator tells me is worth about $656 today.

The Stevens is rather plain, but a serviceable rifle. I imagine that many of them were working guns on farms. Over on the Gun and Game Forum, member Outpost75, who owns a Savage 340A in .30-30, described them, "These are good, sturdy, accurate little rifles, if a bit "agricultural" looking."

This Stevens 325B in .30-30 followed me home from the Oaks, PA gun show yesterday. It's in excellent shape for a 76 year old gun. It's stamped on the top of the barrel near the receiver with a B inside of a circle. This appears to be a Savage date code indicating it was built in 1950.   The bore and crown are spotless. Along with the gun I bought a Chicom SKS sling. I like these because they are simple, light, quiet, and easy to adjust.

The unloaded rifle weighs 7 lbs. but feels a little lighter to me because it balances very well. The barrel is 21" long, and the length of pull is about 13-5/8", which fits me nicely.

If you're enamored with Jeff Cooper's scout rifle concept one of these would be a good scout-ish platform, keeping in mind that it cannot be rechambered for .308 and scope mounting requires a side-mounted rail. You won't get stripped clip loading but because it uses detachable box magazines, that's moot, IMHO.

The detachable box magazine feed also makes these ideal for truck gun usage. You can keep a couple magazines loaded and locked in a separate container from the rifle, but quickly load it when required.

The standard scope mounts for this series of rifles mounts to the side of the receiver, due to the split bridge design. My rifle was built before Savage came out with their side mount so it lacks the drilled and tapped mounting holes. However, it is drilled and tapped for a receiver peep sight. I setup a search on eBay to see if one turns up.

For now I'll rely on the open iron sights. Another possibility is to drill and tap the receiver ring for a short section of Picatinny rail and mount a small dot sight on it. That would help preserve the rifle's handling while giving a much better sighting arrangement.

Something to keep in mind if you buy one of these is that the bolt has only one locking lug, relying on the root of the bolt handle to act as a safety lug. Compared with, e.g., a Mauser, Mosin-Nagant, or Lee-Enfield, the action is relatively weak. That said, it is plenty strong enough for factory loads in the calibers for which it was built.

The Stevens feeds from a three-round detachable box magazine. I like such magazines on hunting rifles because they facilitate easy loading and unloading, and with a spare magazine in your pocket you're set for a day's hunt. I ordered a couple reproductions from Numrich Arms, which may require a little final fitting.

The magazine is also a limiting factor on those who want to use spitzer bullets in the .30-30. While rifles with tubular magazines can't use hard-tipped pointed bullets because of the risk of unwanted detonation in the mag, the short length of the Savage / Stevens pretty much limits cartridges to those with the same length as factory loads. Here's the mag filled with Remington 170 grain Core Lokt factory loads. You can see there isn't much room for a longer bullet.

An interesting feature on my rifle is a .30-30 case head inlet into the right side of the butt. The pictures I've found of the Stevens lack this so I'm guessing a previous owner put it there. Pretty cool.

The .30-30 cartridge is great for shooting cast bullets, which I plan to do. So I slugged the bore by driving a .32 caliber lead bullet through the barrel and then measuring the groove diameter, which came out to .30905". I have some .310" bullets from MOD Outfitters I'll be trying in the Stevens after I get the chance to load some .30-30s.

In my wanderings online to search for info about the Stevens 325 and Savage 340 rifle I ran across these two articles by Leeroy Wisner, which are worth saving if you have one:

• Stevens 325 and Savage 340 Bolt Action Rifle
• Gunsmithing the Savage Model 340 Rifle

And also this site:

• The Savage 340

I've always thought this series of rifles was neat and I'm happy to have finally acquired one. Now all I need to happen is for the weather to warm up so it's normal Southeast, PA winter instead of feeling like I live on Hoth, and I'll get to shoot it.

Winchester 94 "Old Red"

I ordered this 1935-vintage Winchester 94 Sporting Rifle from a Gunbroker seller last Saturday and picked it up yesterday, along with a couple boxes of Remington .30-30 170 grain JSP ammo. To pay for it, I put a couple of other guns that were gathering dust on consignment.

It's drilled and tapped to accept a tang sight, one of which I may add.

Overall it's in excellent shape for a 91 year old rifle. The bore is excellent with sharp rifling, no pits, and a good crown. It was very clean. After I hosed out the old congealed oil the action works smoothly. The wood is sound and except for nine decades of dings the original varnish is in very good condition.

It should be a fine shooter and I plan to take it into the woods after whitetail next Fall.

There are 6 notches cut into the bottom of the stock (disclosed in the GB listing). The left side of the butt bears the initials, "RED," so I've named the rifle "Old Red."

Along with the rifle I bought two boxes of Remington .30-30 170 grain Core Lokt JSPs. I have reloading dies, a pound of IMR-3031, a brick of large rifle primers, a box of Hornady Interlock 170 grain JSP bullets, and 250 pieces of Starline brass on the way. I also have fifty 178 grain .310" bullets hand cast from Lyman No.2 alloy on the way from MOD Outfitters that I'm looking forward to loading for the old Winchester.

Today I slugged the bore by driving a .32 caliber bullet through it which allowed me to measure groove diameter. 

The rule of thumb for choosing the diameter of cast bullets for a rifle is to use those that are .001" to .002" over groove diameter. I'll load a few dummies with the .310" bullet to check functioning with, and also to verify that they chamber OK. Assuming all's good there I'll load up small batches of 10 with a couple different powders.

Tanker Holsters for Single Action Carry

I gave this setup a try to see how comfortable it would be for woods carry, although today it got carried on my walk around the subdivision where I live. It's a Cimarron Pistolero .357 Colt SAA clone in a World War Supply canvas tanker holster that's actually intended for S&W Victory Models. It actually works well for the single action and the cartridge loops on the strap make it a nice grab-n-go setup.

It carried comfortably under my coat. Not how I'd normally carry concealed because of the slow draw, but it's not bad for a low threat environment, IMO.

Aside from the canvas holster I have this leather Tanker holster from El Paso Saddlery, built for a 4" S&W N-Frame. I bought it for my Model 28-2 but the Cimarron hogleg fits in it with about a half inch of barrel poking out the end.

You could add a belt slide with cartridge loops to the EPS rig and like the cheaper canvas holster, have a pretty good rig for fast grab-n-go.

Wheelgun Wednesday

Today I was able to sneak out to the range for a couple hours for Wheelgun Wednesday. I brought two hoglegs with me: A Cimarron Model P in .44-40 WCF and a Cimarron Pistolero in .357 Magnum, shooting .38 Special ammunition.

First I ran two new-to-me handloads through the Model P. Both were loaded in Starline brass with a CCI No.300 primer and 7.0 grains of Winchester 244 powder. The first batch was loaded with a 200 grain lead round nose flat point (LRNFP) bullet, while the second was loaded with a 215 grain LRNFP.

The results were interesting and the opposite of what you'd expect. I.e., the lighter bullets ran slower than the heavier bullets. I attribute this to higher pressure with the higher bullet. I've seen this before with .38/44 handloads, where 5.9 grains of Herco gave ~100 FPS more muzzle velocity with a 178 grain Keith bullet than a 158 grain LSWC.

With the 200 grain bullet I got an average muzzle velocity of 827.1 FPS for 304 ft.lbs. of energy from the Model P's 5.5" barrel.

The 215 grain bullets ran at an average 903.3 FPS for 389.7 ft.lbs. of energy. About a 76 FPS difference. Both strings were 10 shots.

After running the .44s over the Garmin I changed to 10 yards and ran the Hickock-North drill with both guns, and also 6 shots one-handed on a B-8 center, followed by 10 shots fired two-handed on a B-8 center.

The ammo I used in the Pistolero were handloads with a Lee TL358-158 SWC over 4.7 grains of Unique, which ran about 842 FPS from my 4" S&W Model 15 last week. They should be going around that from the .357-chambered but 4-5/8" barreled Pistolero.

Anyway, I need to continue to work on my one-hand shooting and well as file down the front sight on the Model P, which shoots low.

Powder Dippers

I got in the mail today this set of 3D printed dippers from eBay seller "3dReloaded." They fill in some gaps in the Lee powder dipper set. Note that the capacities are 0.20cc to 1.10cc. For whatever reason the maker didn't include the decimal points in his designs. 

A major reason why I got this set is because I think they'll be especially useful with powders that don't meter consistently with small charges, where a difference of 0.1 or 0.2 grains can make a big difference (e.g, Red Dot and Unique).

To start I'll probably measure each dipper with Bullseye, Titegroup, Red Dot, and Unique.

Winchester 244 in .44-40 WCF

A few years ago when reloading components were hard to come by, one of the powders that was seen relatively frequently on the shelf was Winchester 244, which is just ahead of Alliant Unique on Hodgdon's burn rate chart. When searching for loading data for Win-244 a common theme is that there is not much to be found.

I picked up a pound in 2024 and loaded a box of .38 Special 158 grain LSWCs but didn't do much with it. I mostly use Bullesye, Titegroup, and HP-38 in .38 Special, with some Unique thrown in for variety.

One thing I like about 244 is that like the other ball powders it meters consistently, so I wanted to find a use for it.

Another cartridge I load for is .44-40 WCF, which I shoot in a Cimarron Model P revolver, a Cimarron 1860 Henry rifle, and a Cimarron 1873 Sporting Rifle (all built by Uberti). Loaddata.com has data for Winchester 244 in .44-40, with 200 grain bullets ranging from 6.8 grains to 7.6 grains, and for 223 grain bullets from 6.5 to 7.4 grains, so today I decided to load some up.

Muzzle velocities for these loads range from around 928 FPS to a bit over 1,000 FPS from a 7" Colt Frontier Six Shooter, according to Loaddata.com. That's in the ballpark of what .44-40 will do with full charges of high quality black powder, e.g., Swiss.

I loaded 50 with a 200 grain RNFP from Desperado Cowboy Bullets and 50 with a 215 grain RNFP from Matt's Bullets, both over 7.0 grains of 244, which I dispensed using the No.9 rotor in my RCBS Little Dandy.

Performance of this should be similar to the Skeeter Load of a 250 grain Keith bullet over 7.5 grains of Unique in .44 Special, albeit with lighter bullets.

I'm hoping to try them out next weekend.

NOTE: Make sure you verify the load data before relying upon it, and if you use a Little Dandy do not rely on what my measure throws. Verify that yourself with a scale and your powder measure.

Pietta vs. Uberti Single Action Colt Clones

I came across this video from Brian Pearce today, discussing Pietta single action revolvers. He gives some nice technical information along with comparisons to the Colt originals and also the Uberti replicas. I found it interesting that the Pietta is closer dimensionally to the original Colts, while the Ubertis are a hair larger.

I've posted in the past about my two Colt single actions clones, a 4-5/8" .357 Magnum Cimarron Pistolero built by Pietta, and 5-1/2" ".44-40 Cimarron Model P built by Uberti. The Model P is built on a "black powder" style frame. I.e., the cylinder base pin is retained by a screw instead of a spring loaded plunger, which was introduced by Colt around 1895, IIRC. The plunger makes maintenance easier since removal and replacement of the cylinder doesn't require a tool.

Pietta below on the left, with the Uberti on the right. The lighting makes the color of the Pietta's frame look lighter than it actually is in normal light.

In the video, Mr. Pearce notes that the Pietta clones feature a removable cylinder bushing and a "Swiss safety," i.e., a two-position cylinder base pin that can be used to prevent the hammer from falling completely. My Uberti Model P, which has Colt-style lockwork rather than a floating firing pin, has both of these features as well. Actually, the cylinder bushing in my Pietta is stuck, and may even been peened in place so I'm leaving it be. There's no need to remove it except for replacement, at which time I'll apply judicious force.

Between the two, the Uberti has a nicer blueing job but functionally the two guns are equivalent. I can't compare accuracy since I've never benched them. That said, I'm able to hit what I'm aiming at with either gun if I do my part.

Ruger's New Model Blackhawk is certainly a more modern design, safe to carry with all 6 chambers loaded, but a well-made Colt-pattern single action is still a fine sidearm when you keep its limitations in mind.

Some .38 Special Chronograph Results

Today I took several .38 handloads up to the range, along with my Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk chambered for .357 Magnum, and my S&W Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece, chambered for .38 Special. Here are the results:

All strings below are 10 shots.

From a Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk .357 with 4-5/8" barrel:

.38 Special
21 grains Swiss 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 845.5 FPS
250.9 Ft-lbs.
ES 61
Max 881 FPS
Min 820 FPS
SD 16.7

.38 Special
21 grains Schuetzen 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 655.9 FPS (Weak sauce)
151.2 Ft-lbs.
ES 94.7
Max 712.9 FPS
Min 618.2 FPS
SD 27.8

From a Smith & Wesson Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece with a 4" barrel:

.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.7 grains of Unique
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 842.5 FPS
249.8 Ft-lbs.
ES 162
Max 906.1 FPS
Min 744.1 (WTF?)
SD 47.8

.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.4 grains BE-86
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

821.1 FPS
236.6 Ft.-lbs.
ES 42.8
Max 842.8
Min 800
SD 14

The BP load with Swiss would be decent for defense. This is probably comparable to the original black powder .38 Special round in muzzle velocity, with the same weight bullte. In contrast the Schuetzen load is so slow it performs closer to the weaker .38 Smith & Wesson round.

I crunched the numbers on the Unique load after dropping the low shot. It gave an average muzzle velocity of  853.5 FPS for 256 Ft.-lbs. of energy. Bumped up to 5.0 grains it averages 925.4 FPS and 301.2 Ft.lbs. of energy. That's a very solid woods or defense load.

The load with BE-86 exceeds most standard pressure 158 grain .38 Special loads in performance. Not bad at all. With a couple extra tenths of a grain it could probably exceed 900 FPS and give .38 +P levels of performance.

Wild Bill Hickok vs. Major Frank North Drill

Hat tip to Gary Hughes for bringing this "Wild Bill Hickok vs. Major Frank North" drill to my attention.

From The American Mercury, October 1937:

"Did you ever see Wild Bill Hickok shoot?"

"Many times."

"Was he pretty good?"

"Yes. But Frank was better.

Even Bill said so."

"Just how well could they shoot?"

You put up a letter envelope ten paces away, and if you could keep all six shots in the envelope you were counted good. One of the sbots had to be in the stamp which was pasted on the back of the en-velope, in the center."

"How big were the envelopes?"

"Five inches square. And the stamp an inch square."

Course of fire:

• 10 yards
• Primary hand ONLY
• Six shots
• All must hit within the 5" square
• One must hit the center stamp, 1" square
• No time limit

I shot it today with three of my pistols. I passed easily with the Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk, shooting my .38 Special black powder handloads.

I did not pass this test shooting two of my double action revolvers: my S&W Model 432UC .32 H&R Mag and my S&W Model 15-3 shooting .38 Specials. Shooting double action with only one hand I have a tendency to push the point of impact to the right, which caused shots to lands outside the 5" square. While I can nail these targets shooting two-handed, I need to work on my one-handed double action shooting.

I actually did better with the 432UC J-Frame than the Model 15 K-Frame, but I shot the Model 15 last and had already done a fair amount of shooting by that point. I.e., I was tired.

Give it a try. You may find it more challenging than you think.

Link to the target: https://thetacticalprofessor.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hickok-v-north-stamp.pdf

Edit: Most likely this is the Major Frank North referred to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_North 

Protecting PCs, Macs and Your Home Network Against Malicious Software

My latest Substack article, "Protecting PCs, Macs and Your Home Network Against Malicious Software" is now available. Go check it out.