Mixed Finish Stevens 520-30

[bigskybound]

I am looking at buying a Stevens 520-30 Trench Gun that is missing its handguard/bayo lug. I found a very good deal on an original guard, so I am set there. What strikes me is the receiver has either a very light parkerized finish or maybe Military Finish and the barrel and slide have a heavier parkerized finish. Dealer refers to the barrel as "reparkerized," but he does not know when. No way to tell if parts match. The dealer has pics on his website, but he is traveling out of country now. SN is in the 69000 range (late WW II?). Could just the barrel assembly been parkerized for Korea or Vietnam? I have read that the late war aerial gunnery practice Stevens wee parkerized. Any thoughts?

[scosgt]

In general, they were never Parked because at the end of WWII they were no longer considered standard and were dropped from inventory. However, some were known to have made their way to VN. I did see on 620 that was GI parked, and the stock was a beautiful VN era replacement with P proofs.
What you are looking at is a franken gun, and do not buy a mismatch.
At best a $200 gun. Buy it if you are in love with it because you will never be able to get your money back.

[emmagee1917]

All WW2 production was blued. Many did go through arsonal rebuild after the war . If it went through a rebuild , all parts were parked , bbl , reciever and handguard. If it doesn't match , remove the bbl group and see if it's number matches the reciever. If it doesn't match , you may have headspacing problems , maybe not . As was said , only originals bring the big bucks. Your replacement handguard would also need to be parked. If it isn't already , it would be a shame to do it now , as it would devalue it big time. Also , being late production , you would want it to be "S" stamped . However , a rebuild could have either a "S" or non "S" or another brand heatshield on it ( Winchester or 77E ) .
Chris

[bigskybound]

OK, so how about if the numbers match? Won't know until dealer gets back in the country.

[Tom Doniphon]

Even if the numbers match it is highly unlikely that only the barrel assembly was parkerized. If the gun was rebuilt by the Military, I would think the entire gun would have been refinished, not just part of it.

By the way, I've never heard of a US Military Stevens 77E that had a bayonet adaptor/heat shield on it. They were all riot guns.

[bigskybound]

I think this is what he is talking about.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USGI-Viet-Na...item20cf6e4736

[scosgt]

Even if the numbers match it is highly unlikely that only the barrel assembly was parkerized. If the gun was rebuilt by the Military, I would think the entire gun would have been refinished, not just part of it.

By the way, I've never heard of a US Military Stevens 77E that had a bayonet adaptor/heat shield on it. They were all riot guns.

That is what I thought too. I was at OGCA years ago, and while waiting for the gates to open at 8AM I see a guy with the end of a bayonet adapter sticking out of his backpack. So I run over to see if it was for sale. He pulls out one of those funky parts, like the one in the ebay auction. So I tell him, that is not real. He tells me sure is, they used them in Viet Nam. And I say no way, someone lied to you, and he says NO! I BROUGHT IT BACK WITH ME. LOOKING FOR A GUN TO PUT IT ON.

The moral of the story is never say never.

[emmagee1917]

Yep , that's it. I also was not aware of them till this last week or so. I was helping a fellow who had a WW2 520-30 that had one of these on it. I'm into WW2 stuff more than the later items.
Chris

[Tom Doniphon]

Some believe that the Govt' did order some 77E shotguns with those adaptors. But there seems to be little evidence of where, if at all, those shotguns went or even if they were ever manufactured.

There were some 77Es discovered in Vietnam with that type adaptor on them, but the guns had been completely refinished. So it's hard to tell if they were made that way or if the adaptors were added later.

[scosgt]

I have heard that it may have been a field mod in Viet Nam.