WWI Stevens Model 520 Trench Gun Prototype
Hello everyone,
I’m posting this here and on Gun Boards, the pictures show up larger over there for some reason.
I’ve got something very interesting to share today that not many have seen. It’s what I believe is one of the WWI Stevens 520 trench gun prototypes. This is not my gun, the owner approached me to verify its authenticity. It was acquired recently from the estate sale of a relative of a prominent WWII general. I’ve gotten opinions from several noted military shotgun authorities and the consensus is that while it cannot be authenticated without convincing documentation (which it doesn’t have at this time), it certainly has the characteristics one would expect to see on a prototype from this era. It differs slightly in the shape of the buttstock and the bayonet bracket/heat shield from the known pictures of one of the prototypes. Thomas Swearengen gives a very detailed description of these in The World’s Fighting Shotguns and also claims that several were submitted to the War Dept in 1918 for consideration. It would not be unusual for multiple prototypes to have varying design differences for evaluation. This shotgun conforms closely to Swearengen’s description especially the two piece heat shield/bayonet bracket, design of the sling swivels, rifle front sight, metal butt plate, and commercial finish.
I research and collect Stevens Model 520s and based on serial numbers and design changes that I’ve observed I speculated that a prototype Model 520 trench gun would have the following:
1) A serial number in the mid 60k range.
2) An angled slide release button on the trigger housing instead of the earlier round button on the receiver.
3) An inertial recoil block mounted to the receiver instead of the later trigger housing mounted block.
4) I expected it to be marked “J Stevens Arms Co” after the 1 July 1916 company name change.
This gun conforms with the first three assumptions. I’m not overly worried about the gun being marked “J Stevens Arms & Tool Co”. I have observed the new name as low as S/N 64530 and the old name as high as S/N 68239. Lots of overlap and Stevens shut down almost all civilian firearms production in 1915 so they could start building Mosin-Nagant rifles for Imperial Russia. It was only after the Bolsheviks defaulted on payment that Stevens tried other options, like these prototype trench guns, most likely with what they had already on hand.
So enough background and history, here’s the gun in question.
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Originally Posted by Keydet92
