Post by littleguns on Nov 22, 2020 11:26:38 GMT -5
Question regarding the 1940s-era Stevens Model 240 (.410 over/under with dual hammers and triggers): Did the 240 ever come from the factory with walnut furniture instead of Tenite?
I have examined multiple catalogs and advertising from the 1940s and have never found a 240 listed with anything but Tenite, including in what seems to be the first ads listing the 240 as a new model in several 1940 magazine ads. I have not seen every catalog, but the ones I've seen have all been Tenite.
Yet I see 240s for sale at shows and on gun boards claiming to be "all original" with wood furniture, sometimes not even walnut but the cheaper "hardwood" used in later 24s. Yes, I know the wood from the Stevens 22/410 and the Savage model 24 and 94 with the half-moon scallop on the stock is pretty much a direct fit. My suspicion is that a lot of the "wood" 240s had their broken, hard-to-replace, Tenite replaced with easy-to-find wood, but I'd like to know for sure, just out of curiosity. It seems that if wood was ever available, it would have shown up in some of the promo pieces. Also, the 240 was made in the WWII era when walnut was pretty much unavailable for Stevens' domestic firearms.
What have you seen? If anyone has catalogs or ads from the 1940s, what do they show? I trust the promotional literature much more than anecdotal evidence such as "Daddy had one in the '60s and...."
FWIW, my friend, a gun dealer, had a wood-furniture 240 on his racks when he died three years ago. He was adamant that it was factory, but he could never explain how he knew that (he had only owned it for a year or so). He got a little huffy when I suggested it might not have been original wood. He just knew it because that's what it had when he bought it and the wood really fit well (which, of course, it does). That's not much proof, right?
Also FWIW, my earliest ads (from 1940) show a list price for the Tenite 240 and 22/410 -- your choice -- of less than $16. Today, a clean, unmolested 240 under $700 is a rarity. Even a clean 22/410 in Tenite is increasingly hard to find under $400.
I have examined multiple catalogs and advertising from the 1940s and have never found a 240 listed with anything but Tenite, including in what seems to be the first ads listing the 240 as a new model in several 1940 magazine ads. I have not seen every catalog, but the ones I've seen have all been Tenite.
Yet I see 240s for sale at shows and on gun boards claiming to be "all original" with wood furniture, sometimes not even walnut but the cheaper "hardwood" used in later 24s. Yes, I know the wood from the Stevens 22/410 and the Savage model 24 and 94 with the half-moon scallop on the stock is pretty much a direct fit. My suspicion is that a lot of the "wood" 240s had their broken, hard-to-replace, Tenite replaced with easy-to-find wood, but I'd like to know for sure, just out of curiosity. It seems that if wood was ever available, it would have shown up in some of the promo pieces. Also, the 240 was made in the WWII era when walnut was pretty much unavailable for Stevens' domestic firearms.
What have you seen? If anyone has catalogs or ads from the 1940s, what do they show? I trust the promotional literature much more than anecdotal evidence such as "Daddy had one in the '60s and...."
FWIW, my friend, a gun dealer, had a wood-furniture 240 on his racks when he died three years ago. He was adamant that it was factory, but he could never explain how he knew that (he had only owned it for a year or so). He got a little huffy when I suggested it might not have been original wood. He just knew it because that's what it had when he bought it and the wood really fit well (which, of course, it does). That's not much proof, right?
Also FWIW, my earliest ads (from 1940) show a list price for the Tenite 240 and 22/410 -- your choice -- of less than $16. Today, a clean, unmolested 240 under $700 is a rarity. Even a clean 22/410 in Tenite is increasingly hard to find under $400.
