WTK Stevens 87A

[Bill Hollinger]

Did the US government ever use the Springfield Stevens model 87A as training rifles?

Also, is there any way to date these rifles being there is no serial number? TIA

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[Bill Hollinger]

Well, I know one thing for sure, this is one temperamental semi-auto .22. Gill Gun, Click Clack, whatever you wish to call it I'm getting fed up with it. Kidding! I have messed with this thing most of the day with marginal results. It started out not feeding at all. I found it was missing the "cartridge guide spring" so I put one on it. Guess what? Still wouldn't feed. I adjusted the tang on the release housing to close the gap on the cartridge lifter. Still won't feed right. I pulled the magazine tube and guide and did some tweaking on the guide and it made it much better but I get six or eight rounds out and it either jams or goes full auto on me till it jams. The full auto business is a common complaint with them.

These are a very strange little rifle for sure. I know we have a few bonafide gun smiths and armors here so I ask, what is the best course of action on this rifle? Start changing parts such as lifter, magazine guide, lifter spring, release housing, etc. or put it back in the back of the safe and forget I pulled it out?


Here is another thing it did on me more than once! I'm using good quality Remington ammo. After examining the other spent casings I was surprised to see quite a few firing out of battery. The one with the blown base was loud!!!

[RCS]

Bill, I also have a Stevens Model 87A, bought it used for $10 while still in high school, gave it to my uncle who used it another twenty years. I got it back after he died. It has an orange colored non walnut stock, the trigger guard is some kind of alloy and never a problem shooting or feeding.

I have seen out of battery 22 rim fire cartridges such as those in your photos, they came from a 22 rim fire conversion kit for the AR-15. One cause was the firing pin had dented the chamber area which would sometimes prevent the cartridge from chambering completely which in turn caused the out of battery blown head. On the Stevens M87A the rear of the chamber area is very thin, with the two extractor cuts and the spring loaded ejector on top where the firing pin strikes the rim. I would check the chamber and also make sure there is not any build-up from using 22 shorts too. Also have seen some "longer" lead 22LR bullets hang up during feeding also causing an out of battery firing on 22 rf semi autos.

[Bill Hollinger]

Robert, thanks for the reply. When I cleaned it I made sure I used a small dental pick and dug all of the fouling out of the two extractor notches. I also put a .25 caliber brush on a drill motor and ran it in the chamber just a tab and then inspected it for any evidence of a ridge that might be keeping the round from seating. Everything looked good. I think the lifter may be catching the underside and hanging it up keeping the bolt from seating. The trigger will pull and the hammer will slide forward with the bolt open a 1/4". The release housing has been "adjusted" quite a lot and I suspect that may have something to do with all of it's issues also.

From what I have been able to find on these rifles, the magazine guide, lifter, magazine guide spring and lifter spring are the main culprits regarding feeding issues. The going full auto? The only thing I can see is the screwball way they have made this action. If you hold the trigger back while it is firing the bolt is supposed to lock back until you release the trigger and engage the sear. Or, in this case, if you hold the trigger back it dumps the magazine tube in a split second! Albeit, that has only happened a few times.

[Bill Hollinger]

I just finished changing out the release housing assembly. The original was so jacked up and worn. I took it out and test drove a few rounds through it. The first tube had a few mis-feeds and so I made a slight adjustment to the tang and then ran two full tubes through it without a single jam. We'll see.....

[emmagee1917]

I have one of these , too. Neat little rifle , very reliable and has never given me a bit of trouble. Never was used by the military , though it might have originally been thier idea. I think it looks a lot more like that German semi-auto from WW2 ( the one that every unit on Combat seemed to have one of ) than a M1 Garand.
Good multi-year thread on these here :
Military 22 Caliber Target & Training Firearms Forum
Lots of people complain of full auto when they get gooped up.
Been looking for a can of goop for years now , but no luck
Chris

[196th]

To the best of my knowledge the 87A was never a US Military trainer...I believe the 87M is the full stock version that resembles a garand..several trainer collectors i know try to find a good one of those simply because it looks the part...but never was an actual trainer..

[1911crazy]

Funny i just picked up a ranger 101.16 its the civilian version of the stevens 87M with the full stock and military peep rear sight and military style front sight. It has the gills and the garand look a like stock too. It appears to be a decent rifle. I hope it shoots good. I paid $295 for it in close to excellent condition. I've seen the springfield 87M go for aqs high as $1,500 in my search for knowledge about them on the net.

I did purchase the "US Martial RF Book" by Thomas Bartha from amazon. It has no mention of the springfield / stevens 87M nor the ranger 101.16 in it but they could of missed it. Its a very affordable book to have on the 22cal military training rifles. 1911czy