Stevens 87D - my Dad's old gun. Can I improve the trigger?

**wahoowad** · 01-06-2012, 07:59 PM

I've owned my Dad's hand-me-down Stevens 87D as long as I can remember - going on 40 years. I use to shoot brick after brick of 22 through it as a teenager and recall it always shot great. I have no idea how much he shot it but Dad was pretty adventurous and am sure he shot it a lot too.

I haven't fired it in 15 years easy, probably more. I've been contemplating getting a new 22LR but decided to see if this one can be salvaged. This week I will give it a thorough cleaning and inspection and then take it out to the range and put it through it's paces.

The one thing I remember is that the trigger has a lot of slop and will be disappointing to someone more used to decent triggers on modern rifles. Is there any known mod or replacement that can be done to help it?

Also - the tube magazine can slide loose leading to misfeeds. Were these soldered in place? I'm wondering what can be done to resolve?

Thanks!

**GaCop** · 01-08-2012, 08:55 AM

If you don't get an answer here, the guys at "Rimfire Central.com" can probably answer your questions.

**wahoowad** · 01-08-2012, 09:25 AM

They suggested I post over here! :D

I did fix it though. A gentleman over there knew all aboutit and even posted some pictures showing how to stake the tube into the stock screw lug. I shot it yesterday and it did so-so. I was using cheap Blazer ammo so unsure how much of the results were due to the ammo and how much due to this gun being worn out (not sure it is). I only had a 4x scope on it so groups at 100 yards were hard to establish.

**GaCop** · 01-09-2012, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by wahoowad

They suggested I post over here! :D

I did fix it though. A gentleman over there knew all aboutit and even posted some pictures showing how to stake the tube into the stock screw lug. I shot it yesterday and it did so-so. I was using cheap Blazer ammo so unsure how much of the results were due to the ammo and how much due to this gun being worn out (not sure it is). I only had a 4x scope on it so groups at 100 yards were hard to establish.

Many .22 are finicky about the ammunition they like. My Marlin 925 loves the Blazer ammo, Rem Yellow Jacket, Wolf Match Rifle and CCI Mini-Mags yet hates Rem Subsonic, Winchester Super-X and Federal Match. A 4 power scope is OK but, you would be better off with a economical 3X9. When testing different brands of ammunition, I test at 50 and 75 yards for accuracy. I shoot over my chronograph to get actual velocity, not the inflated numbers printed on the box.