Schicks, Welcome to the site. I stumbled on the site about a year ago and all I knew was that I had owned several Savage and Stevens rifles and was always impressed with how accurate they were right out of the box, without any modifications. I never wanted to modify one because it always cost soooo much to do ANYTHING to a Remington, that I thought why sink that kind of money into a rifle that is so inexpensive and shoots so well anyway. I have learned different. Like the old saying goes: "Yesterday I couldn't even spell mechanic, Today I ARE one."

Let's see if we can give you some appreciation for that Stevens that your dad thought enough of to keep and have it handed down to you.

That rifle is more accurate than most anybody will give it credit for, because it's got a Savage lineage. Although if you get most people alone, they will admit that "one of the most accurate rifles I ever shot was a Savage." A Stevens is no different. They are the same action and barrel, they were just not given the same cosmetic attention to detail as the Savage line. Mechanically though, they are the same. You could do very little, with little money, and make that rifle shoot with the Remington's that people spend 5 times as much on, and you CAN do it yourself. It's that easy..... Remingtons, you can't without many dollars worth of special tools and know how.(pretty much)
Your Stevens rifle has several innovations that many of Savage's competitors are now trying to outright copy or duplicate, because they are the reason for Savage's inherent accuracy. One of these is the "floating" bolt head. This allows the head to lock up into battery squarely and correctly and consistently every time. On a Remington you have to have your action trued to your barrel and the lugs and reciever lapped by a smith. The second is the barrel nut, recoil lug setup. Don't know why this is so accurate, but it is and many manufacturers are now copying it, from marlin to remington. That should tell you something. Stevens rifles were made to allow EVERYONE who has an appreciation for firearms, and accurate rifles the opportunity to OWN one or more and not take away from the food on the table. And they did it!

You have a great rifle, an accurate rifle (if it shoots like the rest of them), and an heirloom. KEEP IT.

I apologize that I cannot tell you what year it is. If you call Savage Customer Service and ask to speak to Effie Sullivan, she can probably tell you What day it was made. (Poor Effie, she gets all the calls! ;D) They are a great company to work with and you will get many, many years of faithful service out of that rifle, so enjoy it. And if you spend $12.00, you can get on to many of the areas of the site, even the classifieds and pick up parts to build your rifle into any caliber you want, easy peasy.

Have fun, and I hope all my preaching was o.k.

L.H. Clark