Stevens Ideal No. 53 Schuetzen

About the Stevens Ideal No. 53 Schuetzen

The Stevens Ideal No. 53 Schuetzen is an American single-shot falling-block target rifle built by the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts on the underlever-operated Ideal No. 44 action. A mid-grade member of the Ideal Schuetzen family produced from 1896 to 1902, it was essentially the same rifle as the No. 51 but upgraded with fancier checkered walnut and a folding palm rest. Chambered most commonly in .32-40, it carried a heavy part-octagon barrel of about 30 inches, double-set triggers, a straight-grip stock with cheekpiece and long-prong Schuetzen buttplate, and a windage-adjustable globe front sight paired with a Vernier tang-mounted aperture peep sight for precision offhand competition. So few were made that Flayderman's standard reference skips straight from the No. 52 to the No. 54, making surviving examples especially scarce.

The Stevens Ideal No. 53 is so scarce that it was skipped entirely in Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms, which jumps from the No. 52 straight to the No. 54, leaving this palm-rest Schuetzen grade a footnote prized by single-shot collectors.

Stevens Ideal No. 53 Schuetzen specifications

The No. 53 was an uncatalogued, seldom-seen grade in the Stevens Ideal Schuetzen lineup (Nos. 51-55), described as the same rifle as the No. 51 but with fancier wood and a palm rest. Documented examples are chambered in .32-40 with 30-inch part-octagon barrels, blued barrel with case-hardened frame, and factory-etched or scroll-engraved actions on the fancier specimens. Weight and overall length were not standardized and varied with the buyer's special-order specifications.