Stevens-Pope Schuetzen

About the Stevens-Pope Schuetzen

The Stevens-Pope Schuetzen is a single-shot falling-block target rifle produced through the short-lived partnership between the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, and Harry M. Pope, regarded as the finest American barrel maker of his era. Built on Stevens' Ideal target actions and fitted with Pope's renowned precision-rifled heavy octagon barrels, these rifles were the pinnacle of American Schuetzen-style offhand target shooting at the turn of the 20th century. They feature double set triggers, an ornate finger lever, a hooked Schuetzen buttplate, a high comb, an adjustable palm rest, and Vernier tang sights, and were most often chambered in the accurate .32-40 cartridge.

Harry M. Pope was a perfectionist riflesmith whose hand-rifled, gain-twist barrels and breech-seated bullet technique set accuracy records that stood for decades. His brief in-house tenure at Stevens around 1901 produced some of the most coveted American target rifles ever made before clashes with company management ended the collaboration.

Stevens-Pope Schuetzen specifications

Stevens-Pope rifles were marked 'Stevens-Pope'. Pope's barrels were also offered on Stevens No. 49 Walnut Hill, No. 52 Schuetzen Junior, and No. 54 Schuetzen Special actions. The partnership collapsed within a few years due to personality clashes, making genuine factory Stevens-Pope rifles scarce and highly prized by collectors.