help with Stevens 311 Shotgun

[Freezer]

    A few years ago I received a 16 ga Stevens 311 shotgun.  I think it's a great pheasant gun but the thing is filthy and the triggers are stiff as are the rest of the mechanisms.  All the bluing is gone and since I have some time on my hands I decided to reblue it with the Dicropan system, clean and polish the inards and put in new springs.  Alas I began to look at it and it's not as simple as I thought.  My first problem is identifing which 311 I have.There isn't much on the reciever except the company name and a pointing spaniel.  There's a small "v" on the bottom of the reciever and a small "5" on the right.  Does this mean I have a plian  311and not a "B" "C" "D" or what ever?  Are there instructions on how to disassemble and re-assemble this gun?

[RemingtonMagnum]

My 16 Stevens 311 is plain no dog on the side. Originally it was a Smokey mix of faded colors that eventually faded off to nothing but blue.  Purchased in early 60's used.


Don Jackson Remington Magnum/Ultramag

[Kragman71]

Freezer My Stevens 311 was purchased new,over 20 years ago.It is marked on the left side with the spaniel and Stevens name.On the right side it is marked mode l311A It's a 16 gauge.
Numrich Arms catalog has a blowup of the gun.
I think that I saw a assembly/disassembly article about it. I'll post here if I find it.
Frank

[gunnut69]

The 311 can be a bit of a pain to take down. I'd advise stock removal and spraying it down with carb cleaner Brake cleaner will do fine too as will the higher $$ Remington style spray cleaners.. Be sure to reluibe after as these cleaners remove all oils and leave the steel completely exposed..

[Freezer]

    Thanks Frank!  So far I found out the difference in the series is usually cosmetic and the design didn't change.  Gunnut, I want to re-blue the entire gun, in order to do the receiver correctly I'll need to do a complete tear down.  The triggers are heavy and weather from dirt, age or just too stiff I bought new Wolf springs for it.  I'll also polish some of the parts at their friction points.  I realized after removing the stock, barrel, and forend that this might get to be a pain and since I've never had to go to a gunsmith with a bag of parts I don't want to make this the first time.   

[gunnut69]

Opps!! I didn't read so well.. Included below is a parts blow up. It can help with the tear down..  I would suggest a digital camera to take pictures of the mechanism as it is taken down. Take plenty of views as they can be helpful at reassembly.. Shown is a fairly late version. This model has been made in several varients by Stevens and Savage but the basic design is very similar..  If you've specific questions I'll try and be moer helpful! I've been way busy here of late. Good luck with the project.

http://stevespages.com/ipb-stevens-311.html

[Freezer]

    Gunnut69, That's a very nice looking breakdown Thanks.  I like the idea of pictures also!