ISO Stevens 520-30 Heat Shield/Bayonet Lug

[brindo21]

Hello. New to the group. I just picked up a Bubba'd 520-30 Trench that I'm looking to restore. I've seen the repos available but was hoping someone might have a line on an original heat shield for the gun.

[Keydet92]

Brindo,
Original Stevens heat shields are very hard to obtain. So many were taken off and thrown away over the years when there was little collector interest in military shotguns. Occasionally one turns up on eBay or Gun Broker and they quickly go over $1000. I searched for a long time for one to go on a nice M620 I have. I finely found a fake trench gun (made out of a post war Western Field) that happened to have an original Stevens heat shield on it. I gave $1000 for the set up and considered it a great deal.

I see from your user name that you're the buyer of that 520-30 with the leaf sight on top of the receiver that just sold on Gun Broker. That should be an interesting challenge. Hopefully they didn't cut the top of the receiver for that dove-tail sight. Unfortunately, you can't unsand the serialized stock. You may put yourself upside down if you locate and purchase an original Stevens heat shield at the going rate. I would look at one of the high quality reproductions and go for the arsenal rebuild parkerized look. I have heard good things about these guys but have not personally seen one: http://www.partsforantiqueguns.com/Stevens_trench.html

[brindo21]

Thanks, Keydet. That's very helpful. I was thinking about going the parkerizing route with a repro myself. Looks like I may have bit off more than I can chew on this one. I am pleased that I got my hands on an original, hopefully when everything is said and done, I can put together a piece with a little more appeal than a straight repro.

[Keydet92]

Brindo,
There's a group down in Bossier City, LA called Counterfeit Trench Guns LLC that does some really nice work
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They use manganese parkerization on some of their guns and I've always thought if I had a shooter that needed refinishing I'd do something like this.