What is the age of a Stevens Model 22-410 with 'patent pending' above the trigger guard in front of the selector switch and a '3' circled above that and '40M' stamped inside behind the hinge?

Answer 1

Between 1938 and Oct. 14, 1941Savage who owned Stevens filled for patent number 2259397 for a firing pin selector on 4/11/1940 and had it granted on 10/14/1941. This puts your Stevens in production with the words patent pending anywhere between the production start date in 1938 and the granting of the patent. A provisional patent may have been filed 18 months prior to the application being submitted sometime in late 1938. Tenite was used prewar as well as during and post. I have a prewar patent pending Tenite stocked .22/.410. 1938-50This gun was manufactured as the 22-410 from 1938-1950. A walnut stock will indicate an earlier model, tenite plastic a later model.