1873 Winchester barrel number

[Snoopy69]

Hello all,

I have an 1873 Winchester chambered in 44-40 with a round 24" barrel dated 1888. On the front end of the barrel towards the muzzle is the and odd marking. It is R473

Does anyone know what this means? Is it a rebarrel job number? I have the letter from the factory and there is no mention of a rebarrel. A rack # perhaps?

Any guesses anyone?

Please let me know.

Thanks,

Snoopy

 

[Scorch]

Inspector markss. If you look under the forearm you will fins a virtual alphabet soup of inspector marks. While I'm sure they meant something to the folks in New Haven, very few people nowadays know what that is.

 

[jrothWA]

tke your question to..

Winchester collectors and you may get the answer.

Remeber the 1873 are for blackpowder loads.
in others don't feed gramp-pa hard likker, just a splash.

Good Luck.