Why do all these "new '73s" have multi piece firing pins is it an improvement or some safety thing?
My original is easy to tear down and none of those small parts.
Howdy
Apparently the new Model 1873 rifles being produced in Japan by Miroku have a two piece rebounding firing pin. The replica Model 1873 rifles that have been produced for decades in Italy by Uberti do not.
I agree, a two piece firing pin in a 1873 lever gun is redundant.
Almost from the very beginning the Winchester Model 1873 incorporated a trigger block. This is no modern 'lawyer dictated' safety, the engineers at Winchester in the 1870s felt that since the Model 1873 fired the more powerful 44-40 cartridge than the earlier 44 Henry Rimfire cartridge, a trigger block would be a good idea.
Here is a photo of an Uberti replica 1873 rifle with the lever fully open. The two arrows are pointing to the trigger block. It pivots slightly on a pin set into the lower tang. When the lever is closed, it pushes the longer portion of the trigger block, indicated by the arrow to the right, up. This causes the front portion of the trigger block, indicated by the arrow to the left, to rotate up, allowing the trigger to be pulled. A leaf spring rotates the trigger block down as soon as the lever is opened, and the trigger cannot move back until the lever is closed. This has always been a very reliable safety device, the trigger cannot be pulled until the lever is completely closed.
So any additional safety device on the 1870 Winchester is redundant.
I will add that for a long time in the Cowboy Action shooting world it was fairly common to remove the trigger block. The stock trigger block spring is quite stiff, and those shooters who wanted to shoot super fast felt the trigger block was slowing them down. However with the trigger block removed it is possible to have an out of battery discharge if a finger accidentally brushes the trigger while closing the lever. This can cause bad things to happen. So over the last few years there has been a lot of information in the Cowboy Shooting world recommending against removing the trigger block. There are after market springs available now that are not so stiff but still present enough pressure to make the trigger block function the way it was designed way back in the 1870s.
To answer Dave T's original question, for a long time the only Winchester 1873 replica available was the one made by in Italy by Uberti. Companies such as Taylors or Cimarron are importers, they do not manufacture firearms, the 1873 replicas they sell are made by Uberti. For a long time there has been a myth that the firearms imported by Cimarron are somehow better, or have superior fit and finish to the firearms imported by other companies. This is a myth, they all come off the same assembly line, and other than some superficial details such as marking, or barrel configurations, they are all the same inside.
For a short while Chaparral was also making a replica of the 1873 Winchester, but these are no longer in production. The Chaparral 1873s received mixed reviews, and replacement parts were either non-existent or hard to find.
Around 2013 Miroku in Japan began producing the Model 1873 again under the Winchester brand. There are those who object to a Japanese rifle being labeled Winchester, but the current Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which is owned by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, is the legal descendant of the original Winchester company, and as such they can put the Winchester trademark on anything they want to.
So the choices for a Model 1873 today are limited to the Uberti replicas or the one made in Japan by Miroku. The Japanese rifle is probably higher quality than the Italian ones. Miroku is well known for high quality and has produced other lever guns, the Winchester Model 1886 and Model 1892 are a couple, over the years. The Miroku Model 1873 is also a bit more expensive than the Uberti version.
The Uberti 1873, although not of quite the same quality as the Miroku, interior fit and finish of the parts tends to be a bit rough, they are still a quality firearm. Two advantages of the Uberti over the Miroku is replacement parts for the Uberti are easily available, replacement parts for the Miroku are not easily available. The other advantage is a cottage industry has sprung up around the Uberti 1873 for after market parts aimed at the Cowboy Shooting world. Even though the two designs are basically the same, parts are not interchangeable between the two manufacturers.
One other comment. For many years the method of attaching the firing pin extension to the firing pin on the Uberti rifles was different than the original Winchester method. A couple of years ago, Uberti modified their design to be pretty much the same as the original Winchester firing pin design. I am pretty sure the Miroku version of the rifle uses the original Winchester set up for attaching the firing pin extension to the firing pin. I have not had the opportunity to tear one apart, so I do not know how the two piece firing pin affects the method of attachment.
The Miroku 1873 is available chambered for 357 Magnum, 44-40 and 45 Colt.
The Uberti 1873 is available chambered for 357 Magnum, 44-40, 45 Colt, and believe it or not there is a carbine version chambered for 44 Magnum. I have even examined one. Personally I would not want to own a toggle link rifle chambered for 44 Magnum.