Winchester 1873 Rifle

A

allenomics

New member
I would like to own a Winchester 1973 rifle and have a budget of $1600.

Would it be best to buy an old Winchester 1873 or a new one (replica) from the current maker of Winchester rifles (Japan)?

With only $1600, an older but good condition 1873 is probably out of my league.

If you bought a new Winchester 1873 replica, does Winchester make the best one or is another maker currently producing the best copies?

Thank you for your replies.
 
I'm assuming that you want a shooter. If that's the case, I'd suggest buying a new gun.

Decent condition 1873s from the original run are becoming VERY dear.

The option is purchasing a ragged out one and having it restored, but that will very likely set you back as much, if not more, than $1600. And you'll still likely have a gun that's not suitable for use with jacketed bullets.

The only thing keeping me from buying a buying a Winchester repro is that they don't make them in .32-20, which is what I'm interested in.
 
If you want a shooter, Chiappa and Uberti make some nice repros. The Chiappas are sold by Taylors and Cimarron, the Ubertis are sold under their own name. Look at spending around $1,300.
 
I have the new Winchester in 357. It is a beautiful and well made gun. Extremely smooth and a nice trigger. I have not run any 38 special through it, but no issues so far with 357. I also have a Uberti (Cimarron) in 45 Colt. Both are very nice, but I would give the nod to the Winchester. You should be able to get the Winchester for around $1100. The Uberti runs a tad more around here.
 
Yep, I know, but not the long-range (30 inch barrel), which is what I want.'

Also, I've also seen too many reports of feeding issues with various Cimmarons here and on other boards. A friend of mine has one that just won't feed a whole magazine worth a damn.

Not sure I want to spend that much money and find out that I've got something that just won't feed.
 
Many feed problems with the replica 1860, 1866, & 1873 are due to reloads being too long. The length of the cartridge is critical. I had a Cimarron 1860 Henry and the only problem I ever had was when I tried shooting some reloads that had been reloaded by a friend. It turned out the bullets were not seated quite far enough and the cartridges were slightly too long and would not feed. I currently have a Cimarron 1873 deluxe sporting rifle in 45 colt and it shoots better than I can. I have never had any trouble with it. I like the Italian replicas because I like the case colored receivers and crescent butt plates. The current Winchester is all blue. It is nice though as I have had the chance to hold and inspect one. Miroku makes excellent firearms. I have a Browning 1886 carbine made by them and I love it.
 
Winchester does make the 1873 with a case colored receiver, and I believe a bit nicer wood for a higher price. I believe it was a shot show special for this year. They will also be chambering the gun in 44-40 next.
 
Miroku made Winchester 1873

Bud's had one for sale about 5 minutes ago when I checked.....about 2 seconds later it was sold ! :eek:
 
I saw a nice condition original 1873 Winchester at Cabela's in Scarborough Maine 2 days ago... only $800.00. Not a bad deal!
 
I just finished restoring/rebuilding an 1873 in 32-20 and put about 1200 in it. I don't have picture yet but will be coming soon. There are good parts out there to make a good original shooter but it takes time and money.
 
The Uberti replica '73 is the top rifle in cowboy action shooting. Lots of lots of them out there. With the Uberti you get lots of options in calibers, configurations, etc. The downside? They are not exactly cheap and a brand new rifle needs some work (see dollar signs) before it is match-ready.

Lot of cowboy shooters are keeping an eye on the Miroku-made Winchester 1873 that was just announced. Seems like the "street price" of those rifles is pretty close to the Ubertis. Early reports suggest that it is well made but, again, it needs action work before you can make a competition rifle out of it. If you have other purposes in mind, it may be suitable as-is.

The downside of the Winchester is that you have little choice in caliber (they are all .357s), barrel length, finish, etc. I am told that a .44-40 will be introduced in the Fall but I don't know if it will be another round barrel carbine or something else.
 
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FWIW, there are NO leverguns made by Winchester today (2013) - they're all made by Miroku Gun Works (Japan), and branded "Winchester", just like Miroku leverguns were once branded "Browning".

That said, the carftmanship exhibited by Miroku is far superior than anything that came out of New Haven, excepting the Winchester Custom Shop.



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I got an original Model 1873 two years ago for $1200. It is in good condition with some wood dings, and the barrel is not very good, but overall it's OK. That one is in .32-20; had it been in .44-40, it would have been at least $2000 in the same condition.

Jim
 
The last really decent condition 1873 I saw was about 10 years ago, and in .32-20.

The barrel was surprisingly crisp.

And the price was surprisingly low, I thought, $1,100.
 
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