Winchester is reintroducing the Model 1873 Lever Rifle !

V

valleyforge.1777

New member
From time to time I browse through the Winchester web site, so if something is posted on there, like a new rifle they are selling, I might not see it for a while. So, I apologize if others are well aware of this...but...

I was looking at the site today and I saw that they listed under "New Products" that Winchester is now making a model 1873 "short rifle", 20 inch barrel in 357 Magnum caliber. It is nicely blued and looks absolutely beautiful! Can not wait to get my hands on one. The rifle that won the West! And now, once again it can be had as a GENUINE Winchester, too!

http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/detail.asp?mid=534200&family=027C
 
One wonders if it's just an Italian gun with Winchester's name on it, or if they are actually going to have it made to the original (non-metric) specs in Japan.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
 
I don't know if it has the rebounding hammer, or not, but I don't see a safety in the pictures at all.

Anyway, my life is too short to worry about what a manufacturer has to do to deal with liability, real or imagined, in the modern age. I don't regret that they are re-introducing this rifle and I don't care about "lawyered up" and what not. It is a genuine Winchester, not a copy of a copy, and THAT is what I do care about. Some folks can belly ache about how the manufacturers put safety devices on the rifles, or rebounding hammers or whatever. Feel free to bemoan the modern world, but my suggestion is that if you want to change things, do your complaining at the ballot box. And, just in case you did not know this, the "modern" system of torts and legal liability comes from English Common Law which dates to the 1200's. So, get used to it. It's been around longer than you have, and it will be here longer than you will be.
 
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It'll have some sort of "safety" added somewhere, trust me. :)
And being made in Japan by Miroku doesn't make it a "genuine" Winchester just because they stamp it that way. :)
Denis
 
That's true, Denis. But... being made by Miroku should result in a rifle that is of higher quality, with better fit and finish, than the last decade or more of half-baked rifles Wincheapster put out before dying.
 
Absolutely & I wasn't advising against buying it.
It'll be high quality, well made, and modified. :)
It won't use parts from anything that came previously.
Just saying don't expect a line for line replica of the original Winchester 73.
Denis
 
One wonders if it's just an Italian gun with Winchester's name on it, or if they are actually going to have it made to the original (non-metric) specs in Japan.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, from an article I recently read, these don't have any additional safety, and they're made in Japan. They are also supposed to be of supreme quality.

Despite that, I simply can't buy a Winchester with "Made in Japan" stamped on the barrel. I know... that will leave more for the rest of you. So be it. I'm not against firearms made in other countries (Beretta, Glock, etc.). But, not a Winchester. Just can't do that. I'm hoping that someday they start making them in South Carolina, like the Model 70s.
 
You don't tend to see the complete internal design changes listed in many articles on the Miroku Winchesters.
Few know about the changes to the 92 actions, for instance.
Denis
 
It is and will be made in Miroku , Japan ( it is stamped right on the barrel near the receiver on one of the close up pictures on the Winchester website ) and it looks like the tang safety will not be included on this model !
 
If the tang's drilled & tapped for a sight, there wouldn't be a sliding safety there.
It'll have some safety "updates", trust me. :)
Denis
 
It has a "firing pin/striker block" and it looks like it has a rebounding hammer. Basically, it comes down to weather you want an Italian (Uberti) copy of an 1873, or a Japanese ("winchester") copy. I have three "miroku-chesters" (1886 short rifle, and two 1895s) and they are fantastic. I love them. But they are just Japanese copies of the original Winchesters. For my money, I will stick with my more historically accurate Uberti 1873. If you just want one that has "WINCHESTER" stamped on the barrel, buy one. It will likely be a well made rifle and you will probably love it, but I wouldn't say it's a "real" Winchester. The barrel will also be stamped "Made in Japan by Miroku".
http://www.winchesterguns.com/library/articles/detail.asp?id=459
 
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Goofy pictures . . . :rolleyes:

You would think the folks at Winchester/Browning/FN (a firearms company) would at least get some gun guys to look over thier photos before they turn them over to the web geeks.

Sheesh!

Operating a lever action with 4 fingers in the loop? The bolt is opening, but the bolt is not touching the hammer, which is at half-cock? Who took those pics?

And "oil finish"? It is most likely a sprayed-on poly finish.
 
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