Bought an antique1873 Winchester.

My first thought is to clean and lube it, find some ammo and shoot it. That crown may need to be addressed to hit a 50 yd target. Enjoy it for what it is. I wouldn't spend much more money on it.

That is pretty neat.

What cartridge does it fire?

32 - 20 this one.
The 1873 is one of the most beautiful firearms of all times.

There's definitely a rat-rod vibe. I've seen far worse finishes on otherwise fully-functional rifles.

Careful removal of the wood is a good idea on rifles of this age, to check for pitting under the stock. Deep pitting could DQ the barrel for shooting, but my gut says you should be OK.

Taking the forend off of this sort of rifle is non-trivial so do your homework on YouTube etc. first before attempting. If you know a willing and reliable gunsmith, it's the kind of job I'd leave to a pro if I could.

Mark Novak at Anvil is a good resource for old gun maintenance:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM86hA7E1y3vOJuzdqCXh1Q

Maybe start with some action dummies and see whether the feed mechanism is fully functional before making any other decisions?
https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-Revolver-Snap-Caps-Winchester/dp/B0053WU4YC

If you decide to try shooting it, try a few single-loaded target hollow-base wadcutter handloads at modest velocities. They'll be too short to feed through the magazine, but tend to stabilize through even the roughest bores.

The muzzle would benefit from a light chamfering at some point, but I'd wait. I'm generally in the leave it as is camp these days.

Where's its twin? I would drop $600 in a heartbeat for it if it is as good as it looks.

might be worth finding a winchester gunsmith to go over it and do a bit of refirb on it, clean it inside and out. I bet a lot of that uneven looking metal will smooth out after many cleanings, or some strategic use of 0000 steel wool, will really clean that up and the finish will deepen down and smooth out a bit. take the wood off it and hose the metal with CLP and just let it soften up whatever might be in there for goo/varnish etc. let it drip out and use a brass brush or whatever, and spray the excess out with canned air. you'll probably have to stretch the mag spring out by hand or replace. I've done a couple old winchesters and I just by hand, stretch that mag spring out a bit more, clean out the tube with a rod/patch. heat the wood up at the grip and see if oil comes out of it. Look for anywhere oil could have soaked into the wood, and heating it with a blow dryer will get most of it to seep out the end of the grain. eventually, the oil will cause the wood to split or chip. clean and put a coat of ren wax on the wood, completely seal it, if you are sure there is not oil in there. I have a 49 winchester 62a, and every year I heat up the wood and a touch of oil rises to the surface. There's a bit of a bulge there, and over time, I just want that oil out of there and then I'll wax that part it too. I also store them barrel facing down, so - oil in the action does not run down into the stock, eventually oil sitting on the wood will soak in and cause problems, probably the root of a lot of old stocks getting cracked is my guess. very cool old winchester you have there, probably about the coolest model, and a real old one to boot. you got a good deal IMHO.

just an out of the box idea. that firearm is still made, so - I wonder if you could just have someone drop a new barrel on it for cheap, then you have no worries about shooting the barrel, and just keep the original one stored well, if you ever want to sell it.

I like the old timer. Like others said shoot it. It may surprise you. My Mosin the bore is rough. And it shoots fine.

CoalCrackerAl said:

I like the old timer. Like others said shoot it. It may surprise you. My Mosin the bore is rough. And it shoots fine.

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Same with a couple of my muzzleloaders that previous owners 'forgot' to clean. The bores are pitted and look terrible but they still shoot with decent accuracy.

Glad you got it! Only the last few inches of barrel really matter for accuracy. I see plenty of rifling left. Chamfer the crown, lube up the action, and test function with dummy rounds. Then let 'er rip!

My 1890 mfg '73 dust cover does not cycle with the lever. If it is closed though, the first lever throw should slide the cover back.

Cool rifle!

I suspect that barrel will clean-up to provide very serviceable accuracy. You may have to play with different bullets (including coated or plated) to find one it likes.

Good buy for $600.

BigBlue 94 said:

My 1890 mfg '73 dust cover does not cycle with the lever. If it is closed though, the first lever throw should slide the cover back.

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My 1890 vintage 1873 (32-20) and Miroku Winchester 1873 (357 Magnum) also only opens the dust shield if closed when cycling the action. The shooter must manually close the cover if he wants it closed.

I recently sold a '73 made in 1889 in .38-40. It didn't have near as good rifling as yours appears to have, but still shot fine, no keyholing. I reloaded for it, factory ammo prices are crazy, got nicely lubed projectiles from Missouri Bullets

The side plates just unscrew off, nothing will fall out. The inside action parts, the toggles, are also easily removable for cleaning and lubrication. Same for the brass riser, it's a pretty simple action.

I was always amazed at how thin and delicate looking the actual bolt is. As mentioned, the dust cover stays closed until the action is worked, then it is opened, but stays opened until manually closed.

Good luck with your new gun!

silicosys4 said:

Do your dust covers have any play when closed? This one flops around quit a bit when closed and I'm thinking I need to look for a retention spring or something that needs replacement

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On my original 1873, the end of dust cover at the breech does move back and forth a bit, maybe 1/32-1/16 of an inch. It does not move on its own but easily moves when I move it with a finger or thumb.

The dust cover on the Miroku 1873 has no play in it.

Looking at a parts diagram of an 1873, when the dust cover is closed, only a small part of it engages the guide rails. Over the years of use, I could see that area would get more wear and loosen the fit of the dust cover. One would need to disassemble the dust cover to discover the exact reason.

i hunt my 1873 in 38-40, no deer yet, but i have with my 92 winchester in 38-40 and md 53 in 44-40. a cast lead bullet at 1300 fps thru the lungs broadside out to 100 yards kills them.

@silicosys4
I used to shoot a lot of Cowboy Action and there were quite a few good ‘smiths out there that worked on 1973s.

Here is a list of Cowboy Gunsmiths from the SASS Wire. I am sure making a few calls will get you directed to someone that can help you.
https://forums.sassnet.com/index.php?/topic/327626-cowboy-gunsmiths/

This thread I linked is from this year.

Good luck and I hope you find someone to get your ‘73 running nice.

Mine was made in 1886 (chambered in 32/20 as well) and it’s about equal to yours in condition (the bore on mine is much worse) and it shoots fine.





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If you handload for the 32/20 it should be fairly easy to get it to shoot decent groups.