Neo-Luddite
Member
Has anyone had a go with the new .357/.38 Winchester '73? If so, is it worth the premium price they are asking? Thanks in advance-
Mike (N.L.)
Mike (N.L.)
New Winchester 1873?
- Thread starter Neo-Luddite
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Yes, & No.
I have no actual experience with the new 1873.
However I do have experience with the Japan Winchester & Browning 1892 lever-actions.
If you want the brand name of a real Winchester?
And you want a better made, stronger, & better finished Winchester 1873 rifle then the real ones of old?
Worth every Penney!
If you want a sort-of Winchester 73 shooter / beater clone, and don't care about the name or quality?
Buy an Italian Uberti 73 for 3/4 the price.
rc
I have no actual experience with the new 1873.
However I do have experience with the Japan Winchester & Browning 1892 lever-actions.
If you want the brand name of a real Winchester?
And you want a better made, stronger, & better finished Winchester 1873 rifle then the real ones of old?
Worth every Penney!
If you want a sort-of Winchester 73 shooter / beater clone, and don't care about the name or quality?
Buy an Italian Uberti 73 for 3/4 the price.
rc
Jim Watson
Member
Please advise source of Uberti for half the price of Miroku.
The best I can find is a couple of hundred bucks less for Italian. Which is not a lot when you are up over a grand on the low side.
The best I can find is a couple of hundred bucks less for Italian. Which is not a lot when you are up over a grand on the low side.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I said 3/4.
Maybe I was to conservative??
Who knows?
I don't spend a whole lot of time keeping track of Uberti prices.
rc
Maybe I was to conservative??
Who knows?
I don't spend a whole lot of time keeping track of Uberti prices.
rc
Jim Watson
Member
I am pretty much out of CAS but my last recollection was that the hotshots used tricked out Ubertis. I wonder if the Miroku is making any inroads.
peacemaker45
Member
Everyone wants to try one, but Winchester, in their wisdom, aren't producing any spare parts until sometime next year. This has everyone being very careful with them. When you combine that with the fact that no one really makes go-fast parts that fit them yet, it's sort of a waiting game.
peacemaker45
Member
Oh, and they're only available in 20"round barrel, .357 so far. I want an octagon, and would prefer a 24", other people want other calibers or other configs. For some reason, Winchester doesn't do that. They make a version for a while, then quit and make something else for a while.
vaupet
Member
I don't know about the 1873, but my miroku made 1892's are some of the best finished levers i have ever seen or handled
greetz
Peter
greetz
Peter
Don McDowell
Member
No direct experience with that Winchester 73, but all the reports from folks that have got ahold of one are good.
The street price on those are either the same or a bit cheaper than the Uberti built copies.
The Winchester roll mark on the barrel and proof marks, makes the gun worth more to most folks.
The street price on those are either the same or a bit cheaper than the Uberti built copies.
The Winchester roll mark on the barrel and proof marks, makes the gun worth more to most folks.
OP
OP
Neo-Luddite
Member
Thanks for the imput. The niche this gun would fill would be a 'plinker' to pair with the .38's / .357's we have~a rifle that my wife and kids (girls 8 & 10) could easily handle. Maybe a path to CAS down the road. I'll need to maybe look into a lower-middle end clone. Had NOT considered parts issues later on; that's a serious potential problem.
Don McDowell
Member
There is no "lower-middle end clone". There's either the Uberti's or these new made Winchesters.
Parts would not be an issue in the future, any available part could be fitted into the rifle by a gunsmith. Gun parts changer might be a little befuddled...
Parts would not be an issue in the future, any available part could be fitted into the rifle by a gunsmith. Gun parts changer might be a little befuddled...
Jim Watson
Member
Spare parts and guarantees are overrated.
Unless you are a competitor hammering many practice and match rounds through one at warp speed, it ought to last as long as a real Winchester. And those, if not neglected, are plenty serviceable.
Unless you are a competitor hammering many practice and match rounds through one at warp speed, it ought to last as long as a real Winchester. And those, if not neglected, are plenty serviceable.
peacemaker45
Member
Maybe, but who's a bigger market for an expensive, high quality example of an inferior design than cowboy shooters? Pretty much everyone I know would love to have a 73 with better metallurgy than the Italian guns. But a gun that you're afraid to push hard, because of you break a bit, you'll have a $1500 paperweight for a year, or one that can't be tuned like an Uberti, because the smith is too afraid of ruining an irreplaceable part through going a bit too far, isn't a lot of help.
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Crunchy Frog
Member
At least one of the aftermarket companies has developed a short stroke kit (and I think a lightened carrier) for the Winchester/Miroku '73.
Supposedly a .44-40 version will be introduced in the Fall.
The reviews I have seen suggest that the rifle is a little slicker out of the box than a Uberti, which means that it might be good to go for hunting, plinking and general range work. That sounds nice. I purchased a used (stock) Uberti '66 for my wife and it was very stiff.
Supposedly a .44-40 version will be introduced in the Fall.
The reviews I have seen suggest that the rifle is a little slicker out of the box than a Uberti, which means that it might be good to go for hunting, plinking and general range work. That sounds nice. I purchased a used (stock) Uberti '66 for my wife and it was very stiff.
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