New Winchester (Miroku) for Christmas

[forward observer]

As posted in this thread, I mentioned that I had a new Winchester/Miroku 1873 sporting rifle in transit and that I would post some pictures when I could.

I purchased one of their short rifles earlier in the year, but at the time I was really drooling over the more classic 24 inch octagon barreled sporting rifle that had been announced as a 2014 Shot Show special.. According to the Winchester web site, they were only going to produce a limited run of 250 each of 44-40 and 357 mag. That’s not a lot for the world market, but from what I understand, they announce these limited runs and if they do well, they consider extending the run or making another even larger run.

I have been watching the auction sites to see if any came up, and I actually gave up looking several months ago. However, when I recently checked I saw 4 or 5 listed on Gunbroker.com. I really wanted the more historical 44-40 cal and finally snagged one the week before Christmas at the opening reserve price. Since I have been such a good boy this year, it was my Christmas present to myself. Luckily it arrived at my FFL guy on Christmas eve.


Here’s a shot of the new baby. The upper tang comes pre-drilled. so I stuck on a Marble's tang sight for show.


Next is a shot of both of the Miroku 1873's together with a few other antique Winchester collectables--the Winchester marked reloading tool and mold have 1870's patent dates while the Winchester screwdrivers are from the 1920's when the company was producing general hardware


I have put about 500 rounds through the short rifle to date--some .357 mag, but mostly .38 spl. both factory and reloads---it has handled all with out a hiccup. The wood on the short rifle is OK, but not great. It has a bit of a tiger stripe on the butt stock, but then the forearm is
much plainer, which really doesn't match.

However, the wood on the sporting rifle was advertised as grade II/III and I hit the jackpot. It's much darker with lot of figuring--plus fore and aft are a much better match. My poor photographic skills just don't do it justice. I can't wait for some warmer weather to take it to the range.

Cheers

 

[Valkman]

They are both beautiful, but the wood on the new one is awesome!

 

[eastbank]

i own and shoot all my older win lever action rifles, from 25-20,32-20,38-40,44-40 to 45-60. i use lead bullets and keep the pressure down. i have killed deer with two of my 44-40,s and one with my 45-60. in the smaller calibers i use unique. the 44-40 is very easy to load for and if you go slow you will not lose cases as some would have you believe. good looking rifles by the way. eastbank.

 

[bannockburn]

forward observer

Very nice! Money well spent given the limited number produced. Especially like the tang rear sight on the new rifle; great addition to a fine looking long gun. Along with the short rifle this is one awesome pair!

 

[forward observer]

Thanks for the kind words all.

Eastbank,

Reloads are all I have shot in 44-40 for some time now since I had several Uberti's in that caliber. Besides, factory ammo is scarce in my neck of the woods. You are correct that it helps to go a bit slow with reloading the thinner walled cartridges. Having a good crimp groove in the bullet seems critical also.

I also have an original 1873 in 38-40 and an old 1892 in 32-20. I just don't shoot them enough, to justify acquiring the dies. Maybe someday.

Too many rifles and not enough time--and money

Cheers

 

[eastbank]

i have shot jacketed bullets in the rifles,but i find lead bullets are more forgiving in the crimp phase of loading. if you have a tight throht jacketed 427-428 bullets don,t go good. eastbank.

 

[White Walker]

Beautiful rifles! I just discovered the advertising last night that Winchester has on these rifles.
How do you find the quality of these rifles?

 

[eastbank]

miroku also makes browning firearms and my browning shotguns have fired thousands and thousands of rounds with out a wimper. i am not afraid of the quality of the miruko made firearms. eastbank.

 

[BCRider]

You most certainly did hit the jackpot with both of those. What fine looking arms!

Oh, and Merry Christmas to YOU!

Will you be doing any of the cowboy slicking work to them? Perhaps not the whole enchilada to the point where the lever won't even stay up by itself. But perhaps just some modified choices to smoothen things up a bit?

 

[eastbank]

here is a winchester 1885 short hunter 45-70 limited series high wall with tang sight (401 made) sold by davidsons made by miroku in japan. this has been a very fine firearm and stronger than a original. i have four high walls and one low wall all made by miroku. eastbank.

 

[forward observer]

You most certainly did hit the jackpot with both of those. What fine looking arms!

Oh, and Merry Christmas to YOU!

Will you be doing any of the cowboy slicking work to them? Perhaps not the whole enchilada to the point where the lever won't even stay up by itself. But perhaps just some modified choices to smoothen things up a bit?

Thanks,

Presently, I an not involved with CAS although there is a club about 30 miles south of me that I plan to visit to see if I want to add another hobby.

However, I have to say that the Miroku 73's seem to run very well right out of the box---at least much slicker than any new Uberti I have ever handled. They just appear to be finished a step above the Uberti rifles both inside and out, so unless I was competing, I don't see an immediate need for much work.

Part of this may also have to do with the fact that the springs in the Miroku are just a bit lighter than the Uberti stock springs--especially the lever springs and the trigger/sear safety catch springs. Almost all of the Uberti's I've handled had such strong springs for the trigger block system that holding the lever tight against the tang for a shot can actually begin to become a strain. . The Miroku trigger block springs seem much better in that they are strong enough to work, but light enough to not stain the shooter during a long hold.

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that the Miroku comes from the factory with a 10 to 15 degree shorter stroke than either a Uberti or an original.

Check out the shot below of all the levers at full open. From front to back 1. Uberti, 2. Miroku, 3. Original produced in 1891. You can see the original and unaltered Uberti levers are parallel and quite a bit forward of the Miroku lever.


Pioneer Gunworks makes a replacement parts for the new Miroku's including a short stroke kit, but at $200 I don't see the need unless I do get into serious CAS competition.

However, there is one item that Pioneer makes that I do plan on ordering. You may or may not be aware that the Miroku's come with an additional and arguably unneeded lawyer safety system.

Unlike the rebounding hammers and obvious tang slide safeties they put on the model 86,92, and 95 lever guns, the 1873 has a hammer block safety built into the firing pin extension. It's unobtrusive and basically self working. See picture below


As you can see on the picture, the Miroku extension/cocking bolt now has an internal pin and a cam lever in a slot at the top of the extension, which are both under tension from a small coil spring inside the extension. The dark button at the rear of the extension is the end of the internal pin. Also peeking out from under the rear of the dust cover, you can just see the base of a lug that interacts with the cam lever.

The whole point of this Rube Goldberg affair is to prevent an accidental discharge if the hammer is bumped while resting on the extension with a round in the chamber.

The Miroku also has a standard half cock, which has been good enough on the originals for over 140 years.

However, I have already had a problem with this system on the short rifle. Some time back while wiping down the rifle with the lever open and the extension back, my rag snagged that little tab projecting out of the slot and pulled the lever up almost vertical. This dislodged the internal coil spring from its normal position. I could not close the action nor get the spring back in place though the narrow slot.

An intelligent and sane person would have sent it back to Winchester to fix, but those two adjectives simply don't apply to me. To correct it, I had to do a complete disassembly, remove the extension, then clamp it in a vice to drive out the internal bolt retaining pin with a punch, and then using a illuminated magnifier and tweezers--remount the tiny spring inside the shaft on the bottom of the cam lever. It was a total PITA to fix and probably took most of an evening to figure out and accomplish.

In looking at the parts offered by Pioneer, I saw that for $40 they sell a solid drop in firing pin extension that simply gets rid of this system. I intend to order one for each of my rifles post haste.

Sorry to go on so long, but I can't seem to stop once I start.

Cheers

 

[BCRider]

....An intelligent and sane person would have sent it back to Winchester to fix, but those two adjectives simply don't apply to me.....

It's a smart person that recognizes their own foibles....

If it's already slicker than sure, there's no need. Although I wasn't asking with the goal of using it in CAS in mind. Simply that when done up or when done to some extent to slick things up it simply makes the gun more fun to shoot. But if it's already there then that's a nice bonus.

And it looks even nicer in the close ups. I just love the random colours and patterns in colour case hardening. It makes the metal somehow seem more like it grew that way like wood grain instead of being the grey homogenous material we know it to be.

 

[OldBrownDog]

FO, that is a fine looking firearm. Very, very nice. Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy shooting that rifle for a long time to come.

Give us an update on the Pioneer firing pin extension, please. I'd be interested in putting one in my rifle to avoid the situation you got into.

 

[forward observer]

FO, that is a fine looking firearm. Very, very nice. Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy shooting that rifle for a long time to come.

Give us an update on the Pioneer firing pin extension, please. I'd be interested in putting one in my rifle to avoid the situation you got into.

Thanks and will comply on the replacement part. I am going to place the order by phone Monday just because I wanted ask a question or two before I did.

Cheers.

 

[forward observer]

I just thought I would update this thread as promised since I ordered, received and have installed the firing pin extension replacement on both of the Miroku 1873's.

This is a cut and paste of the procedure that I posted on another board, but I know of at least two posters here who have one of the new Miroku 1873 repops.

Here's the stock pin on left and the Pioneer Gunworks replacement on the right


One does not have to do a full breakdown to swap out the extension. You only have to remove the side plates and the toggle links.

One tip though, if your links still have tight tolerances, I have found that they come out and go back in easiest when fully retracted, i.e., with the lever fully extended. The hammer being fully cocked in the process takes most of the tension out too.


Next there is a small loose fit retaining pin in the breech block to push out, which releases the extension from the block.


Now all one has to do is fully depress the hammer back far as it will go and there is just enough wiggle room for the extension to slide over it and fully out of the receiver.

Reverse this process with the new extension. The firing pin is under spring tension, so when you butt the extension up against it in the breech block, you will have to push a bit to make sure the retention pin enters the forward notch in the extension


Reassemble and done. Including the cam lever, the internal pin, and spring plus two retaining pins--a total of five parts have been eliminated.



The only thing left from the safety system is a lug and it's retaining screw built in to the top of the receiver. It can only be seen when the dust cover is in the forward position. It's fairly unobtrusive and besides--removing it would leave a hole in the top of the receiver for dust and debris to enter.

I tested a couple of primed, but unloaded cartridges and got a nice even primer strike and ignition, so everything appears ready to go.

Cheers

 

[OldBrownDog]

Thank you, FO! Great write-up, and wonderful pictures.

 

[forward observer]

You're welcome!

Now, where do I send the bill for my gunsmithing consulting fee?:

This could be a great month. A guy here named Chain Smoker will also be sending me a huge finders fee on a nice original 1873 that I hooked him up with.

See post #81 in this usual repetitive weekly lever gun thread

Cheers