Difinitive reference for Win 1873?

Silver Star 5301

Hi , this is my first post, so this question may be somewhere in the forums, but..
I purchased an 1873 Winchester a couple years ago (manufactured 1890). I see a wide range in values on GunBroker auctions, so a person could easily get skinned up, or miss on a good deal. A local collector estate is gradually auctioning of decades of his collection and I dropped out early on a .32 caliber one.
I am aware that provenance plays a role, but aside from that, is there a good resource to refer to on these, and maybe the 1894 as well.

Thanks. I am a County Sheriff and my 1873 is proudly displayed in my office. We also have our Thompson from from the days that Dillinger hid our in our locale. That's a story for another day.

rufe-snow

The first book you should obtain is. "Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms", 9th Edition.. This is the bible, for collectors of old U.S. guns.
It has a extensive section Winchesters, including a very through bibliography.

Once you get your feet wet with Flayderman. Start going through the bibliography. Buying the specialized books, reflecting your specific interests.

perry shooter

we have a great source of model 1873 winchester right here BERT H is his user name contact him with an email or open another topic with BERT H PLEASE look at sticky as topic on top of this forum

nmyers

I think that you will find this discussion interesting:

http://forums.GunBroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=683332

I'm not a Winchester expert, but a few of our members are; that makes it a lot easier to determine if a given rifle is original, or .... something else. I would never buy an expensive Winchester without first posting high definition photos for opinions from the experts.

The more reference books you have, & the more guns you examine (either in your hands, or from hi def photos), you faster you will become one of the experts.

Neal

fordsix

are you the feller with the iron cage and the merobilia on display?

Bert H.

The reason that there is a wide range of values is because there are a wide range of varying factors that will affect the value; Caliber, variation, configuration, and the graded condition all being primary factors.

In regards to sources of reliable reference information, Norm Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Arms is woefully lacking in detail, and it is out of date. The RED BOOK of WINCHESTER Values, 4th edition is dedicated solely to collectable Winchester firearms, and is much more current in regards to values. You can find it here - http://winchestercollector.org/store/

1873man

The book that most Winchester collectors started with is "The Winchester Book" by George Madis. It covers many Winchester models and will give you some basic knowledge. If you want to get more detailed information on the 73's then you would want the "Winchester's New Model of 1873 a Tribute" By James Gordon. Its out of print and very spendy when you find a set. For the 94 the book to get is "Winchester Model 94 : A Century of Craftsmanship" by Renneberg. Here are some rules of thumb to go by for the value of Winchester lever action guns.

The bigger the bore the more its worth
A octagon barrel is worth more than a Round Barrel.
A rifle butt plate is more desirable than a shotgun butt.

Now in the 73's there are three models made, the rifle, the carbine and the musket. Given equal condition the carbine is worth the most then the rifle and then the musket. Then there are three manufacturing variations to the 73. The first model that went to about 30,000 then the second model up to about 90,000 and the third model to the end of production. Here again given equal condition the first model is worth the most followed by the 2nd and then 3rd.

As far as value, I would suggest the Red Book of Winchester Values like Bert said. The hardest part with putting a value on a gun is trying to determine the percentage of finish and determining if its real finish and the gun has not been messed with.

Bob

Silver Star 5301

quote:Originally posted by fordsix
are you the feller with the iron cage and the merobilia on display?


Not sure who that may be. One Sheriff has a display of sorts and wanted a empty Super Vel .38 box, which I provided him. That's Wayne County, up against the Ohio border.

I appreciate the responses. I will look into the recommended books and read the sticky, as suggested.

BTW, tomorrow I am holding our third firearms auction of old evidence. See no reason to cut them up as some places do. I think we will have raised about 20K so far this year, to fund firearms operations. Never have to ask for tax dollars for our firearms related needs.

oldWinchesterfan

1873man nailed the details. But always remember condition, original condition, almost always trumps everything else. The exceptions are guns with provenance or real rarities. An excellent standard rifle will be worth much more than a well used delux or refinished gun.