Yard sale old Winchester Help Pictures

beltfed

Hello Ya'll

Was out yard sailing talking to this guy and he pulls this winchester out. 1873, if I am correct. It is stamped 44 cal on the bottom brass piece. The barrel is 24 inches long. The serial number is 2482xxB. The bore is really good maybe a couple small pitts. Am I wrong to assume its a 44-40 cal? Also, can someone please ball park me to what it might be worth in this condition? Also up near the the rear sight there are a couple of proof marks and the number 420.



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Hawk Carse

The illustrated rifle is indeed an 1873 Winchester, caliber .44 WCF = .44-40.

Pro:
It is all there - a lot of them have lost their dust covers and sight elevators over the years.
It has a round barrel, which was less expensive than octagon but is less common. Apparently most customers thought the appearance and balance of the octagon was worth the price. I don't know how that affects current interest and value, though. Probably not much.

Con:
No finish and a good deal of rust.

I won't guess a dollar value; there are a lot of these old brown guns going begging at what sellers think they are worth because they apparently can read only the left hand column in Blue Book.

perry shooter

nice old gun . If you get some Kroil wrap gun in paper towels and wet the towels with Kroil then saran wrap the whole thing and let set for two or more days. Then scrub with Burlap bag DO NOT UsE STEEL WOOL OR ANY KIND OF SAND PAPER. Then wipe down and use Ballistol to protect both wood and metal the gun will look a lot better. It still will not be a mint gun by any means but will be much improved looking.

tsr1965

Hello beltfed,

Very nice find. Hope you were able to acquire that for a song and dance. I would love to see some close up pictures of the markings on the rifle, with your camera in the Macro mode. It looks like a true and honestly used old 1873. Like Hawk, and Perry suggested, it is no where near any high condition. If it has a decent bore, and yeilds to be a good shooter, that is awesome, as it is not a collector piece. I am sure that Bert will be along to give his insight as well.

Best

wpage

Clean it up. May be possibilities.

Grasshopper

I like that rifle,,,I don't care if it is brown,,,[:)],,that rifle has many stories...

nyforester

Wow - Thats a 1st place trophy !

Bert H.

Take the wood off of it, soak everything else in Kroil, and then very gently take all of the rust off with some fine copper wool wetted with Kroil. Go slow, and wipe it clean often while cleaning it. Reapply fresh Kroil frequently.

Spider7115

Bert - How common was the "shotgun butt" on the Model 1873?

Bert H.

quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
Bert - How common was the "shotgun butt" on the Model 1873?


I do not have that information (yet). Based on what I see, they were not a common special order item on the Model 1873, and I suspect that maybe as few as 0.5% (one-half of a percent) may have been made.

Bergtreffer

Now THAT is a great yard sale find. [:)] Indeed, it is a Model-73 in .44-40 caliber. It needs to be cleaned up as best you can, without compromising markings and old age "patina". Too bad that I didn't find it first. [:(]

By today's standards I have a pretty close to virgin Model-73, .44-40 with a 26 inch octagonal barrel. My father (RIP) bought the rifle back in 1948 or 1949 for the princely sum of $300. Mother was supremely POed [:(!][:(!][:(!] at him for two weeks. The $300 was a ton of money back in those days. But dad new what he wanted and he just laid his ears back like a naughy dog and rode out the verbal abuse and lightening bolts until the storm blew over. It is a beautiful rile, and the butt stock has a certain amount of tiger stripes in it.