1873 Winchester Forend What Caliber does it fit?

Gunswapper

I have an original walnut forend for a Winchester 1873 lever action rifle. It measures about 9 1/2 inches long. It is for an octagonal Barrel. The barrel flats would be about 0.448 inches wide, the barrel itself would measure about 0.808 inches wide, and the hole for the magazine tube measures about 0.658 inches in diameter. From these measurements can anyone tell me what caliber(s) this fits? Also, I have been told this will fit the Winchester 1892 rifle. Does anyone know if this is true? All help will be appreciated.

truthful

There is some taper to an octagon barrel. I just measured a .32WCF Model 73 and it measures 0.880 inch diameter where the octagons butt up to the receiver. Your 0.808 diameter occurs about 2-inches beyond the forend cap.

Gunswapper

So what caliber do you think it is? My measurements are taken from the forend and could vary. Thanks!

TRAP55

I'm not sure from the pics, but it looks like a round barrel forearm? They came in three sizes, one for the .38/40, & .44/40, another for the 32/20, and another for the .22RF. I know the larger caliber mag tube is about .645 OD. If it's bigger, it might be for a Model 1876.

Gunswapper

Closer inspection shows this is indeed for a round barrel. And I think the tube hole matches the 38/40-44-40 caliber. Thanks Trap55 for your input.

1873man

A standard 73 forearm would be 9 5/8" long and when installed would have 9 3/8" of exposed wood when installed. Your forearm cap end looks to have deeper inletting than a 73 forearm cap. A 73 cap end would have .170" of inletting. The .658" mag tube hole is just about right for a 22, 38 or 44 mag tube. You didn't say which end the .808" measurement was taken from but the barrel dimensions varied quite a bit with the Winchesters.

Bob