Winchester Collector - Forum: General Discussions & Questions

Bert H. on The Beginning Of The Browning/Winchester Relationship

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:00:05 +0000

What group ??

Shrapnel on The Beginning Of The Browning/Winchester Relationship

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:06:41 +0000

Few people have ever seen a Browning model 1878 and fewer people own one.

While I was in Cody last July, I found this remarkable Model 1878 and bought it! It is what brought Thomas Bennet out to Ogden, Utah to the Browning Brothers shop to secure the rights to produce the rifle, which would become the Winchester Model 1885.

It is rare enough to find a real Browning Brothers gun, but to also have a heavy barrel, cleaning rod and double set triggers, this one really stands alone!

It is marked 40-70 which shoulf probably be 40-70 Sharps Staight, but through trial and error, I found that it is chambered 40-90 Sharps Bottleneck.

I took it to the range and with some .408 265 grain greese grooved gas checked bullets, I was able to get this group with open sights at 50 yards.

It will be killing something thiss fall...

1873man on GUNBROKER

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:54:37 +0000

Some web sites wouldn't let you on if your running an AD blocker program.

Bob

James W on GUNBROKER

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:05:33 +0000

I have four ways to get on the internet with different computers, phone and tablet. I think just on my tablet- sometimes Gunbroker bans me for some reason. I think Gunbroker senses some computer addresses and just bans them for the heck of it. Sometimes I delete all of my search data to clean up my space and they let me back on again.

Anthony on Distorted M-1873

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:47:33 +0000

1873man said
I paid for the rush delivery to Gun List and it was published in Wisconsin so I figure I would get it first but I would call on a gun the day I got it, the seller said "I sold it yesterday"
Bob

HAHAHA!

Bob,

I'm not laughing at you, but at myself, because years ago, I thought, "If I would pay the extra for it, maybe I could get a shot at some of these I kept missing on"! LOL! You weren't alone in you're thinking, and I am a couple states south of you.

Tony

James W on Post Cody Observation....

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:57:45 +0000

I was at that show in Wilmington where they had that discharge. According to the time they said it happened, I had just left to go home about 10 minutes before it happened. About 35 years ago I was at a Bill Goodman's show in Dayton, Ohio and a woman put a .25 caliber round in a little automatic and fired it off. She told the police afterward, she was trying to figure out how the gun worked. There was a guy sitting across the room at a table with his chair tilted back against the wall and the bullet went into the wall about 2 feet over his head. He told me that was the second gun show he had been to where someone discharged a gun and a bullet went into the wall close to where he was sitting.

1873man on Distorted M-1873

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:24:54 +0000

I paid for the rush delivery to Gun List and it was published in Wisconsin so I figure I would get it first but I would call on a gun the day I got it, the seller said "I sold it yesterday"

Bob

steve004 on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 23:55:14 +0000

TR said
Go back 30 plus years, before the internet when you bought a gun sight unseen from just a description in Gun List or Shotgun News. That description would have lead to a huge disappointment when you opened the box. The pictures in this case show the buyer what the description does not.
Every gun has value and in this case not much. T/R

And the descriptions were often not much given you paid per word.

And remember when the shotgun news was around $20 or $25 per year but you could pay a couple hundred extra per year and they sent it out a few days earlier?

TR on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 23:09:49 +0000

Go back 30 plus years, before the internet when you bought a gun sight unseen from just a description in Gun List or Shotgun News. That description would have lead to a huge disappointment when you opened the box. The pictures in this case show the buyer what the description does not.

Every gun has value and in this case not much. T/R

TXGunNut on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 22:31:14 +0000

Appears to be another case of taking a Winchester with character but very little condition and after no small amount of effort with a buffing wheel and sandpaper transforming it into something no serious collector will be interested in. Might work as a wall hanger as long as the lighting isn't so good.

Mike

steve004 on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:37:42 +0000

From a distance, it really doesn't look too bad. Quite a distance.

Maverick on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:24:06 +0000

A very bad re=blue job on that one with a replacement dust cover and rear sight. Bad attempt at artificially aging it as well.

Its now worthless in my opinion. I suppose you could salvage the interior parts. I doubt it will even make a good shooter.

Anthony on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:37:00 +0000

Henry Mero said
It has been sanded so bad the cal. stamp has dissappeared, it may be a 38 or????, definetly a bigger hole than a .33

1873man said
Caliber stamp polished so far he could not read it anymore. The 3 and 8 are very similar and can be confused.
Bob

I knew that you two gents, along with a few others, would pick up on the large hole in the muzzle as pic # 21 shows, and the caliber stamp, polished off so bad, the Lister not knowing much about the M-1873, assumed it's in the .33 caliber, which it plainly is not!

Tony

1873man on Distorted M-1873

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Caliber stamp polished so far he could not read it anymore. The 3 and 8 are very similar and can be confused.

Bob

Zebulon on GUNBROKER

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:56:10 +0000

When it comes to communication problems among computers, I'm never inclined to disregard demonic possession. I have had equal luck with technicians and exorcists.