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Hi All, I was just given a Winchester 1873 rifle in 22 cal short. Overall the rifle is in good shape except for the barrel which is trash. I’m not to up on the 22 short round and was wondering if it is possible to change caliber to something larger? I’m not sure what all this would involve but I’m sure the barrel would have to be changed or bored out and relined and change of ‘stuff’ in the receiver, just not sure how much ‘stuff’. Any thoughts on if this is possible or not? Thanks
May 2, 2009
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Gil,
To change to any other caliber than 22 would require replacing parts. Off the top of my head I would say you need a bolt, firing pin assemble, left toggle, right side plate, elevator, magazine spring, follower and tube plug besides the replacing the barrel or having it relined to 38 caliber. The 22 was built off the 38 frame so you couldn’t goto 32 or 44 caliber. You can change from 22 short to 22 long without any parts or with some modification you could run 22 LR through it. If you do modify the gun you will kill the collectable value of the gun. 73 22’s are known for poor bores because they lacked a cleaning rod and collectors don’t hold the bore condition against it as much as the larger calibers so I would hesitate modifying it unless the whole gun is in real poor condition. If you post some picture of it I could tell what you have.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Thanks for your response Bob. I guess I should find out what type of value if any that my gun has before I go and start altering it. I’m not sure if all the parts are original, but they all have the same brownish finish. I will add some pictures and see if you can tell me something about it. I was concerned about the butt stock as it is straight and not curved, not sure if it is original. Also, the dust cover has been scratched sometime in the past by someone trying to remove the screw.[Image Can Not Be Found]OK, the pictures failed. Any hints on how to add photos? Gil
May 2, 2009
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As a guest you have to upload the photos to a 3rd party picture hosting site like photobucket.com then you put the link to them in the post or you can email them to me.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
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