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Talk about a fun gun to shoot. Other than the rifle is very heavy with the round bbl., small 22 caliber bore, and the pointy crescent buttplate( I prefer the shotgun type), my new to me M1873 in 22 short is a kick to shoot. Now that Turnbull repaired it, it runs flawlessly with any 22 short ammo. The CB type is quite accurate and sounds like a silenced pellet gun. Very expensive undertaking. Most I have ever paid for a 22 rifle, but when you are trying for at least one of every model, you have to have one. Someday, maybe, I may buy one with the octagon bbl. but this one will do for now. BTW, the rifle is 128 years old. Big Larry
Great looking example! Thanks for the range report.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
I heard the 22 was mostly made for kids but you needed some strong kids to carry them around but back then kids actually worked and had muscles not like today’s kids that only get calluses on their thumbs.
Bob
1873man said
I heard the 22 was mostly made for kids but you needed some strong kids to carry them around but back then kids actually worked and had muscles not like today’s kids that only get calluses on their thumbs.Bob
Seems to me the cost as much as the weight would limit its use by kids, though the price of ’73s declined sharply as newer models were introduced. Even so, they would have been expensive compared to “boy’s rifles” of the period. I can more easily imagine them being bought by well-off men who owned other guns for hunting, but just wanted a plinker to play around with.
1873man said
I heard the 22 was mostly made for kids but you needed some strong kids to carry them around but back then kids actually worked and had muscles not like today’s kids that only get calluses on their thumbs.Bob
Ha Ha Ha, and that is most certainly the truth. I guess I am luckier than most. My Stepson was a Border Patrol Pilot Supervisor and all my Grand-kids and Great Grand-kids all have guns and know how to use them properly. My first born Grandson lives with me now and he is a pretty good shot. We go out shooting often. He does not have calloused thumbs. Maybe one on his trigger finger.
Most certainly, the M1873 22 was not a boys rifle. It was the first repeating 22 offered by Winchester. I reiterate, that this rifle is more fun to shoot than any of my 75 or so 22’s. Big Larry
November 7, 2015
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Nice range report! If I was lucky enough to have a gun like that I’d hunt down my bullet trap and do a bit of indoor shooting. I never liked using it at home with 22lr because of the mess (and smoke alarm 
) but the CB rounds would probably be different.
I haven’t seen CB ammo, any trouble finding it these days?
Big Larry said
Most certainly, the M1873 22 was not a boys rifle. It was the first repeating 22 offered by Winchester…
Wonder what happened to sales after the M.’90 came along? (Or, the M. ’91 Marlin?)
clarence said
Big Larry said
Most certainly, the M1873 22 was not a boys rifle. It was the first repeating 22 offered by Winchester…Wonder what happened to sales after the M.’90 came along? (Or, the M. ’91 Marlin?)
Must have had a significant impact because they did not introduce another .22 lever action for 99 years…….
Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
1873man said
The 22 started 1883 and ended in 1903 with a few more after that.Bob
Ok, 69 years.
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
JWA said
Ok, 69 years.
69 yrs to sell off the last one remaining in inventory doesn’t mean 69 yrs in production. I distinctly remember my feeling of surprise & disappointment the first time I requested a factory letter on a ’73, a beat-up .32-20 my father had scrounged up somewhere, and found to my dismay that my Old West “antique” (a relic of cattle-drives or Indian fights, I had imagined) dated only to the era of motorcars & aeroplanes! (That letter, incidentally, signed by Curator Tom Hall and followed later by several others, cost me nothing.)
Were ’73s sold after introduction of the ’92 mainly assembled from parts in inventory? Doesn’t seem to me to make good economic sense for any factory to devote manufacturing time & materials to a superseded old product at the same time a much improved new product was being manufactured.
The 73 was made up to 1933 for serial number 720610, serial 720600 was 1929 and serial 720,000 was 1919 according to the DOM from this site which uses the polishing room records.
Bob
1873man said
The 73 was made up to 1933 for serial number 720610, serial 720600 was 1929 and serial 720,000 was 1919 according to the DOM from this site which uses the polishing room records.Bob
But does “made” mean assembled from old stock parts inventory, or newly forged & machined parts?
Clarence,
I probably should of not used the term “made” but that is the date the serial number would of put on the receiver and the gun was assembled some time after that. I would assume that the receivers were new at the time.
Bob
clarence said
69 yrs to sell off the last one remaining in inventory doesn’t mean 69 yrs in production. I distinctly remember my feeling of surprise & disappointment the first time I requested a factory letter on a ’73, a beat-up .32-20 my father had scrounged up somewhere, and found to my dismay that my Old West “antique” (a relic of cattle-drives or Indian fights, I had imagined) dated only to the era of motorcars & aeroplanes! (That letter, incidentally, signed by Curator Tom Hall and followed later by several others, cost me nothing.)
Were ’73s sold after introduction of the ’92 mainly assembled from parts in inventory? Doesn’t seem to me to make good economic sense for any factory to devote manufacturing time & materials to a superseded old product at the same time a much improved new product was being manufactured.
I too remember when letters were free. Then they started post cards and finally started to charge for this service. I also remember Mr. Tom Hall too. I don’t have any of my old letters as I quit collecting Winchesters and got into US Militaria. Sold off all my old Winchesters with the exception of a 1907 vintage M1890 that was given to me as a gift. Still have that one. As a poor grocery clerk, I could not buy high $$$ rifles, but I did have one of every model lever rifle, except the M1901 shotgun, and all the calibers of the M1894, and most of the 22’s. Some of these rifles would today be considered rare. I once had a lettered Lee Sporter Carbine with a 20″ bbl. Uncatalogued, never seen or heard of another. In the 60’s, Winchesters were abundant. Not cheap either. Sorry, I got off track on this post. Big Larry
Big Larry said
I too remember when letters were free. Then they started post cards and finally started to charge for this service. I also remember Mr. Tom Hall too.
What I recall is that a post card would be sent unless you specifically requested a letter, but if you did that was free too. If there was ever a charge while the records were in New Haven, it was trivial compared to the cost imposed after they were transferred to Cody.
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