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August 11, 2015
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Happy Holidays to All,
I have an 1873 rifle sn: 304206B. It has a set trigger and the serial number check from the Cody Museum indicates it has a set trigger and a 32″ barrel.
The barrel on the gun measures 23″ and the magazine tube retaining band is right at 2 5/8″ back from the muzzle.
The gun is in very nice shape and the barrel does not look it was tampered with recently. Color of barrel and receiver are almost identical. It is a .38 WCF caliber and was just wondering what you think may have been going on here to get a feel for the gun value.
Have not had success downloading pictures. Just wondering if there is some simple explanation for this or not.
Regards,
Reduce your photo images to under 1 megabyte and they should upload just fine.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Online
I would be inclined to believe that the barrel and magazine tube have both been cut-down. The distance you mention from the muzzle to the mag tube retaining ring is too short. With the CFM letter stating that it was a 32″ barrel, I would believe that was the original configuration.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
A 32″ barrel would have had 2 magazine tube rings. If the barrel had about 9″ sawed off, the middle magazine tube ring would be pretty close to the location where your rifle’s magazine ring is currently located.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Unfortunately the simple explanation is your gun was cut down to lighten it up. A 32″ gun would be kind of heavy to hunt with so the easiest thing to do is cut the barrel and tube. I will check tonight where the rear band is placed on a 32″ gun.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
The middle magazine tube ring on a barrels over 30″ long was placed 10 7/8″ to 11″ back from the muzzle.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Wow wouldnt it be nice to have the 32′ barrel ?? With perfect bore too. Set trigger in 32 WCF .(38 ok too) I hope I can dream about that tonite (I dont dream about Women that much anymore)
Phil
Phil,
I have a post 1900 production high-wall in 38 WCF that was shipped with a Schuetzen DST and a 30″ No. 3 octagon barrel… it shoots fantastically out to 100-yards (Winchester globe front, mid-range vernier tang sight).
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert
That sounds real nice . I hope I wouldnt be ‘cheating’ on you if I dream of that too
Phil
I checked a couple 32″ guns I have and the center of rear band is 19 5/8″ from the bolt face. I measured as if I cut the barrel to 23″ and that puts the center of the band 3 3/8″ from the muzzle. Now PackerBacker is at 2 5/8″ which does not add up. Now I measured a 36″ and the rear band is farther down the barrel and if it was cut to 23″ it would be 1 9/16″ from the muzzle. At 2 5/8″ it might be about right for a 34″ gun. Another thing to check is measure the barrel at the muzzle if you have a micrometer. You didn’t say if the barrel was round or octagon, but the measurement would only be valid if it was octagon since that is the shape of the barrel I have to compare it to.
Phil, You can print this out and put it under your pillow
. Its a 32 WCF with a set trigger.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
No fair! Phil is getting all the Sweet Dreams!
I haven’t measured Great Grandpa’s ’73, but I know it is nowhere close to the 36-23-34 that 1873man listed.
Bob
Wow ! im going to quit trying to post pics and convince you guys to post more
Phil
August 11, 2015
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I thought about the barrel diameter as well, just forgot to put in post. Am kind of new at this and usually forget to include all the back up necessary in my first posts.
Anyway, looked at the barrel, it is octagon as per the Cody serial number check report, and the funny thing is that the diameter is 23/32″ at the muzzle, or at least as close as I can measure with a ruler. I am pretty sure that is the correct diameter as per the The Winchester book.
That would make me think that the barrel was made to that length or is it that there is no taper in the .38 WF barrel?
Regards,
Are you measuring the barrel length correctly? Did you include the portion of the barrel (the shank) that is threaded into the receiver frame? Measure from the rear edge of the frame ring to the muzzle face… what is the length?
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
PackerBacker said
I thought about the barrel diameter as well, just forgot to put in post. Am kind of new at this and usually forget to include all the back up necessary in my first posts.
Anyway, looked at the barrel, it is octagon as per the Cody serial number check report, and the funny thing is that the diameter is 23/32″ at the muzzle, or at least as close as I can measure with a ruler. I am pretty sure that is the correct diameter as per the The Winchester book.
That would make me think that the barrel was made to that length or is it that there is no taper in the .38 WF barrel?
Regards,
You can’t accurately measure it without a micrometer but 23/32 (.718″) the correct size for the muzzle. If it measured .780″ a 1/16″ larger, that would tell me it was cut so that is why you need a micrometer. All the barrels have taper to them. The other thing that would tell a lot is if you removed the tube and tube hanger to look at the bluing and machining of the hanger cut.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Hello,
ANY chance there is a proof stamp on the barrel and/or receiver top? The rifle MIGHT have been returned to Winchester for a different length barrel which then may have been cut down? Please post a detail photo or 2 or 3 of the muzzle end of the barrel with a tape measure placed next to it as the I attached. Then we can compare the magazine ring and the front sight placement.
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
August 11, 2015
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will try to get a micrometer and a couple of pictures submitted as soon as I can.
hadn’t thought about the slight taper issue so can see why the micrometer measurement is critical.
thanks and regards,
August 11, 2015
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Had to take care of some family business for the last couple of weeks, but just got back and put a digital ruler to the barrel. It measures right at 0.75″ on all the different barrel flats, so it appears it has to have been cutoff from the longer barrel.
I have not been able to get the magazine free to get off the forearm and take a look at the underside of the barrel. On the verge of putting a dent into the magazine so will probably back off of that, but have been soaking it in Kroil for awhile with no budging as of yet.
Lost my computer photo person over the holidays so am not able to post any pics as of yet, but the sight to hanger measurements are as follows:
Muzzle End Front Sight Cut Hanger Cut
I————————-I——–I———————–I———I
I———13/16″ ——-I
I———————-11/8″——I
I—————————————–2 1/4″———-I
I——————————————————2 15/16″—-I
Hope this is interpretable.
Regards,
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