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Bob..or who can answer..
A while back I finally picked up a ’73
#446556B
26″
44-40
when I checked butt the cleaning rods were present..but 5 pieces. Each about 7″. Is this correct or is there an extra piece?
thanks
44
44,
4 sections would be just enough for a 26″ barrel. The nominal length of the sections is 7″ so you have correct rods. I would not use the extra section since its a tight fit trying to get 5 in the compartment.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Thanks Bob, it was cramped in that hole, i’ve not tried to get them all back in since. It was on my bucket list for CAS and at flea market price. When did they quit the oct. bbl.?
44
The octagon barrel was used all the way through the production of the 73
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
I actually have a couple of issues–one question and one concern. My question is what is the relevance of the “A” or “B” after a ’73’s serial number? Also, I bought some “vintage” cleaning rods on ebay a couple of years ago. Just after I got ’em, another buyer on ebay voluntarily informed me that these might be fakes. Wound up they were. I went back through ebay and got my money back, but still see the same guy(s) selling fakes. It appears that these guys simply make/buy cleaning rods, put ’em out in the weather for a while, and then sell them as “vintage”, “authentic”, etc. This guy even had said his “grandfather” had a number of old cleaning rods. I could hear the violins playing in the background…
Below is the way I was told to spot the fakers:
Probably 75% of the rods for sale at gun shows are not original. The thread on original rods is 9-32, which is obsolete. The repros are usually 10-32. If you have a micrometer you can measure the thread diameter. It should measure about .175. If it measures about .190, it’s a repro.
Is this a valid/good rule of thumb?
P. S.
I’ve never seen more than four rods ever offered with rifles, and usually three with/
for carbines.
The other dimension to check is the rod diameter. It should be .234″ not .250″ which is the closest commercially available size. The A and B does not mean a thing as far as anybody has been able to tell. I always figure they went to the B because the A stamp broke.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
I also read somewhere that the slot for the cleaning patch at the end of the rod was stamped on the originals, not milled. This would leave a tell-tale indentation around the hole edge on one side and possibly an uplifted edge around the hole on the opposite side, if not worn down by age and wear.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Rod Rats,
Here’s some info I learned about when buying WC cleaning rods:
The thread on original rods is 9-32, which is obsolete. The repros are usually 10-32. If you have a micrometer, you can measure the thread diameter. It should measure about .175. If it measures about .190, it’s a reproduction.
Hope this helps.
Harrison
1873man said
The octagon barrel was used all the way through the production of the 73Bob
i have a buddy looking for one of the rod sections if you ever wanted to get rid of one
Carlos,
Which rod is he looking for?
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Harrison, Winchester steel cleaning rods have been made in mass quantity over the last 20 years, most of which are the correct length, diameter, thread, and style. At one time I could spot the fakes by stamping or machining differences, but they corrected the flaws until they were near perfect. If skillfully aged I can not tell for sure unless they are used and abused. My advice to anyone buying rods, buy correct length, diameter,thread, and style but don’t pay a lot, then you won’t be disappointed. T/R
I’m sure there are some on this forum that remember Bob Enewold, who lived in Reno. Bob passed away after a long fight with cancer in 1997. He was a nice guy, but one heck of a faker. He made hundreds of three, four and five piece cleaning rod sets for the ’66, ’73 and ’76. Same size rod material, same thread size, same everything. You can not tell them from the original. Sold them for years, at $15.00 a set. Before he passed away, the price had jumped all the way up to $25.00 a set.
Buffalo Arms gets $56. for the 5 piece set today, guess that’s inflation. T/R
“The brass (or steel) head on the original rods is approximately 0.38” in diameter and 0.45” long. The head on the reproduction rod is considerably larger – approximately 0.45” in diameter and 0.51” long.
Measured from the lower inside edge of the cleaning rag slot to the tip of the rod, the original rod tip measures approximately 0.7” long, while the reproduction rod tip measures approximately 0.55” long.
The slotted tip on the original rod has flat, parallel sides and while the edges are rounded they retain a thickness consistent with the diameter of the rod. The slotted tip on the reproduction rod is tapered almost to a knife edge and thins down considerably from the diameter of the rod”.
RickC, I was told for years that Winchester cleaning rods were outsourced to vendors, making it impossible to say one rod is original and another is not. If the length, threads, and diameter is correct it could be original. The reproduction rods have been made by several different people with small changes, but if the length, threads, diameter is correct, and properly aged it might pass as original. Comparing one original to one reproduction is not conclusive because both vary slightly. Many times I can not tell for sure one way or the other. I have original rods that vary from your measurements. T/R
I got that from this site T/R. I’m looking for a couple sets and good reproductions are fine by me.
http://www.mcpheetersantiquemilitaria.com/09_guns_parts/09_item_063.htm
RickC
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