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I have 1876 rifle # 1685 which ledger records show was part of an order with guns 1682, 1683, 1684, 1686, and 1688. I am looking for 1 or more of these other guns in order to compare features to mine. Anyone?? Thanks.
Cody can do that for you. If they are doing a letter for you just ask them if they are the same configuration. I have had them do that.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Bob
Thanks. I have spent much time with cody on the phone discussing my gun. There are some interesting things with mine, in particular, serial on bottom of barrel and side of bolt. Gun has lid and set trigger added as stated on letter.
There is one for sale in Anchorage. I’ll get the number for you.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
mark minnillo said
BobThanks. I have spent much time with cody on the phone discussing my gun. There are some interesting things with mine, in particular, serial on bottom of barrel and side of bolt. Gun has lid and set trigger added as stated on letter.
So your looking to see if the other guns have assemble numbers like yours?
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Mark,
A serial number on the inside parts are used as assemble numbers. Some special order 73’s had the last 2 digits of the serial number on some internals as well.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
The lower tang, stock, and butt plate all have a 3 digit assembly number unrelated to the serial number. The barrel and bolt have all 4 digits of full
serial number.
Similar to the 73’s I’ve seen with the exception of having the full serial number in some spots and you have the the last two of the serial number on the tang and wood along with a normal assemble number.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Yep. So what does it all mean? I was thinking the bolt was serialed as it is special for the lid compared guns at the time with no lid. The barrel?? Which is why im curious about the other 5 guns.
I take it your gun is a open top conversion? It looks like a standard configuration gun from what I can see so the idea of it needing special finishing or fitting was not necessary so no special markings needed. The 73 open tops had extra assemble numbers different than the normal assemble number on the left side of the upper and lower tangs and a single digit on the inside of the receiver but non of these are related to a serial number. I haven’t seen a open top conversion to see if any other marks were added when converted. My thought on the numbers on the barrel and bolt is it has to do with the open top conversion. To do the conversion they have to mill the slot at the back of the elevator slot so the barrel would be removed to do that. The only other time I saw numbers added to a barrel was when a gun was refinished.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
The gun was special ordered with the lid as indicated in the cody letter. So i suppose you could say a conversion completed at the factory. The gun retains a great deal of original finish and has not been refinished. 
Thanks for your thoughts!
During that serial range they were open tops but it could be ordered with the LID.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Exactly. So perhaps the gun was already put together as an open top and when the order came in for a gun with a lid the gun was dismantled, marked, modified then reassembled.
This is why I am curious to see if the other rifles were marked similarly.
mark minnillo said
Exactly. So perhaps the gun was already put together as an open top and when the order came in for a gun with a lid the gun was dismantled, marked, modified then reassembled.
Mark, I can’t remember when the Patent law suit was settled and Winchester could start putting the dust covers back on the 73’s and on the 76’s. But it had to be sometime in the 16 months that this gun sat in the warehouse. I think your idea is as good as any. I’m not sure if a 1st model can be modified to fit the lid or they just changed receivers? I really have no experience with the extra tang markings but others here do. I own a 76 that shipped 1/1879 and it has a lid with no mention of such on the letter so by then it was standard.
I would venture to guess an open top receiver for an 1876 was modified in the same manner as the 1873 to accommodate the addition of a dust cover by drilling and tap the top of the receiver to fasten a dust cover rail and dust cover. No need to change receivers. Now if you have an 1876 that is in the first model serial range that has a receiver that is milled with the dust cover rail as being integral to the receiver, then you would have a problem.
I have SN 2545 which started out as a 45-75 with set trigger and 30″ oct barrel received in the warehouse 5/2/1878, then it was changed to a 45-60 with 30″ oct barrel, plain trigger. Shipped from the warehouse on 6/5/1880. When it was shipped it had the dust cover rail and dust cover added (converted), and there is no mention in the letter regarding a “lid”. It was one of the 70 or so guns mentioned by Houze that were changed from 45-75 with oct 30″ barrels with set trigger to 45-60 oct 30″ bbl with plain triggers. The assembly number 965 is found on the bolt assembly and lower tang, and assembly number 1213 on the buttplate and lower tang. The underside of the barrel has a star, “P”, and 123. Serial number is nowhere other than on the lower tang.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
Chuck,
Interesting if the lid was standard on your gun being shipped 1/79 and mine has the lid as an extra and was shipped some 5 months after yours. Its all very interesting. Sure would like to find another gun with serial on barrel and bolt or find out why the gun was marked in this way. One of those mysteries with these old guns.
1892s
Thanks for the input.
mark minnillo said
Chuck,Interesting if the lid was standard on your gun being shipped 1/79 and mine has the lid as an extra and was shipped some 5 months after yours. Its all very interesting. Sure would like to find another gun with serial on barrel and bolt or find out why the gun was marked in this way. One of those mysteries with these old guns.
1892s
Thanks for the input.
Mark, sorry. I went and looked at my letter, it does say lid. Maybe someone knows if the lid was extra or they were just noting that it had one? I noticed that the 1879 Catalog there is no price for the mortise cover, spring screw, stop and the stop screw listed for the 66 or 76 just the 73? page 32. The 1880 catalog does list these parts for the 76. We all know that the catalogs were sometimes behind production.
I checked the letter for my ’76 #2332, shipped 6/29/1878. It does have a “lid” installed but is noted on the letter as “mortise cover”. I had not thought to disassemble the rifle to check for hidden numbers however I may.
Regards, Darrin
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