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first time posting. I’m looking at buying this rifle. It looks like it was built in 1885 (ser#48174). This is my first Winchester and if I get it I will deer hunt with it. I have a lot of questions about this rifle. Does it look like the barrel and tube has been cut down? The barrel measures 23″ to the front of the receiver. I figure the front sight is wrong, is the rear sight original? The barrel my be marked ” CAL 45-60″ or 40-60 it’s hard to tell. It is marked 40-60 on the brass. The wood is solid. It seems to funtion ok but it looks like the bottom bullet catch may be broke. Asking price 2300.00.
Online
You measure the barrel from the muzzle to the end of the threads where it comes out of the receiver, not where it goes into the receiver. The extractor looks OK. One side is long and the other piece is short. I am not sure if the barrel should be cut for a full length mag tube? It looks like the barrel has been shortened at the muzzle?
Thanks for the reply. I remeasured the barrel at 23 3/4″. Here is the front sight measurement.
The barrel has been cut short and the magazine tube has been cut short as well. The under cut on the bottom of the barrel is evidents of that. The rear barrel sight was probably the correct sight but the upper staff has been cut or broken off.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Robert, The gun in the pictures has problems and probably not worth the money. The barrel is cut behind the barrel ban dove tail, magazine cut, front sight dove tail crudely added, poor bore, rust pitted, and maybe other problems not pictured. I would buy a honest 76 in 45-60 with a good bore, finish is not as important for a shooter, so buy what you can afford. 45-60 is easier and cheaper to reload using modern bullets and brass. If you buy a original gun at a fair price, selling it later will not be painful. T/R
TR said
Robert, The gun in the pictures has problems and probably not worth the money. The barrel is cut behind the barrel ban dove tail, magazine cut, front sight dove tail crudely added, poor bore, rust pitted, and maybe other problems not pictured. I would buy a honest 76 in 45-60 with a good bore, finish is not as important for a shooter, so buy what you can afford. 45-60 is easier and cheaper to reload using modern bullets and brass. If you buy a original gun at a fair price, selling it later will not be painful. T/R
I was trying to be nice about the gun thinking he had already bought it. After re reading his first post I see my error. Tom, thanks for keeping us all straight. Robert you need to run from this gun and the dealer that is selling it.
This is a good learning experience. Guns with a shorter mag tube would not have the full length groove. The front sight should be in a dovetail. The standard length of most 76’s is 28″.
Thanks for the reply. Here is a better picture of the rear sight and one that look similar. I had a feeling it had been cut down.
This is what it looked like.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
R.Marshall said
Thanks for the reply. Here is a better picture of the rear sight and one that look similar. I had a feeling it had been cut down.
This sight appears to have the staff broken off. I still don’t think it was flattened. There would have been something like this with an elevator laying forward of the base.
R. Marshall, Where did you find the sight in the 3rd photo, the one you say looks similar?
win4575 said
R. Marshall, Where did you find the sight in the 3rd photo, the one you say looks similar?
It was on a Winchester 1876 on “collector firearms”
Just wondering, because that is an extremely rare and desirable rear sight. It is probably an original long leaf sight for a ’76, but it was modified or redesigned by Freund & Bro. They were famous for their many varied modifications of the Sharps Rifle. Their rifle sights are highly prized collectors items.
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