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June 11, 2014
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A fellow I know is purchasing a ’73 made around 1886. From what I can see, it appears to be a full octagon, button mag 44 WCF. The seller is claiming it has a special ‘rapid taper’ barrel that goes from 1" at the receiver to 3/4" at the muzzle (flat-to-flat). That sounds pretty standard to me, but I want to check here for sure. Is that a standard barrel or is it a ‘rapid taper’?
April 15, 2005
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Kirk,
That seems to be a rapid taper to me, though I admittedly am not all that knowledgeable about the Model 1873 barrels.
To give you an example, the Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle with a standard No. 3 barrel starts out at 1.05", and 30-inches later, it is .90". It has a taper rate of .005/inch. The taper rate on the Model 1873 in question is approximately twice (.010/inch) the rate of a Model 1885 barrel.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
May 2, 2009
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You would need measurements with a calipers to be accurate but from the data I have the average breech size for a 44 is .944" and the muzzle average is .810"
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
April 15, 2005
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1873man said
You would need measurements with a calipers to be accurate but from the data I have the average breech size for a 44 is .944" and the muzzle average is .810"Bob
Bob,
That works out to a .005/inch taper rate, which is the same as a Model 1885 standard barrel.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
June 11, 2014
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Gentlemen, thank you for that input. He up and bought it before I could get back to him, but he only paid $US 1,980 for an honest, unmessed-with ’73 albeit pretty much plum. It is dad gummed hard to find an honest ’73 around here for less than $2,000 that is in good working condition.
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