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One of One Thousand 1873 sleeper here in Australia
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Chris D
Melbourne Australia
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June 15, 2026 - 12:14 am
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This 1/1000 just surfaced here in Australia. Serial 40632. It appears to be the genuine article and Bob said it is the first time it has surfaced. 

It has been here in Victoria since the days of the gold rush era apparently. Has been in the same family for over a century. The seller is after around $150,000 USD. I hear it has been sold to a local buyer which is good news, it should stay here. 

Condition is low and I expect the bore to be like the exterior. But heck, its a real 1/1000. Exciting stuff. I have held one 1876 1/1000 here that ended up being sent back to the US.

This may be the only 1/1000 here in Australia, but you never know what else is hiding out here! 

Chris

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A man can never have too many WINCHESTERS...

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Jeremy P
The Great State
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June 15, 2026 - 9:05 pm
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Wow, the “birth” of a new 1of1000 before our very eyes? Very cool!

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TXGunNut
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June 15, 2026 - 11:52 pm
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Jeremy P said
Wow, the “birth” of a new 1of1000 before our very eyes? Very cool!
  

IIRC a significant percentage are unaccounted for. Pretty cool that this one has been in the same family for so long.

 

Mike

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Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
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1873man
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June 16, 2026 - 1:24 am
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According to my survey 54 haven’t been seen.

Bob

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Researching the Winchester 1873's

73_86cutaway.jpg

Email: [email protected]

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Chris D
Melbourne Australia
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June 16, 2026 - 7:49 am
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Thanks Bob. So how many 1/1000 1873s were made by Winchester? 

A man can never have too many WINCHESTERS...

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Jeremy P
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June 16, 2026 - 1:22 pm
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I love the mystery of all of it. Can’t help but wonder where they all are or what happened to them.

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1873man
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June 16, 2026 - 2:17 pm
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Chris D said
Thanks Bob. So how many 1/1000 1873s were made by Winchester? 
  

I have 135 of them.

Jeremy P said
I love the mystery of all of it. Can’t help but wonder where they all are or what happened to them.
  

I remember a story I read about but I can’t recall where about one that went north with a gold miner and he left it in the mine probably because he could carry 9 pounds more gold out without it. 

Bob

WACA Life Member---
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Researching the Winchester 1873's

73_86cutaway.jpg

Email: [email protected]

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Jeremy P
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June 16, 2026 - 2:50 pm
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1873man said

  

I remember a story I read about but I can’t recall where about one that went north with a gold miner and he left it in the mine probably because he could carry 9 pounds more gold out without it. 
Bob
  

Wouldn’t shock me at all that some ended up in the hands of folks that just viewed them as tools, etc. and they just withered away like so many others have. That’s the stuff that keeps me up at night wondering about… Laugh

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TXGunNut
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June 16, 2026 - 10:06 pm
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Wouldn’t shock me at all that some ended up in the hands of folks that just viewed them as tools, etc. and they just withered away like so many others have. That’s the stuff that keeps me up at night wondering about… Laugh-Jeremy P

 

Jeremy-

You may have had the opportunity to meet Bobby Vance at a TGCA show. One of the first questions he asked anyone after meeting them was “got any old guns?”. I’m quite certain that question is why he wound up with so many interesting guns. 

 

Mike

Life Member TSRA, Endowment Member NRA
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Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.-TXGunNut
Presbyopia be damned, I'm going to shoot this thing! -TXGunNut
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Rick Hill
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June 16, 2026 - 10:48 pm
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All:

I had the great good fortune to work in Melbourne, Australia for a couple of years back in 1996/1997.  It was during this period that the government decided to ban all semi-automatic and pump-action long-guns.  Using the logic that there is functionally no difference between a pump-action and a lever-action rifle, I was able to acquire a sizable collection of lever guns including a Henry, two second model 1866 rifles (along with 4 wonderful 1866 carbines) a couple of 1892s and several 1894s including four or five trappers.  There is a considerable number of quality, collector grade Winchesters down under owing to the Aussie gold rush period in Bendigo and Ballarat as well as a period when the foreign exchange rate was favorable for the Australian collector to acquire nice collector grade pieces from the Americans, so it is no surprise that a One-of-One Thousand model 1873 surfaced there.  I’ll bet there are others that will pop up in the future.

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