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How undesirable is the aforementioned (.32 WCF) WITH a ROUND barrel these days?
I wouldn’t call them undesirable, its that the majority of collectors want the octagon barrels to the point that a round barrel is about a 10% to 20% less than a like condition octagon gun. You really learn this if you put one on a gunshow table and by the end of the show the most common remark will be “If that was a octagon I would buy it”.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
November 7, 2015
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I’m thinking condition is an important part of this issue. As condition increases I think the barrel type has more influence on the value. As a 70% shooter I’d be more concerned about the bore. As a 90% showpiece the octagon barrel will certainly help make the sale. Quite honestly I’d love to have a 70% shooter in 32WCF but at this time I’d be hard pressed to buy a higher grade 1873 in 32WCF. I love the cartridge but the larger bores seem to sell better.
I don’t know 1873’s like Bob does but I know that if I put two similar 1873’s on my table at the beginning of a show and one was an OB I’d expect it to act as eye candy and quite likely sell before the RB.
Mike
Judging from these responses, the round barrel is far less desirable than an octagon one, but 10 to 20% less valuable, which seems hard to believe since if infinitely less desirable, a 10 to 20% decrease in valuation would seem negligible.
I think when people see a low-finish ’73 with an octagon barrel, they say, “at least it has an octagon barrel.”
What it really comes down to is whether or not you like round barrels. If you are a collector buy what you like. If you are a dealer buy it for the right price for resale, a little less than what an octagon would be. Believe it or not some prefer the round barrel.
In answer to the aforementioned, this is what such a rifle is worth in today’s market at auction: $1762.50
I was not the winning bidder. I was contemplating bidding, however, and this rifle caused me to create this thread.
In the end, it lacked the 3 C’s: Caliber, Condition, and Configuration. Caliber is less desirable, but I wouldn’t mind having a .32-20 to shoot every now and again. Condition certainly isn’t bad, but could be better. Configuration is the big one, and I realized that before I created this thread–Round barrels are just far less desirable than Octagon ones.
Not a bad looking piece. I see the auction estimate was $2000 to $4000. I am not surprised it didn’t meet that. As you say, it didn’t have the three C’s. For a fun .32-20 to shoot, in my book, nothing beats a Model 1892. Particularly in a carbine 
In the march Amoskeag auction it had a 3k to 5k estimate and it didn’t sell.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
1873man said
In the march Amoskeag auction it had a 3k to 5k estimate and it didn’t sell.Bob
I wonder if something is wrong with it?
From my point of view, even if there is nothing wrong with it, a $2000 to $4000 of a $3000 to $5000 estimate is quite unrealistic.
I’ve had several 73’s in .32-20 over the years, both round and octagon. I too, prefer the octagon as I’m not a fan of any lever gun with a round barrel. I really like the cartridge though. It’s a lot of fun to shoot and easy to reload. My favorite ’73 is the .44 WCF rifle with the barrel measuring 27/32nd ” across the muzzle flates. You can definitely tell the difference when looking at and holding one with the 23/32″ and the 27/32″. Bob will know, but I think most 1st models had the heavier weight barrel, at least all that I have owned and still have are the 27/32″ size. I had quite a collection of 76’s also, but none with round barrels. Sorry, I just don’t care for them. I agree with steve004, the best .32-20 is a ’92 carbine.
Tony. R said
Is a Round Barrel more or less common to find in 32/20
Round barrel is less common than octagon. They make up 20% of the 32’s
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
win4575 said
I’ve had several 73’s in .32-20 over the years, both round and octagon. I too, prefer the octagon as I’m not a fan of any lever gun with a round barrel. I really like the cartridge though. It’s a lot of fun to shoot and easy to reload. My favorite ’73 is the .44 WCF rifle with the barrel measuring 27/32nd ” across the muzzle flates. You can definitely tell the difference when looking at and holding one with the 23/32″ and the 27/32″. Bob will know, but I think most 1st models had the heavier weight barrel, at least all that I have owned and still have are the 27/32″ size. I had quite a collection of 76’s also, but none with round barrels. Sorry, I just don’t care for them. I agree with steve004, the best .32-20 is a ’92 carbine.
Most first models didn’t have a heavier barrel but they had the illusion of heavier barrel by having the magazine tube undercut in to the barrel farther than later ones. There are some guns with heavier muzzles since they had less taper and a few that I found that did have bigger breach and muzzles.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Opening bid on that one today was $1300. With commission and shipping, you are into it for over $1500. That’s where I was at on it, if I could get it for the opening bid–maybe, for what it is. Something to shoot with black powder. I think it went for too high for what it is. Nice, but a problem to move should I tire of it.
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