
I have a 1873 32 wcf I inherited from my father. Serial number looks like 312585 and a letter like an R or possibly a B. Gun appears in good condition. I do notice the dust cover on top seems not to be working correctly, it freely slides back and forth. My question is this. My local gun person says it’s most likely been reblued. Wasn’t positive though. How much does this influence the value of it? Trying to get a reasonable value of the gun.
Thanks,
George
Hello George,
Depending on the quality of the refinish, it is a 50% – 90% value reduction. The letter on the end of the S/N is a “B”. You will need to provide clear detailed pictures of your Model 1873 before a value estimate can be provided.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
George,
The dust cover will slide somewhat free by design. There is a spring under it and will drop into a detent under the cover to hold it closed. It should open when you cycle the action and then stay open. You then manually close it when done shooting. If you send me some good clear pictures showing the different sides of the guns. Like one picture of each side of the receiver and a pictures of all markings along with overall views would help us determine its condition. As a guest you can’t post pictures directly to this site. You have to upload them to a third party host site and then post a link to them or you can just email them to me at the below address and I will post them.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
George,
Here are the photos you sent. The gun definitely has been reblued by someone that didn’t know what they were doing and used a buffing wheel that rounded all the edges and the wood has been sanded down below the metal too. The dusts cover looks to be a replacement and does not fit the receiver rail possibly because the rail has been buffed making it smaller than original. The gun has lost its collector value because of the refinishing so its a shooter if the gun has good rifling and still feeds and fires it is worth around $900 to $1000 as a shooter. To you its going to be worth more since its a family heirloom. There is not enough left of it to have it professionally restored. Below is a picture of a professionally done restore.
Bob
Here is a properly restored gun.
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Let me say welcome to the forum to break the ice.
I’ve found over the years it’s best to just tell the truth. No sense beating around the bush, as it does a disservice in the end.
I would just enjoy this as an heirloom piece because, I will be totally honest with you, this is about the harshest refinish I’ve seen in a long time. All sharp edges are gone, buffing was severe, as was the refinish of wood components.
If you had an original piece, all edges would be sharp, lettering would be crisp, wood would be proud to the metal, and the hue of both the wood and blued components have a distinctive appearance that collectors come to recognise as original with experience.
And, please don’t shoot the messenger.
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