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Hello, I recently purchased a Winchester 1873 rifle.it’s a .38-.40 Seems to have been in what I believe a house fire. Picked it up for $100. Serial number under butt stock is 337162B. Not sure what i got as I’m fairly new to the rifle scene, but I’m really interested in getting it checked out by a gunsmith and want to restore or fix it up to potentially shoot every now and then. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I don’t know how to upload pics so if someone can help me out it’d be greatly appreciated. rn – Sergio
Sergio,
You can email the pictures to me at the address below.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Here are the photos. I would say the issue you have is did it get hot enough to anneal the metal and springs or when the fire was put out did it get water on it when it was really hot to harden it. If the stock is original then the receiver didn’t get super hot. A fire can cause unequal heating depending how the gun was stored. It would be a gamble if would be safe to shoot. I would have it looked at by a gunsmith and get their opinion. He could open it up and check the internal and get and idea how hot it got and if the barrel is still straight.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Thank you for your input and help with uploading pictures. I don’t think it got that hot and majority of it is smoke damage. I do plan on taking it to a gunsmith and having them check it out to make sure everything is good. Would you or anyone know where or can point me in the right direction to get a forearm for it… either used original or even replacement butt stock and forearm?
Ebay would be the place to get a original. Just have to watch it for a while until you find one that will fit. You will need one from a 38 octagon rifle. 44 is a bigger barrel size and 32 has a smaller mag tube. From the pictures it looks like the gun was sitting stock down since it survived. It got a lot more than smoke damage since the stock is charred which is about 500 degrees. I would guess the end of the barrel would of got hotter and the spring in the mag tube probably lost its temper.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
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