question about a old winchester model 1873

**glocksf** · January 30th, 2011, 02:07 PM

My Friend has a old old winchester model 1873 it is a45-70 in very good condition on the receiver is engraved J W BIDDLE does anyone have any info on how old and anything about this rifle
feel free to email me darbytownship1@yahoo.com

**surbat6** · January 30th, 2011, 05:09 PM

If that rifle is an 1873 Winchester, and if it's chambered in .45-70, somebody has made a REALLY BAD decision about converting a weak rifle action to a relatively powerful cartridge. The model 1873 was chambered in .44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .22 rimfire (short and long).
Winchester built about 720,000 model 1873's in a variety of models and only in the calibers mentioned above between 1873 and 1919.

**Pukindog** · January 30th, 2011, 08:21 PM

Never get a .45-70 into a '73, even loaded singlely into the breach. The rifle may be a 1886.
Jeff

**glocksf** · January 30th, 2011, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by glocksf

My Friend has a old old winchester model 1873 it is a45-70 in very good condition on the receiver is engraved J W BIDDLE does anyone have any info on how old and anything about this rifle
feel free to email me darbytownship1@yahoo.com

Ill check with him the cal may be 44-40 would like know the age of this rifle

**Noah_Zark** · January 31st, 2011, 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by glocksf

Ill check with him the cal may be 44-40 would like know the age of this rifle

The Model 1873 was made betw. 1873 and 1918-1919. If you have the S/N it can be pinned down to the exact year. Winchester S/Ns are very well documented.

Pukindog is correct; it is impossible for a 45-70 ctg to physically fit in the 1873 and 1876 actions. To be chambered for the 45-70, the rifle would have to be a Model 1886.

Noah

**Ecclectic Collector** · January 31st, 2011, 07:21 AM

The other posters are correct: it is impossible for a Winchester Model 73 to chamber a .45-70. On original guns the caliber is nicely engraved on the brass elevator that feeds from the tubular magazine.

If it looks like a Model 73, there is a slightly larger model called the 1876 or Centennial Model. This was made during the latter part of the 19th century and looks almost identical to the 73. Unfortunately it isn't in .45-70 either. The Winchester Model 1876 was larger to handle a full size cartridge, but they just couldn't make the design big enough to feed a cartridge with a 2.1" long case (thats' how long a .45-70 is). Instead amongst other calibers the gun was designed for a line of new cartridges like the .45-75 (shorter but fatter) and .45-60 (a shorter cartridge but of about the same case diameter). None will interchange in any way with the .45-70. (Got my info from Frank Barnes Cartridges of the World BTW.)

If this is a Winchester Model 1876, this gun is quite a collectors item and rather valuable even if you'd have to: 1. figure out its correct caliber, 2. go to a specialty dealer in antique cartridges to reload for it, 3. use only black powder to load in it.

I think you may need to get it professionally appraised and identified. However if you invest in a copy of Flayderman's Antique American Firearms (by Norm Flayderman) you can get a current value and some other information to help you with the gun. Either way, antique Winchesters are very collectable and there is plenty of information on them out there to help you with this gun.