Winchester Model 1873 smoothbore "rifle"
I BELIEVE Winchester made their 1873 "rifle", probably on special order, bored smooth to use 44 WCF (44-40) shot cartridges. Union Metallic Cartridge and Peters Cartridge Companies and likely others, sold commercial cartridges for such firearms. While they might be effective against snakes and vermin at very close range, I believe they were primarily used in shows like Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Bill Cody, himself, was a big user of same. From horseback in the arena at speed, with a companion beside him on another horse to throw glass ball targets aloft, Bill would smash a fair number of them sequentially with his rifle using shot. Such a cartridge would be effective for only a relatively short distance and would have little commercial value other than show business. My questions are: Did Winchester, indeed, do the boring work, and was the bore a true cylinder or did it have choke and has anyone here actually seen, owned, shot or measured one?
NMLRA Guy