Winchester 1873 help request

[Texas by God]

I’m seeking help and advice from those with Winchester 1873 experience. I have none. I’ve fired a Uberti 73 in .45 LC but that’s as close as I’ve been to one!
This one was made in 1883 and was reblued(and over polished!)long ago and has at least two problems. It would not fire and will not feed.
The lever has side to side play, I’ve made a shim to help that, if needed.
I had to fit a steel pad on the lever to reliably engage the trigger block. It will need to be dressed down a bit until the lever latch can be rotated normally. But it does fire now.
The bigger problem is that the carrier drops when the lever is worked to where the bolt won’t slide forward. If I reach underneath and push the elevator up, the bolt will slide home.
In the pics, the elevator is shown in the up position and the “dropped” position. Sorry for the order that they are in…..
Am I looking at a worn lever, carrier arm, or carrier?
Also- shouldn’t the carrier have 44 WCF stamped on the bottom- or was this one made when 44WCF was the only chambering?
Thanks in advance!










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[G W Wade]

Not up on Original Win 1873 but should have been 44/40 only. Do work on Uberti though. Think you could adjust carrier lever to make it work. To old to type up the directions on how to retime the action. I you checked someone like Pioneer Gun works they have instructions on timing their short stroke kit. Ignore short stroke parts but timing should be similar. If more help needed (sure someone here will be more eloquent or typing friendly Good luck Nice rifle GW

[Rockindaddy]

Texas: You can slightly bend the cam end of the elevator lifter. Determine if your lifter is hard(use a small fine file). If its hard you will have to slightly warm it to a dull red. Bend just a little at first and try it. Your elevator should lift so the bolt can go into battery and chamber a cartridge. The 44 cailber elevators were lightly marked. Most likely the 44 has been worn off. How is your barrel address? Is it still intact? You may have to have a small dab of weld on your trigger block lever. TIG weld a bit of steel on the end and file off so the lever tab pushes it up far enough. You will have a great shooter after you get er all tuned up.

[Shell knob]

I think Rockindaddy is on the rt track. The end of the lifter gets worn on the underside of the brass carrier. It’s easy to see if it’s not right, it won’t be round and has a flat worn on it. The surface can be built up by tig welding, then file finished. I think it’s cheaper to watch for one on flea bay. I bought a spare several yrs ago for about $35-40.

[Bazoo]

38 WCF was added in 1879. Of course, the mark could have worn off, but there are 2 other possibilities; A replacement carrier from an earlier era, or perhaps Winchester used an old stock, unmarked 44-40 carrier when the rifle was assembled.

[John Taylor]

The first model was 44-40 only with 5 grove rifling, carrier was most likely not marked. Later models had 6 grove rifling and came in 44-40, 38-40, 32-20 and 22 short and long. Some of the last models in 22 had a selector for short, long and long rifle. The 22s did not have a firing pin but had a little edge on both sides of the breach block and the whole breach moved forward to fire. On your rifle the carrier arm could be worn, bent or the spring could be broken or damaged.

[rockrat]

I didn't think they chambered the '73 in 45 Colt, at least until modern times???

[Hootmix]

From what i'm reading your carrier block falls because the carrier spring (the one on the right side) is weak or needs to be adjusted (tighten'd) to apply more pressure to the lifter arm. There is a notch at the back of the lifter arm when in the raised position and the spring has a finger on the end that slips into the notch to hold the arm up. This is where i would look first.

coffee's ready, Hootmix.

[Texas by God]

Thanks to all.
I’ll take it down again and see. The lifter springs seemed ok but I’ll definitely recheck them while I’m at it.
The .45 Colt 1873 that I mentioned was a friend’s Uberti.
This one is a Winchester 73 made in 1883 by the serial number and it is a 44WCF.


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[Kai]

The over polishing of the gun probly explains what happened to the caliber stamping on the carrier. Sounds like you have plenty of good advice for fixing the drooping carrier.

[Texas by God]

I took it back down and the lifter spring does look worn. The lifter arm doesn’t look too bad with just a bit of shiny metal worn.
I’ll start searching for a lifter spring and go from there. Thanks again everyone.


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[John Taylor]

https://homesteadparts.com/shop/winc...873-c-1_4.html

[Texas by God]

Thanks, John Taylor.
I’m on their notify list- out of stock.
Dixie Gun Works says that they have new made ones in stock- have you used them?


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[John Taylor]

This one will most likely work but you might want to get the screw at the same time as it most likely will be metric.
https://www.vtigunparts.com/store/sh...rti+1873+Rifle

[Texas by God]

Thanks for the VTI link, I appreciate it.


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[Texas by God]

Dixie Gun Works came through.
They look a bit thick compared to the original springs, but we’ll see how it goes.
The new ones are in the center.


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[Hootmix]

Screws don't have to be bottomed to be right. Tighten a little at a time and check tension, use just enough tension on lifter arm to hold block up w/ a round in the block & just enough tension to keep the lever from falling down on it's own.


coffee's ready, Hootmix.

[Texas by God]

I had to fit the new lifter spring a small amount but it looks like it will work now.
It’s raining at the moment so I’m going to wait for the range test.
I want to shoot it from bags with some Winchester Cowboy loads- the mildest 44 WCF ammunition that I have here.
Thanks to all that helped!
I raise my coffee cup to you, Hootmix!


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[Texas by God]

I had to thin some metal from the top of the right lifter spring for the loading gate to clear.
I built up the lifter arm to get the lifter the correct height to feed, and found that the lug on the bottom of the bolt face was peened a bit- hindering a round from chambering.
I ran 8 rounds through it after dressing that peened area down a bit; just a bit more and it will be done.
I know more now than I did about 73 Winchesters!


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