Ancient 1873 rifle?

[Ragnarok]

I'll describe as best I can a .38-40 1873 rifle offered for sale to me

It's serial number dates it to 1889..it's complete dust-cover and all...sort of rough..intact but rough. Probably near 100% patina...bore is about used up...has had a dent peckered out of the mag-tube..wood is intact and tight enough. Would probably shoot..however may not have enough bore to be accurate.

Was first offered to me sometime back for $2000!!...Now it's make an offer...I don't need a wall-hanger or a project-gun...How much are haggared .38-40 Winchester 1873 rifles worth in the real world??

[I'll Make Mine]

What's it worth to you? Now, deduct the cost of having it rebarrelled or relined and gone over by a competent gunsmith, and offer 25% less than that (to leave room for a little haggling).

For myself, I have little to no interest in collectibles; if I buy a rifle, I plan to shoot it. I'd consider a tired old .38-40 to be worth $300 to $500 as a shooter, and it'd cost almost that to get the barrel in good enough shape to hit anything with it, so I'd just walk away. Your mileage may vary, of course...

[Mike Brooks]

I agree.
This is no collector piece and only good for parts or a candidate for a liner. I doubt I'd give more than $500. But, I have never cared much for pistol caliber rifles anyway.

[fouronesix]

Some decent photos would help but may not be possible. Judging by your description- I'd just walk away. The going rate for a decent original 73 starts at about 2K and goes up according to condition. Nothing but trouble and buyer's remorse with this one, so says the crystal ball.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
For that kind of "asking price" it would have to be a lettered, special order, with finish, good bore and not rust covered 73.
You can but a Cimmaron or Uberti for half that and happily go through your whole life shooting thousands of rounds.
Mike in Peru

[JIMinPHX]

I'd probably offer $2-300 if I was looking for a project gun, but I tend to be a bit cheap. I don't get all the things that I bid on.

You might be surprised how well you can sometimes get a "worn out" barrel to shoot, especially with older low-pressure cartridges. I believe that max pressure on that one is only 14k cup.

[Ragnarok]

I think the fellow is having a medical issue...wants to peddle the gun a bit worse than he did when he offered it to me for 2 grand.

I probably should at least make an offer...and who knows?...Maybe $500 would liberate the gun...I would give $500 for it and save it for a future project

[TXBRILL]

I recently bought the same vintage 1873 in 38-40 for 500.00, it showed no grooves in the bore at all, I patiently cleaned it every day for about 2 weeks using all the home formula's for lead removal and sure enough it was just all fouled with lead.

[Speedo66]

A good stock and fore end with no metal will bring $350-400 on Ebay, plus the internal parts also go high. If you decide it's not a shooter, you would have no trouble getting your money back if bought at a reasonable price.

They'll still shoot decently even with minimal rifling, and they are a piece of history, i.e., Winchester's first "central fire" rifle. And we all know how good the Indians did with them against Custer's single shot trapdoors.

[runfiverun]

unless the internals are trashed, a re-bore to 44-40 would at least make it a decent shooter. [worst case]
you still would have just that, a low pressure shooter.
but it could alway's be re-lined to the 38-40 later.

[Ragnarok]

Don't think I got it bought...but that's still up in the air..I put in an offer of $600 and we'll just have to see..