Winchester 1873 Trapper

[holmegaard]

Have always lusted after one of these, & finally found one (Miroku) new in the box at a local gun shop. Found a certification letter inside the box that it's a distributor special, "one of 201"; not sure what differentiates it from Winchester's standard 1873 offerings but assume it's the 16" trapper barrel length. Fairly new to lever guns (last couple years), & all previous experience has been with 1894 & 1892 types.
It's extremely well finished, deep even bluing, great oil finish on the wood, excellent wood to metal fit, and all metal to metal surfaces are perfectly mated. The walnut is straight grained without much figure, but I don't want to refer to it as plain- it's quite beautiful, as is the color case hardening where applied.
No idea whether or not the "1873 + heavy magnum loads = problems" equation is accurate, but in any case I don't plan on many heavy loads through this rifle. Everything I had on hand was high pressure, so I loaded up some 158 grain coated lead over 4.1 grains of W231 in magnum cases to try out. Will work up a light load for accuracy soon, but was itching to put some lead downrange & knew that would at least be a safe, functional load.
The rifle fed, fired, extracted & ejected without a hitch. The length of pull & trigger reach suit me well, and it's comfortable to shoot- with one caveat noted below. Shoulders well, and I'm able to quickly get it on target.
Mostly a very positive experience, but do have a few things to work through:

- The trigger stop pushes back on the lever with what I consider to be way more vigor than necessary. Had to "remember" to squeeze the lever up on several occasions in order to light one off. Thinking that lightening or replacing the spring will cure this. Hate to waste all the knowledge on this forum, so I'm open to any & all tips for curing this, if you've experienced the same.

- Loading through the King's gate is rough, at least the very last push. Goes in fine until the rim is almost in, then it hangs up HARD. Don't think it's spring pressure since it only happens at the very end of the load. Seems like the rim itself is catching on something. It was hard enough that I was inspecting the cases for damage, though I didn't see any. Confession- have read & heard others complaints about tough gate loading on their lever guns, & always kinda dismissed it. Put a chamfer on the magazine tube entrance of a Marlin 1894 I used to have in order to smooth things out, but even that didn't require much force, it just felt rough. Takes probably 20x the force I've had to use on other lever guns to get this one loaded, but again, it's only the very last instant before the cartridge is fully in the tube.

- With the rear sight as low as it will go, still a few inches high at 30 yards. Correctable with a taller front sight or by filing the notch deeper, but may not do anything... leaning hard towards a tang sight. For those who use them, any preference as to brand?

Just wanted to share, appreciate you checking out the thread & any advice you can give for a long, happy relationship with my new 1873.

[1006]

Nice write up. Not sure if your rear sight is the same as all the ones I have seen. If it is the same, there are two small screws that allow you to loosen and move the notched part of the rear sight up and down.

[holmegaard]

Thanks 1006, here are a couple photos of the rear sight:

Attachment 280734
Attachment 280735

[725]

holmegaard ~ First off, welcome aboard. Secondly, I used a Marbles tang sight and enjoyed it. Lots of personal preference involved with such a decision, but the Marbles was well made.

[holmegaard]

Thanks 725! I will definitely check out the Marbles. I think Lyman & MVA make them for the 1873 as well, maybe others, but I'm too inexperienced to know their quality & features so all advice is welcome.

[littlejack]

Welcome to the Castboolits. That's a very nice lookin 73. Congratulations.

[Baltimoreed]

How many rounds can your magazine hold and is it maxed out when you say the last round is hard to fit in it? My wag is that the mag spring is compressed as far as it can but the follower is hanging up on the coiled up spring and the pops free to move the last little bit. Remove the mag spring to see how long it actually is. Might be able to shorten it as it might be for a 20 or 24 inch rifle. I had to shorten my mag spring on my ‘73 build in order to get ten Schofield loads to fit in it.

[holmegaard]

Thanks littlejack & Baltimoreed!

The difficulty is there from the first round to the ninth (stated capacity), I should have been more clear in my description. If it were the last round or two, your diagnosis would make perfect sense, though.

[Mk42gunner]

Not saying this will fix the issue with loading, but it may make more manageable. I usually load lever actions by inserting the first round halfway, then pushing it in with the next round.

That way I only have to fight the last round, and it is possible to push it with an extra round sometimes.

Nice looking carbine by the way.

Robert

[samari46]

Have a marlin 336 in 30-30 that nipped at my finger when loading rounds. Took off the loading gate, and found that the cut in the receiver was rough on all sides. I have some tool maker stones and stoned and polished and was no longer getting nipped. Lot of sharp edges. Frank

[hondo1892]

An 1873 is set up different than others like the 92 and 94. The brass block you see at the bottom and top of the receiver is the elevator and where the next round to load sets. It could have a sharp edge or bur from machining and causing the rim to get hung up on it. I prefer the old original Lyman tang sights because most have a insert inside the eye piece that can be flipped down so it makes a larger hole kind of like a ghost ring.

[00buck]

The 1873 toggle link action is not as strong as the 1892 or 1894 actions.

I would not shoot magnum loads in it.

I’ve used my Uberti 1873 carbine for CAS for 15 years and never had a hiccup.
I shoot 250 gr .45colt over trailboss.

You loaded up 158gr boolits? Is it chambered in .38/.357?

[jstanfield103]

What a beauty, congratulations on finding it. Enjoy

[rintinglen]

Um, The 1873 Action is a little weak for mowing the grass. The Marlins or an 1892 clone might work better

[Minerat]

That is a nice gun but may have been intended to be a safe queen. Those low count runs and special finishes may be cost more for that reason. Something to think about before shooting a 1 of gun.

[Castaway]

I prefer a Marble tang over the Lyman # 2. Never had a Lyman where the post didn’t wobble. The Marble doesn’t twist around and is windage adjustable as well. Every time I’ve called Marble, a real person answered. Once the resident smith was out to lunch and called me back within the hour. A first class organization

[holmegaard]

Um, The 1873 Action is a little weak for mowing the grass. The Marlins or an 1892 clone might work better

Agreed, especially since we have more weeds than grass... better break out the AK-47!

[holmegaard]

Broke it down last night to see if I could cipher some solutions. While there are a lot of parts, it's really pretty easy to see how everything works. Course having removable side plates helps with that. Once broken down, could easily see the loading hangup- a raised ridge inside the brass lifter, complete with marks from forcing the rounds through. Might have smoothed out on it's own eventually, but i helped it along, breaking the edge with a needle file & smoothing with 600 grit. The lifter was a bit rough overall, so I smoothed over all the machining marks with 600 grit while I had it out. Other than that it's smooth as silk inside, couldn't find even the faintest milling artifacts on any of the steel
Next was the trigger stop spring. Got a flat edge underneath it & lifted enough to grasp with the needle nose, then slowly lifted until it lost just a bit of mustard. Didn't know if it was enough, but better to have to try again that ruin the spring- apparently, replacement parts for these Miroku Winchesters aren't so easy to get. Not like breaking a spring on a Glock.
Happy to report that both difficulties are now gone. Loading is simple & smooth, and the trigger stop stays disengaged once the lever has been full worked- but only if it's been fully worked.
The POA/POI issue would be solved easily enough with a taller front sight or filing a deeper notch (it's tiny anyway) in the rear sight, but the plan is to replace the rear sight ladder with a filler & go with a tang sight. Never used one, but have experience with receiver mounted peeps, a couple of which have extensions that put the aperture right in front of the eye. I like standard receiver sights & do fair with them, but the magic really happens when that aperture is closer to the eye.

[holmegaard]

The 1873 toggle link action is not as strong as the 1892 or 1894 actions.

I would not shoot magnum loads in it.

I’ve used my Uberti 1873 carbine for CAS for 15 years and never had a hiccup.
I shoot 250 gr .45colt over trailboss.

You loaded up 158gr boolits? Is it chambered in .38/.357?

Yes, it's in 357 Magnum. Not planning on anything too stout, have another rifle for that.
Would like to try some Trail Boss loads in it, along with the W231.