Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

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hemiallen
Levergunner 2.0
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:01 pm

Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by hemiallen »

I located and handled an 1873 winchester today, looks like it probably had a coat of varnish added many moons ago, and it has surface specks that you can see and feel, but it is on top of a shiny blue on the action and barrel, action seems pretty tight, safety works and overall a decent shooter.

So most of the 1873's I have seen are patina all over, or are $10k guns in pristine condition, which this isn't. Any chance this gun has weathered time without loosing it's blue until the last 20-30 years? The patent stamping on the barrel looks fine and sharp, blue is blue, not black and ugly like every reblue I have seen since the 70's.

All side screws look good, only the 2 bottom ones that hold the brass block/ internals in are buggered. This gun meets 80% of my desire, but if it has been reblued I don't want to spend good money on it....

Thanks for any help

Allen
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KirkD
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Re: Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by KirkD »

The printing should be crisp and sharp if the blue is original. Also, the lever and the hammer should not have any blue on them. The face of the muzzle should not have any blue on it. Take a look at the screw holes on the receiver. The surface of the receiver should be perfectly flat right up to the edge of the screw hole, there should be no 'cup' or slight crater around the hole. If there is, it has been buffed up and re-blued. Look for horizontal forging striations on the receiver and/or sideplates. If they are there, the receiver has never been re-blued. If they are not there,, that's a problem. Look at all sharp edges. If they are rounded off, that's a bad sign. If that blue is original, the wood should match in finish. Are the wood to metal junctions tight and the wood proud of the metal? If it is a 'blue' blue, I'd get suspicious. Take a look at some of the old Winchester sellers sights and look carefully at the high condition rifles. Is the color of the blue similar?
Kirk: An old geezer who loves the smell of freshly turned earth, old cedar rail fences, wood smoke, a crackling fireplace on a snowy evening, pristine wilderness lakes, the scent of
cedars and a magnificent Whitetail buck framed in the semi-buckhorn sights of a 120-year old Winchester.
Blog: https://www.kirkdurston.com/
hemiallen
Levergunner 2.0
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:01 pm

Re: Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by hemiallen »

Thanks

Yes, the wood fits the metal well, screw heads seem correct. I have seen screw heads protruding as you say, but not on this gun. I have a reblued half round/ half octagon 94 I wish I didn't buy, and the forarm cap screws protrude I think from too much sanding of the cap, and the blue is the typical "black" . Looks nice and new, but not correct for an old gun.

Yes, I see the striations in the action.

Sounds like a good, or decent original blue, and the end of the barrel is brown/ patina, so that makes sense. The only bare metal is near the muzzle on the sides, like it was inserted into a scabbard.

Thank you very much

Allen
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Streetstar
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Re: Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by Streetstar »

pics pis !!!!!!!!!! Sounds like a cool firearm regardless of when the blue was done :D
----- Doug
hemiallen
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Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:01 pm

Re: Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by hemiallen »

The problem I have is the pictures are too large for this website.

I could send a few to someone if they know how to resize them / change them to be allowed...

Thanks
Allen
the telegraphist
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Re: Help with condition of 1873 winchester, may be reblued......

Post by the telegraphist »

hemiallen wrote:The problem I have is the pictures are too large for this website.

I could send a few to someone if they know how to resize them / change them to be allowed...

Thanks
Allen
If you upload to photobucket.com you can resize them there after or before uploading. Visit and register there and most things will be revealed. I am also just learning how to post pics on this sight using photobucket. Finally done it right a few times after some failures. Go to photobucket tutorials they are pretty good. Hey if I can do it anyone can. Copy and paste the IMG number when you have uploaded them and opened a thread or post on this sight. I am on dial-up, so the uploads do take a bit of time, but they get there. Give two or three carriage returns and linefeeds between each picture, that equates to enters on your computer keyboard. If you dont the pictures may overlap or distort your written text with the pics.. send me a PM if you have trouble.

Rgds
GUN CONTROL IS HITTING YOUR TARGET
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