FALL 2019
Ofcourse,theWinchester Model
1873s—Uberti replicas—stand out the
most for me. I’ve bugged the good folks
at Browning, which owns Winchester, to
release a standard-production saddle-ring
carbine as part of its Miroku-built line ever
since they reintroduced the Model 1873
in 2013. And while I seriously doubtI had
anything to do with it, the company finally
did just that in 2018. I immediately put
in a request for a test sample, and when it
arrived, I liked it so much that I mailed a
checkforitbeforeI evenhada chanceto
fireit.Itisa beauty.
WorthTheWait
TheoriginalModel 1873 wasoneof
Winchester’smostpopularrifledesigns,
manufacturedfrom 1873 wellintomore
modernsmokeless-powdertimes.Itwas
droppedfromproductionaftera 50-year
runin1923,withover720,000produced.
Whenthecompanydecidedtoresurrect
thelineusingtheMirokufactoryinKochi,
Japan,severaldifferentconfigurationswere
eventuallyproduced,butnoneweretrue
carbines.Untilnow,thatis.
Atlonglast,thoseofuswhowanteda
trim,high-quality 1873 builtwithmodern
materialsandtechniques—andtheright
buttplateforsoftershooting—finallyhave
it.No,it’snotmadeintheU.S.,butthe
newWinchesterModel 1873 Carbineis
a stepaboveotherimportsontheblock,
andthisreproductionisactuallybranded
“Winchester.”Anotherhugesellingpoint
is thetotalabsenceofthelawyer-induced
safety“upgrades”that
wereincorporatedintothe
Miroku-made1892s,1886s
and1894s.Youwon’tfind
a reboundinghammeror
tangsafetyonthese1873s.
Ontheoutside,thenew
1873 looksidenticaltoan
ancestorfrom 100 years
ago,withtheexceptionof
a barelynoticeablescrew
arrangementbehindthe
sliding dustcoveron top
of the receiver that marks the trigger-linked
internal firing pin block. This block is the
only “safety” modification, and if you grew
up with half-cock hammers on your lever
guns like me, you’ll feel right at home here.
On the inside, the new Winchester
operates with the same toggle-link action
yourgreat-great-grandpawasusingwhen
JesseJameswaspursuinganexecutive
careerinrailroadsandbanking,butwith
much betterheat-treatingandmuch
strongersteels.Thetriggerismechanically
blockeduntiltheleverisfullyclosed,the
actioncoveropensautomaticallywhen
th e actionis cycled,anda swivelingstud
inthelowertanglockstheleverclosed.
The 1873’slockupisnothinglikethelater
Browning-designedleverguns,andthe
levercanmovearoundif thegun’s jostled.
Otherwise,it’sa carbinealltheway,
fromthecomfortablycurved,polishedsteel
buttplate,barrelbandsand
20-inchbarreltothecorrectly
executedsaddlering(witha
staple,nota stud)andladder-
stylerearsight.Thebluingis
deepanddark,theinlettingisclean,andthe
wood-to-metalfitinkeyareaslikethetang
andforendisnearperfect.Theoil-finished
walnuthasnovarnishtoscratch,theham-
merspurisfinelycheckered,andthetrigger
is tunedtobreakcleanlyatjustunder 5
poundswithnoovertravel.
HowItShoots
Mirokuputsoutsomeofthebest
Winchesterseverbuilt,butlooksaren’t
everything,andI didn’tbuythiscarbineto
hangitoverthemantle.I chosethe.45Colt
version,eventhoughthatcaliberwasn’t
availableinoriginal1873s.
I justhappenedtohave
halfa dozenorsohand-
gunstomatchit,along
witha wagonloadofbrass,
sothatwasa no-brainer.
Rangedaywasbright
andsunnywith10-to
12-mphwinds.Totest
theWinchester’saccuracy
andseehowwellthe
sightswereregulated,I
firedfivedifferentfac-
SADDLE RING SENSATION
Winchester Model 1873 Carbine
OA Length: 39 inches • Weight: 7.25 pounds (empty)
Stock: Walnut • Sights:Blade front, adjustable rear
Action: Lever • Finish: Blued • Capacity: 10+1 • MSRP: $1,300
SPECIFICATIONS
64 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
TheWinchestercomes with
abrassbladefrontsight, the
correct barrel band and a
ladder-style rear sight.
