Old Winchesters. Let’s talk about them.

[red_zr24x4]

You guys are going to get me in trouble with mama! all this talk of old lever guns is going to make me buy one

 

[KJQ6945]

The last two Winnies I have bought some here on INGO would be familiar with already as I made posts on the rebuild.

The 62 I got did fire but was an eye sore to say the least.

The 73 was in worse shape. It was made in 1880 but it didn't fire, had a homemade fore stock, missing parts and the end of the barrel was hammered on! It is now a shooter with need of one last tweaking to make it a solid usable gun.

Unfortunately I will probably have to sell the 73 to finance future projects, but I still have my 67's, 69's and the 62 as well as all my shotguns. The 12's, 24's, 25's, a few 11's, 50's and the 97's.

I did sell my 37's including the Redlettered pig tail 12ga. I tend to buy the mistreated guns at a good price and make them serviceable and in most cases down right prurdy...

My old gun obsession didn’t really start until this year, so for those that missed Mongo’s threads like I did, here they are.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...nchester-1873-first-model-sporting-rifle.html

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...sion/472854-spent-morning-shooting-oldie.html

The pictures aren’t there anymore, would love to see them if you can repost. Glad that you are saving them.

 

[KJQ6945]

You guys are going to get me in trouble with mama! all this talk of old lever guns is going to make me buy one

I’ll just leave this here.....

"Courage is Being Scared to Death, but Saddling up Anyway" - John Wayne

 

[BigRed]

I have some 1894s in 30-30 ranging from 70 to 110 years old. The Winchester levers are still amongst my most favorite firearms. Many of them still get regular use for deer, hogs, and a yote here and there.

I've thought about liquidating a few, but every time I get ready to put one up for sale I find something about that one that is unique. Then I go back and start the whole process over again.

I've thought about spreading out into other models of Winchester levers. I know doing so would be a bit like giving a bottle of whiskey to an alcoholic.... it would probably start something that wouldn't end. So far, I have been able to resist.

I almost pulled the trigger on a Winchester Model 1895 once. Reasoned my way out of it..... have regretted it since.

Who knows.... maybe I'll just stop feigning the resistance and add a few more.

There is nothing better than a Winchester lever.

 

[KJQ6945]

I got my 94 first, and I love it, but the .32WS is a little much for plinking. The $1.60 or so a round keeps it from getting shot to much also. The pistol calibers of the 73 and 92 are much more fun for banging the steel out back. I think I’ve had them out shooting every weekend since I got them. Ordering another couple hundred rounds from Midway today. Free shipping this month.

 

[Expat]

Price check. Model 73, made in 1880’s. Probably average condition for age. Just saw pics at this point.
it is a 44-40.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Mama said I can't talk to you guys anymore, you're a bad influence

 

[Leadeye]

Price check. Model 73, made in 1880’s. Probably average condition for age. Just saw pics at this point.
it is a 44-40.

Bore condition is everything on something like that, most of the small parts can be replaced if bad and I've fixed 1873 guns with JB Weld with great success in some areas..

 

[Expat]

Bore condition is everything on something like that, most of the small parts can be replaced if bad and I've fixed 1873 guns with JB Weld with great success in some areas..

Thanks.

 

[Leadeye]

You can get a reline for those guns and if somebody good does it like Redman's it won't hurt the value, but it isn't cheap.

 

[KJQ6945]

You can get a reline for those guns and if somebody good does it like Redman's it won't hurt the value, but it isn't cheap.

Redman emailed me back, re-line on a rifle length is $375, carbine length is more, like $525, didn’t pull up the email, but I believe that’s the number. If it’s wrong, I’ll correct it.

 

[KJQ6945]

Old Winchesters have faded from the focus for the time being. It’s been a hectic week, and the world is going a little crazy. Hopefully, in a couple weeks, things will settle down and we can go back to talking about old guns for fun. Back to loading mags for the apocalypse.

 

[Mfoster20]

I’m a milsurp kind of guy but old Winchester’s always catch my eye at shows. One isn’t love to have is the 1907 SL with the 10 round mag. It has a cool history and looks bad ass.

 

[Mongo59]

All the SL's were "unique" to say the least.

1903 had proprietary ammo.

1907 had off site conversion for police etc.

1911 had the reputation of blowing your head off...

 

[KJQ6945]

Had to look up the 1907SL. Pretty cool rifle, that can still be bought fairly reasonable. The mags are out there, but they’re pretty spendy. The ammo looks to be the stopper for me. .351 Winchester ammo is pretty scarce. There’s still some original ammo to be found out there, and it looks like a few specialty manufacturers will produce some occasionally.

The rise of Cowboy Action shooting has given rise to current production, of a lot of the old, original black powder cartridges, like 32-20 and 44-40, making them still affordable to shoot. After a quick google search for .351 ammo, it seems to me, that you’d need to be able to produce your own ammo, if you want to shoot it much.

Leadeye, do you make .351?

 

[Leadeye]

I've looked at the 351 and 401 Winchesters but have never found the right deal. Other than collecting enough brass it doesn't look like a problem for a good cast bullet cartridge and I'm sure Accurate already has a good mold for both.

The late great Remington model 8 comes from the same time period and is a real power house semi auto in 35 Remington, on the order of your 32 WS. I have one of those from 1908.

 

[two70]

I've looked at the 351 and 401 Winchesters but have never found the right deal. Other than collecting enough brass it doesn't look like a problem for a good cast bullet cartridge and I'm sure Accurate already has a good mold for both.

The late great Remington model 8 comes from the same time period and is a real power house semi auto in 35 Remington, on the order of your 32 WS. I have one of those from 1908.

I have a model 81 in .35 Remington. It's a fun gun to shoot but recoil is pretty stout without a recoil pad.There was also a .32 Remington that is pretty much an exact duplicate of the .32 WS in performance but ammo/brass is only marginally cheaper than the WSL calibers. I've never been much of a Remington fan and they've certainly never had the allure and mystique of the old Winchesters to me but one can find some pretty cool old Remington semi autos and pumps for very good prices.

 

[Mongo59]

I have a model 81 in .35 Remington. It's a fun gun to shoot but recoil is pretty stout without a recoil pad.There was also a .32 Remington that is pretty much an exact duplicate of the .32 WS in performance but ammo/brass is only marginally cheaper than the WSL calibers. I've never been much of a Remington fan and they've certainly never had the allure and mystique of the old Winchesters to me but one can find some pretty cool old Remington semi autos and pumps for very good prices.

The cool thing is it took J M Browning to get all those guns started...

 

[thunderchicken]

Well since it's the long guns forum and its a Winchester gotta mention the Model 12. One of if not the best pump gun ever made. I've heard more than one or two guys say they are the most instinctive pointing guns ever made.

 

[Mongo59]

The model 12 is what I always thought a shotgun was supposed to look like. My G-dad had one and i have it now.

I like them enough to own a couple of dozen of them...