winchester 73

[mr mike]

As much as I love the old Remington model 8 I've got a real soft spot for the Winchester 73.
Unfortunately I don't have the big thick wallet it seems to require to buy one.

Today being somewhat slow for me I stumbled on a classic western movie on TV.
Jimmy Stewarts "Winchester 73". Haven't seen it since I was a kid many years ago. The rifle the movie
takes its name from is a special edition model. Its a "One of One Thousand" edition. An absolutely beautifull rifle.
After viewing the film I decided to look up that gun on google, and came up with the following....

http://merzantique.com/item/21366

http://archives.gunsandammo.com/content ... e-thousand

After learning a bit more history of the winchester 73, it was even more interesting, and exciting
to learn a reproduction of this rifle
is available. Still not cheap, but.....well ya never know.
If I ever won the lotto I'd sure get one. In the mean time, guess I'll keep dreaming.

[DWalt]

I have owned only one Model 73, a rifle in .32-20, ca. 1890. Cosmetically, it was pretty good (but not collector grade), and the bore was badly rusted, so it couldn't be fired as anything other than as a noisemaker. At the time (this was about 30 years ago), I could have had the barrel relined for $150, but that was too much, I thought, so I sold it about 1992. Wish I had relined the bore and kept it. The '73 replicas are well made, and and are in wide use by CAS shooters. If you want a shooter with the look and feel of the real thing, at a fraction of the price, you might want to do some research.

[imfuncity]

Had a line on a repro model in 357/38 that had only been used with powder-puff CAS ammo but had the linkage upgraded. Called the guy who made the linkage, he said definitely better then original but NOT made for full house 357, as the seller had suggested - so I backed away.

Still..., great movie and historic piece. If I could get the correct ammo at a reasonable price, I'd get more interested real quick. Would look great beside the 8's for sure.

[DWalt]

Virtually all CAS shooters load their own, and CAS loads are light. Two reasons - 1. CAS is a timed game, and there is less recovery time with light loads. 2. CAS has velocity restrictions for revolvers and rifles - I think 1000 fps for revolvers and 1200 fps for rifles - Also, only lead bullets are allowed. Most shooters load somewhat below CAS maximums for reason 1, as pipsqueak loads are all that's needed at CAS distances and target types. Some even load with black powder or Pyrodex to get the correct 19th century smoke effect. Some light smokeless loads of the slower burning pistol powders are also smoky, and are used in CAS.

Back in my CAS days, I used two .44 Mag Ruger Super Blackhawks and a Model 94 carbine, also in .44 Mag. But I used only .44 Special cases with very light loads of Bullseye, Red Dot, etc. that were well inside CAS velocity maximums.

Typical CAS loads are much lower pressures such that any replica or even original M73s could handle them with no damage. At one time, some really authentic CAS shooters used original BP rifles and revolvers, but that is probably no longer the case due to the increasing value of such arms. Some of those guys (and gals) spend more money on their western wardrobes than their guns.

One other thing - Many CAS shooters prefer their guns to have that well-used appearance, so they look like they were given hard use on the frontier by Wyatt Earp, Sam Bass, etc. In fact, some deliberately "age" the finishes of their guns. No refinishing in CAS.