Winchester 73 Restoration

[Charles]

I have my Great Grandfather's Winchester 73 Carbine that he bought new in 1883 and keep within reach on his Coleman County Texas ranch until his death in 1911. It is in 38 WCF and has his brand (Double-O-Bar) carved into side of the buttstock.

As long as I have known the rifle, the full cock notch was busted of the hammer. I was unable to find anybody including some Winchester restoration guys willing to reweld and recut the notch. Well after a year of looking, I now have a vintage 73 hammer with the notches in good condition.

The stock needs some restoration work, but I am capable of doing that. The barrel is pitted beyond use and there is not enough metal in the carbine barrels to put in a liner. So it will just be a display piece when done.

This will supply the motivation to finish the couple of project in front of it. It has never been fully functional in my lifetime.

If I ever have an loose cash (big chance!) I would like to buy a new reproduction 73 Carbine in 38-40 to shoot with cast bullets and black powder. Oh well...I can dream!

[J Miller]

Charles,

It's not my carbine, but if it was I would do just the minimum to make it shootable. Replace the hammer and barrel with a good used example and what ever else must be replaced. No more.
That is not restoration, that is refurbishing.
It is something that your grandfather would have done had he still been alive and wanting to shoot the carbine.
I'd also bet that barrel and hammer was in good shape when he passed. Most likely messed up by those who came after him.

Joe

[Booger Bill]

I once had a shotout 73 in 32 wcf. I had it rebored and chambered to .38 special by I think bain & davis. Before that I had a shotout 92 in 25-20 that I had bain & davis bore out to .357 mag. I had a gunsmith and a close friend do the other work. The 92 looked new when they got through, and I left the finish alone on the 73. I suppose many would say I made a mistake but this work was done about 40 years ago, I didnt pay much for the rifles, and the smithing probley wasnt 20% or less of what the guru`s would get today. The 92 had looked like it was under a chicken coop for 50 years when I bought it as a kid in the mid 50s for probley 20 bucks. When my friends got through with it, it looked almost new. I had also bought new wood for it. I sold or traded both, wish I had kept them. I would guess I had roughly $200 in each when they were done.
Since it was your grandpa`s, I know you will keep it and pass it on. Why not at least repair it to where it can be shot, and if it wont hold a group either get it relined to the same caliber or even get it rebored and go with 44 wcf? If you want to go farther, get a nice refinish and redo the wood or even buy new? Look at it this way grandpa had it his lifetime and wore it out, now you would be restoreing it for another peorid of shooting. That doesnt sound bad to me and I would think your grandson would be proud knowing the story and thinking it out! My advice wouldnt be the same if I was looking to sell it.

[Charles]

I am going to do the minimum to get it functional where it can be shot, although with the barrel pitting, accuracy would be nil. I have no need to shoot it and dont want to remove the original barrel. There is not enough meat on a carbine barrel to reline it and I don't know if a rebore to 44 WCF would take out the deeper pits. There is only about .029 difference between the 38 and 444 WCF rounds. It is something to think about.

I am just going to clean the metal and leave it with the patina. The markings are still good and strong and no serious pitting on the outside of the metal.

I will need to replace the hammer and a toggle pin or two.

The stock has zero finish on it, being very dry and age lightened. The upper half of the right tang has been split off and long gone. Without that it won't go back on the rifle and be stable.

I will splice a piece of walnut to replace the missing piece and shape it. The entire stock will then be cleaned, have the dents raised, and then I will do about a three coat linseed oil scrub to darken, fill and protect the wood. All of the dings and character will remain.

That is about the nimimum I can do to get it functional and in condition to pass down a couple of generations more. There should be nothing that will remove and of the rifle's character. Just conserve what I have in a functinal form.

[C. Cash]

That is a treasure Charles. Please post pics if your of a mind.

[Booger Bill]

Sounds close to the condition of this old one I used to have. This one was made in 1902 and came off a indian reservation in the dakotas.

[Gun Smith]

If you haven't shot it so far, don't knock the bore condition just yet. I have a couple of Winchesters with sewer pipe bores that will group 3" at 50 yards.