Picked up a couple lever action rifles today

highpower3006 · July 15, 2020, 03:07 PM

I have been looking for a decent early lever action rifle for a long time. I was specifically looking for a Winchester 1873 in .44WCF, but in all honesty I would have taken one in just about any caliber if the price was right. Finding one at a price I was comfortable with has been hard as real nice ones seem to go for stupid money. I finally managed to remedy that today and even better I wound up with two early lever actions.

I stumbled onto a 1888 vintage Winchester Model 1873 in .44WCF and a Marlin Model 1893 chambered in .38-55 and made in 1900. I got them for what I consider to be a pretty decent deal for the pair of them.

The bore on the '73 is kind of so-so, but it does have reasonably strong rifling right out to the muzzle. The metal finish has no bluing left, but it does not have a heavy patina and the wood is in pretty good condition. Overall not bad at all for being 132 years old. I am probably not going to shoot it a whole bunch, but I will put a few rounds down the tube from time to time.

The real treasure is the Marlin. The .38-55 is a great round and the bore on this rifle is just pristine. There is tons of blue left on the barrel and strong traces of the original case colors on the receiver with some freckling on the left side. I would rate the wood as being about the same overall condition as that on the Winchester.

vkeith · July 15, 2020, 05:53 PM

Wow, nice finds!

Tidewater_Kid · July 15, 2020, 10:10 PM

Two beautiful rifles!

44caliberkid · July 16, 2020, 09:00 AM

A pair of beauties. Don't worry about the bore on that 1873, dark is OK, as long as the rifling is strong, which is how you described it. You can usually get nice Marlins for less than Winchesters. Inspires me to get out our 1889 Marlin 38-40 and do some shooting.

jmr40 · July 16, 2020, 07:09 PM

I like 'em.

July 15, 2020, 03:07 PM	#1
highpower3006 Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2011 Location: Savannah TN Posts: 1,220	Picked up a couple lever action rifles today I have been looking for a decent early lever action rifle for a long time. I was specifically looking for a Winchester 1873 in .44WCF, but in all honesty I would have taken one in just about any caliber if the price was right. Finding one at a price I was comfortable with has been hard as real nice ones seem to go for stupid money. I finally managed to remedy that today and even better I wound up with two early lever actions. I stumbled onto a 1888 vintage Winchester Model 1873 in .44WCF and a Marlin Model 1893 chambered in .38-55 and made in 1900. I got them for what I consider to be a pretty decent deal for the pair of them. The bore on the '73 is kind of so-so, but it does have reasonably strong rifling right out to the muzzle. The metal finish has no bluing left, but it does not have a heavy patina and the wood is in pretty good condition. Overall not bad at all for being 132 years old. I am probably not going to shoot it a whole bunch, but I will put a few rounds down the tube from time to time. The real treasure is the Marlin. The .38-55 is a great round and the bore on this rifle is just pristine. There is tons of blue left on the barrel and strong traces of the original case colors on the receiver with some freckling on the left side. I would rate the wood as being about the same overall condition as that on the Winchester. Last edited by highpower3006; July 15, 2020 at 03:46 PM.

July 15, 2020, 05:53 PM	#2
vkeith Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2012 Posts: 108	Wow, nice finds! __________________ An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

July 16, 2020, 07:09 PM	#5
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,805	I like 'em. __________________ "If you're still doing things the same way you were doing them 10 years ago, you're doing it wrong" Winston Churchill

July 15, 2020, 10:10 PM	#3
Tidewater_Kid Senior Member Join Date: July 3, 2005 Location: Alabama Posts: 925	Two beautiful rifles!

July 16, 2020, 09:00 AM	#4
44caliberkid Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2017 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,098	A pair of beauties. Don't worry about the bore on that 1873, dark is OK, as long as the rifling is strong, which is how you described it. You can usually get nice Marlins for less than Winchesters. Inspires me to get out our 1889 Marlin 38-40 and do some shooting.