Winchester Model 1873: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:10, 28 April 2010

Winchester Model 1873 carbine - 1st generation rifle - 44-40 Cal.

The 1873 "Short Rifle" model with octagon barrel

A Mare's Leg cut down from a Winchester Model 1873 rifle with octagonal barrel. This has the tear drop shaped lever loop and case hardened receiver. This original Winchester rifle was cut down for the film Wild Wild West (1999) and was the screen used gun by Will Smith in the movie.

Referred to as the "Gun that Won the West", the Winchester model 1873 was manufactured in the following calibers: .44-40, .38-40 and .32-20. Modern replicas are offered in those calibers and also the .45 long colt, though it wasn't originally offered in that caliber.

Something many don't know, John M. Browning, the inventor of the rifle, used an 1873 to make his first prototype automatic firing gun. After seeing what a muzzle blast could do to a patch of grass, he tested it and found he was correct. The muzzle blast from the gun was heavy enough to be harnessed, so he took a flapper and attached it to the muzzle and the lever and invented his first automatic rifle.

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