This is a nice untouched example of the Winchester Model 1873 saddle ring carbine in Caliber 44-40. It's 100% original down to the smallest screw!  Before I got married and had a son, I used to collect 1873 SRC's.  1873 SRC's are particularly challenging guns for collectors to find in nice condition without spending a fortune. This particular gun was in my personal collection several years ago and we recently bought it back.    Most were used hard during the 19th century and most were carried on horseback, stored in barns, or simply lived outdoors for most of their working lives.  They were popular with outlaws, lawmen, cowboys, farmers, and just about anyone who owned a horse who needed to carry a gun.  In the 1870's through the 1890's, these little repeating rifles had more firepower than anything you buy throughout the world...so much so that Winchester literally sold them across the globe!  Simply put, unlike their sporting rifle counterparts, these carbines were regarded as TOOLS in any part of the world!  Most were used up and thrown away!  Today, most carbines are complete wrecks, a few are decent, and a few are minty but carry $10-20K price tags. This gun is the kind you almost never see, one that was used carefully, stored inside, and oiled.  That's pretty rare for a carbine made in the year 1887. 

Overall, it's in Fine+ condition and still has 65% faded original blue mixing with a dark brown patina.  The receiver doesn't photograph as well as I'd like but it still has 65% fading blue from one end to the other.  Loading port still shows fire blue in the protected areas while the hammer and lever still have hints of original case colors.  The saddle ring has formed a nice shadow across the right side of the receiver....if you're into carbines, then you know it just isn't a carbine without the ring and a nice shadow to go with it.  The barrel has about 75% faded powdery blue remaining mixing in with a dark patina while the tube has mostly subsided to a plum patina with 20-30% age darkened blue.  Original sights include "1873" marked rear ladder sight graduated from 200 to 900 yards.  Standard front sight is a post mounted behind the front band.  Wood is in near excellent conditon overall...showing just a few light handling marks.  Both the stock and forearm are a bit on the dark side but have excellent wood to metal fit..completely untouched...never sanded or cleaned.  You'll have a difficult time find a carbine with better wood.  Action is perfect mechanically...just as the day it was made and the lever really SNAPS shut!  Bore is excellent...bright and shiny with very strong rifling and only a few minor pits..one of the best bores I've seen for a carbine.  The stock even still retains its original 3 piece cleaning rods...which is almost unheard of for a carbine.  All in all, just a really nice completely untouched Winchester 73 saddle ring carbine with a great bore, lots of blue, nice wood, & all original. It's certainly not a minty one, but it won't cost you $10,000-$20,000 either.

Item# 0383

SOLD