Winchester Lever Action Development: Model 1873

With the Model of 1873, Winchester was able to address the major remaining weakness of the Henry and 1866 rifles - the cartridge. The 1873 was introduced in tandem with the .44Winchester Center Fire cartridge (known more commonly today as the .44-40). This cartridge kept the 200 grain bullet from the .44Henry Rimfire round, but used a brass case (as opposed to copper) and was able to increase the powder charge from 28 grains to 40, for a substantial increase in velocity.
In addition, the Model 1873 used a lighter steel frame and introduced a sliding dust cover on the top of the action to help keep out dirt and debris. The centerfire nature of the cartridge made it possible to handled ammunition when a commercial source was not available (Winchester sold the reloading tools). The 1873 was available with a wide variety of options, including barrel and magazine lengths, buttstock and grips, sights, and fancy options like engraving. It would prove to be a massively popular weapon both in the United States and abroad, cementing Winchester’s position as the premier manufacturer of American repeating rifles.
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[@drmaudio]

I'm reminded again what a valued possession that would be. While $35 would be around $700 today in terms of pure inflation, the median income in '73 was around $2.30/day, compared to around $220/day today. So relative to sacrifice of budget, it would be the equivalent of about a $3,000 rifle today. It's popularity despite it's cost is a reminder how much people valued their firearms.

[@ghostrider6267]

Gun Sense (drmaudio) that's great to know about!

[@redneckwithajeep5001]

Your comment just made me realize it’s well worth buying a new one. I never took the income into it in the past. I might actually go out and buy a new Winchester now

[@dapsapsrp]

They were absolute necessary pieces of equipment to many people of the day especially to those who lived outside of big cities and had to rely on themselves and their gear to survive.

[@charlie1571]

With that cost it is reasonable to think theft was another way to procure this beautiful rifle or murder.

[@Bourikii2992]

Except you also have to look at cost of living as well. Room and board for men was apparently like 6 dollars a month. Or 129 dollars today. Lol you can barely buy a tent for 1 today for that much money. Let alone room and board. So you didn't need to worry about rent or food because it be payed off in 2 days if you were making average pay. I spend an entire month paying for rent and utilities. Let alone groceries.

[@d.a.2742]

My Winchester 1873 44-40 Carbine just turned 130 years (1891)young in 2021 and still functions and fires beautifully....even have an original 1873( 1881) cleaning rod kit that fits nicely in the butt stock! Love it 😊

[@davejones67]

If you can find them!

[@mounirdarwiche6075]

The rifle arrived today and I dialed in the scope just a couple hours ago kzbin.infoUgkxQt2uORDRfFOVSrO4idv4B90ThT6EOnEL . I haven’t shot with a scope in probably 25 years. The X on the left was my target. (the shot almost in the bullseye on the right X was my father in laws first shot after I made adjustments) The two shots circled are my first 2 shots. Then I brought it down - shot once. Then brought it over to the left. From there zeroed it in to dead center. This all was from 25 yards out. Follow instructions carefully when mounting the scope. So far I'm very happy with the purchase.

[@mattrobinson5099]

Today I learned there's a word for the sealing action of a brass case in the chamber, obturation. Thanks Ian!

[@1337penguinman]

Winchester '73. The AR-15 of its day.

[@DrSpoon-iu4hs]

1337penguinman but they didn’t have libtards trying to band it

[@bikerbob2005]

Few years later built this in 10 Gage . Level up

[@israelisntreal786]

Also it’s still probably the most beautiful rifle of its day

[@coleparker]

Shhh! don't say that too loud. Feinstein and others will try to have it banned.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Did you just call most westerners in the 19th century self entitled, clueless jackasses?

[@HereticDuo]

From the producers of "Goldylocks and the 3 bears" comes the newest blockbuster, "Ian and the 3 winchesters"

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Sure it wasn't from the Producers of Battleship?`The dialogue seemed somewhat familiar, although facial expression and body language were leagues above that movie...

[@Dregkar]

I just love old rifles like that. Imagine all the people that owned it, took care of it, the stories it might have had and maybe even the people killed by it. Might be a bit morbid but it is really fascinating to me.

[@_yellow]

Mellisco As they say about the walls of a house; "Imagine if those walls could speak"

[@lavrentivs9891]

Just don't think of all the rifles who were neglected and left to rust =P

[@ricashbringer9866]

Oliver Winchesters daughter went nuts and built a house she said she was told to build to house the souls of those killed by her father's guns. You can visit the house today. It was featured on " Believe It or Not."

[@therideneverends1697]

if we are being realistic most guns are likely never so much as pointed at another person let alone fired. Likely carried around a farm, shot game, and mabey alot of empty cans

[@stuarthart3370]

@@therideneverends1697 I was given a Winchester similar to the one in the video. I was staying in the top corner of Arkansas and was surrounded by woods and scrub for miles. I was eagerly anticipating some live meat rather than the usual hillbilly roadkill stew. My cousin who gave me the gun was pretty nonchalant about gun ownership as at around the age of 60 he'd had a gun since he was 6 years old, airgun of course. I thought of the old Winchester, with great affection, what an amazing piece of engineering!

[@cocogutierrez509]

💥I`m from Argentina in Corrientes Province and all about these really rifles Winnchester`s models have made the real history of America......congratulations to you for the informations all about its..thank you. Jorge Fernando "Coco"GUTIERREZ

[@SeraphinaPZ]

Comes in three handy-dandy sizes, "Sensible", "Compensating", and "MORE DAKKA".

[@terminator572]

Sera kind of difficult to achieve proper DAKKA quantities with a lever action tho

[@underdog1252]

At the point in time when bullets can pass through the interdimensional walls. When firepower takes up the entirety and eternity of space and time, all beings stuck in a neverending life and death cycle as bullets recover and destroy their bodies in quick succession. No one is able to think about anything but the sheer force of the bullets rapidly flying literally everywhere in the materium turning the warp itself into nothing but a sea of automatic weaponry.. Then there will be enough dakka. Or, at least almost.

[@kidbach]

shootier!

[@thatlemonguy1107]

Yo tf is dakka

[@thegeneralissimo470]

@@terminator572 You say that like it's a challenge for Orks to do that.

[@jimvandemoter6961]

That full stock gun might be a little unwieldy, but It's the coolest of the three. I'd like to see a modern replica from somebody.

[@zoltanbodnar9721]

the last time I clicked so fast Ian was talking about the model 66

[@docp6325]

I just want to thank the random guy on youtube that recommended this channel some time back, I cam across the comment, searched this channel, and have yet to be disappointed. Quality, informative, and endless videos. I could watch this stuff all day.

[@hunterkiller7352]

The world of firearms is so damn interesting. It's got a bit to do with everything, chemistry, engineering, woodworking, politics, etc. Seeing what comes of the production of these tools is fascinating.

[@liamcraddock9539]

@@hunterkiller7352 Yes that's it. The amount of funny looks and "oh what you want to be a serial killer or something?" you get when you say you find firearms interesting (especially being in the UK, like me). But yeah I always have to explain that there are so many more elements to it and quite rarely are people interested in firearms for sinister reasons as opposed to reasons you listed

[@b.hagedash7973]

...And looking over the bullet ridden corpses of mamma bear and poppa, bear baby bear smiled uncertainly at Goldilocks, pushed his bowl of porridge away and didn't say a thing.

[@gravitysnegative1962]

B. Hagedash wow where is this from

[@Jesses001]

Rifle too big, too small, just right is where Hagedash got that from.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

I do not think that in all his many thousands of videos Ian has EVER harmed a single animal willingly. He's not THAT sort of gun "enthusiast". also it would be "riddled" not ridden.

[@MODNAR22]

Beautiful rifles. Without a doubt my favourite long gun ever made.

[@Daemascus]

Oooooh that musket length model, I think Im in love.

[@wallyfirkins1664]

I just found this video. Thanks. I have just disassembled and cleaned the internal parts in preparation to shoot my 1889 made 38-40 model 1873. My rifle has a 30" barrel and while it has lost much of it's original finish, it will be a good shooter. I have just received black powder ammo from Buffalo Arms Co and a magazine spring and a screw for the magazine tube from Homestead Parts. The firearm was very crusty internally but it still has fair rifling. It was part of a collection my siblings and I inherited from my father. My father never attempted to clean or shoot any of the many old firearms he had and would never let one of us whipper snappers touch them. I think he must have know us better than we did ourselves. Anyway, it is ready to go to the range and I can't wait.

[@TheAlmostbob]

Always puts a smile on my face when I remember that Ian's a lefty! Im not alone!

[@LOVEMUFFIN_official]

That was one of the main reasons that I switched to lever guns: no preference for handedness.

[@RegretsnothinG7]

The Goldilocks introduction was an interesting change...

[@brianfuller7691]

To put cost into context, a cowboy earned somewhere between $25 and $40( depending on experience ). A '73 was a significant rifle and purchase but was popular. It was expensive but well worth it. This was the model that really made the Winchester brand after the success with the Yellow Boy '66. Winchester would make more than 720 ,000 '73s.

[@unherolike]

My '73 is a 200K series putting it at a 1888 production date and the Action still is still smoother then anything Henry or Uberti make today.

[@Master...deBater]

Why do you feel the need to come on here and make us all feel bad???

[@azizcook1651]

As someone who wants to become a gunsmith some day, I really like how he touches every detail of the history behind these weapons systems. Gonna make this guys channel my bible when I wanna learn more about a fire arm.

[@user-ho4nw5sf3w]

Good luck on the gunsmithing career. From an old gunsmith.

[@michaelgarcia4035]

I cannot reccomend enough C&Rsenal and there gunsmith Mark Novak. They cover the history of firearms in waaaay more depth in roughly hour long videos, complete with xray animations made in house. Mark has his own youtube channel that covers techniques to resoration and preservation as well as some other areas in gunsmithing. He sometimes restores firearms for the main channel episodes.

[@copper-tc6un]

One improvement of the 1873 over the 1866, was a system to prevent the rifle firing before the bolt was fully locked in battery. A small gravity dropped pin in front of the 1873's cartridge elevator would fall down during the completion of the lever cycle, preventing the rifle from firing out of battery.

[@Khrrck]

Since it's gravity operated, does that mean it would not work if held sideways, vertically or upside down? Can't really think of situations where you would do that sort of thing (shooting through a horizontal slit?), but it's an interesting thought.

[@copper-tc6un]

@@Khrrck It won't work if the rifle is upside down. You'd have to be ripping really fast to get it to fail if you held it sideways, but the rifles lifter would probably kick the cartridge out before chambering it.

[@CGRstudios1]

Gun Jesus blesses us with his sacraments

[@AtlantiansGaming]

Gundhi.

[@legionitalia309]

"The battle of Little Big Horn, where I...er, I mean Custer got annihilated...."

[@hericbagley8286]

I always wondered where the Sioux obtained the bulk of their lever actions and if French Canadian trader's weren't working the friction for political reasons as much as for profit

[@pixelatedvolume8051]

As I understand it there was never really a unified Sioux military force until immediately before Little Bighorn, so the rifles would have been bought individually or in small groups. Probably didn’t arouse suspicion like buying 1000+ at once would.

[@samuelreed2994]

riiiight!

[@georgesakellaropoulos8162]

Dear Ian, the. 38-40 is actually chambered for a .401 in. diameter projectile, making it 40 caliber. Oops, looks like Himlow Odemire beat me to it. That's to be expected when you arrive to the party this late.

[@HughesEnterprises]

Up until 1879-ish the dust cover was an optional upgrade for a few cents more. I have personally bought an original 1873 mfg in 1875 without the dust cover option in .44 WCF. Very unusual and interesting that somebody wanted to save $0.70 on their $40 rifle.

[@trippcailean9594]

well yeah. gotta save some money for ammo

[@cs-rj8ru]

Maybe you're putting too much throught into it? Perhaps the Original owner walked into a local hardware store and it was what was available? Probably said, I'll take it.

[@dapsapsrp]

The more firearms trends head in a tactical direction the more I desire one of these. They speak much more to craftsmanship than mere cookie cutter industrial manufacturing.

[@HK_roller_delayed]

Really enjoying this series! I can't wait for the episode on the 1892!

[@georgesheffield1580]

Or the 1876 too.

[@dayward1]

I didn't know about the .30WCF and the 30-.30. I haven't heard of the WCF .30 until now. Thanks for the knowledge Ian.

[@thegoldencaulk2742]

So, is Ian... Gun-dielocks?

[@RyanRyzzo]

BADUM DISHHHKLUBLISHQUEUulishdishtishssssh! Oops, dropped it....

[@jonathanbecker6373]

Thank you.

[@ComputingCactus]

Smooth as ex lax.

[@GrOuNdZeRo7777]

Gun Jesus, Gun-dielock... At this point, What difference does it make?

[@TheRogueWolf]

I'm glad you made the joke so that I didn't have to.

[@herpderp117]

Loving this series Ian, keep it up man.

[@troy9477]

Great condition on those. Nice to see the three variations together. Custer didn't just get himself annihilated (which would, frankly, be no great tragedy- he was a big prima donna, Patton took lessons from him), he got 1/3 or 1/2 his regiment annihilated with him. Always listen carefully to the intel from your scouts. I'm guessing the 38-40 nomenclature must have gotten backward somehow and they had to stick with the typo. Everyone knows it's a 40 cal bore. Anyway, great video as always. Enjoying the Winchester history series. Thank you

[@healyburnham393]

Ian, it ia always a pleasure to see your videos. Cousin Warren GAVE me a '73 in .38 WCF and my wife bought me a 1st generation Colt for a companion. Yes, I am doubly blessed!!

[@therugburnz]

Thanx to Ian some of our history will not become forgotten weapons , merely interesting. Well merely is the wrong word. When Ian likes, chooses, describes and disassembles a weapon it will not soon be forgotten. Thanx Ian !

[@TylerHulan]

Just bought an old Euroarms 1873 clone in .357 today. Looks like they did a pretty good job replicating it.

[@himlowodinmire1333]

Ian, great video and content as always and finally a gun that I actually own! However one mistake that is easily made is that 38WCF or 38-40 isn't a .38 caliber but rather a .401 caliber. Keep up the great work!

[@akodo1]

Came here to post the same thing...but part of my brain is also saying "hey...the 44-40 is really 43 caliber" and then I started thinking "and 38 is really .36" so then what? Sometimes I just want to get in a time machine and smack those old time cartridge namers!

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

@@akodo1 There should be laws about such things having to actually hold up to a measuring gauge.

[@markrhuett]

Why does it say 38 on the barrel?

[@korbetthein3072]

@@markrhuett The inside diameter of the case mouth is .38, the outside is roughly .40. Other people have much longer and more detailed explanations than me.

[@markrhuett]

@@korbetthein3072 That's a good explanation. Thank you.

[@riverstyxarmory9782]

this is a great video to watch while floating a stock for my class rifle. thank you Ian.

[@Payneless]

I knew where the intro was going, but I really enjoyed it. Keep up the great work Ian!

[@drewbarker8504]

It’s so interesting to see the musket version.

[@TrikeRoadPoet]

Love this series!

[@m118lr]

I have a 1901 production ‘73 with the 24” octagon bbl in .38 WCF (38-40). It’s in great shape..MY appraisal, and it will be handed down. LOVE it. Also have a ‘newer’ model ‘94 ((.30-30) produced mid-50’s, BOTH have pristine bores. Excellent vid, thanks...

[@mostlymagical3220]

I’ve got one of these in .32-20, and I have yet to shoot it, thanks for the video, Ian!

[@aaronloveday4858]

I know this is a old video and it really doesn’t matter but the 38-40 bullet was a 40 caliber bullet on 38 grains of powder. For what ever reason the nomenclature on the bullet is backwards of other calibers.

[@Aravzil]

Damn, I love the look of that stubby one. It looks so cool!

[@alpagator1372]

Haha. Love that starting skit.

[@dalesubic345]

Ian. I really love lever guns. Your videos are always superb. Thank you for making so many outstanding videos. That is the military "outstanding" from a 27 year veteran.

[@lukeyama7328]

I'd like to see the famous Chuck Connors winchester.

[@m143l]

Very informative, thank you.

[@Loot1377]

You're awesome Ian

[@quarthinos]

Great video as always. I'm a bit disappointed you didn't go over how the dust cover worked, tho, since that seems to be the major mechanical difference from the 1866 :(

[@grantpilcher8402]

My Winchester 1873 16 inch barrel just turned 150 years old

[@SolarEmp1re]

That rifle length with the full stock is very appealing, I wish someone would make on of those.

[@stacybrown3714]

I am enjoying this journey of Winchester lever guns. Thanks Gun Jesus.

[@jamespfp]

"The Goldilocks Gun" -- Great intro Ian!

[@Hidalguense]

nothing like a lever rifle

[@dubsy1026]

hidalguense d corazon by those 4 words you mean? there is no real discernable meaninf

[@philipshearer5286]

@@dubsy1026 there is no gun which quite matches the elegance of a lever action rifle, it's not that hard

[@notahotshot]

@@dubsy1026, five words, there are five words.

[@dubsy1026]

Apologies, I was probably feeling excessively quip-y at the time. It seems my enthusiasm got the better of me.

[@jackdundon2261]

So did he say 4 words or was it 5? To tell you the truth, I was so engrossed I lost count too. You got to ask yourself, "do I go back or continue watching"?

[@badgerdan8114]

These videos are making me even more excited for red dead 2

[@FirstDagger]

Meh no PC version .... stupid Rockstar ...

[@theOneRizzolliMick]

Actually... Red Dead Redemption 2 is Red Dead 3. Don't forget Red Dead Revolver (the 1st one).

[@theOneRizzolliMick]

SubmarinerSix Well, I agree that no one remembers it, and that even Rockstar forgot about it...

[@marshallperry2446]

I would disagree, rockstar didn't forget, they just knew that the majority of their current audience had never even heard of it. It was a rather good game, not great, but one that you would enjoy. It just didn't enjoy the same popularity as many other westerns did at the time like Gun, so fewer people had seen it in the first place.

[@whiplasher8]

Um Ian , the 38-40 is actually a .40 caliber round not a true 38 .

[@danieljob3184]

You can see a stock-cut version of the shorty used by Woody Strode (Once Upon a Time in the West) and Gina Torres (Firefly / Serenity).

[@weltvonalex]

Ian is the best, my favorite channel after the great war. Gun Jesus for the win!

[@doraran5158]

Bullet is actually .401 diameter, not .38 nor .357. Also, older gun sources claimed the taper of case was to facilitate chambering and extraction. The .38-40's bullet also supposedly had some ballistic benefits. The rims on the .38-40 and .44-40 thicker reportedly to limit shearing on extraction. Early cases of 'balloon head' type and softer. Modern gun writers question why Winchester didn't just chamber it for .45 Colt. (Uberti does it now but cartridge metallurgy now far superior.)Supposedly the thinner rims of the .45 Colt had concerns with shearing. This is also reason the .45 Schofield was designed with wider rims, and shorter chambers, to prevent an accidental .45 Colt insertion, since concern of cartridge extractors shearing or skipping rims. Anyway, that was what early 1900's gun writers were writing

[@pauljnolan1000]

Ian, you omitted perhaps the most striking fact about the Winchester '73. What was that, you ask? Winchester '73, a 1950 movie starring Jimmy Stewart was the first Hollywood film to permit a star to share in the profits! Stewart's agent was the legendary Lew Wasserman who negotiated a 50/50 split with the studio. The film was a hit and Stewart made buckets of money which was taxed as a capital gain, even further increasing Stewart's haul. The studios quickly realized their error, but the genie was out of the bottle. First rank stars, producers, and directors went from being exceptionally well-paid employees to wealthy people able to live off their capital for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine what James Cameron made from Titanic? I always enjoy your videos!

[@markhawkins6276]

Thanks for your review of the development of the Winchester lever actions. I hope you get to the later versions. What I would really like to know is if you can really add a set screw to the lever to make a rapid fire lever action? :)

[@LTCEZIO]

If all the KZbinrs I was hoping you'd sell merchandise cause I would definitely buy some of it

[@ForgottenWeapons]

shop.forgottenweapons.com

[@beau4687]

Waking up to an 1873 video by Ian, having my morning coffee and smoke just before I go to work at the gunshop. Life's good

[@matejmatej3554]

I love love love your Channel keep up the good work you always get my both thumbs up greetings from Slovenia I hope you visit someday

[@nomadpi1]

Thanks. Pertinent survey info. My experience is the lever-action is the most comfortable German-Hand carry weapon available today. The Garand also fits this ease of carry.

[@BULLDOGVII]

Love it!!

[@KurtOnoIR]

I was just watching mixup98 about the one that was left leaning on a tree up in Nevada there. Pretty sweet.

[@jeramyw]

7:24 38-40 is a 40 caliber projectile over 38 grains of black powder.

[@kruqtion9615]

I hope you do a 'Guns from Red Dead Redemption 2' video like the one you did with battlefield 1

[@BrassCatcher]

Adam Young researching it yourself would yield more useful info than a video with 15 different guns being the topic

[@welshy4638]

Ian did the BF1 video's because he was an advisor for Dice on WW1 weapons.

[@TedMan55]

Kruqtion The weapons in RDR2 are like the cars in GTA, they’re using fake names and are only close to the weapons they’re modeling. I’m pretty sure the Lancaster Repeater in game is the 1873 (“Lancaster” seems to be RDR2’s fake name for Winchester, considering the pump shotgun that seems to be an Winchester 1897 is also a Lancaster), and the Lichtfield Repeater is the 1860 Henry. The default repeater that’s all around camp and that you get first (I think called the Carbine Repeater) is an 1860 Spencer. The Evans is an Evans (I’m on PC, so not sure if console got the Evans).

[@lordbear1095]

@@TedMan55 the lancaster is a winchester 66

[@TedMan55]

Lord Bear that’s what i see on the wiki, although given that the in game version is just inspired by the real thing, and that the 73 was mostly just a rechambering of a 66 for .44-40 and not significantly visually distinct, the artistic liberties in the game version probably overshadow any differences and makes it impossible to say what it actually is

[@colsoncustoms8994]

Oooooo I can't wait for the next video.

[@timburns4880]

I was just re-watching the lever action series (on the new History of Weapons and War app) and I caught a small oops by Ian. He said that the ‘73 was chambered in .38-40…which it was…but he said that was a .44-40 necked down to .38 caliber. Ian….you know the .38-40 is actually a .40 caliber bullet. For some reason, the nomenclature was reversed for this round. Not a major mistake, I know, but the small details are what matters. Love the new app, btw!!!

[@filanfyretracker]

These were not cheap rifles though I checked the inflation and at 50 bucks for its higher end before fancy options is equal to 1165 today. Admittedly back then on the frontier the rifle was very literally what separated life from death(considering even without having to defend it made the food dead enough to be dinner) it was certainly worthwhile expense. Probably as important as your Horse.

[@geoff2027]

Just looking through an old Sears. Roebuck (1897) catalog that I have, the 24 inch standard version 1873 that they have listed sold for $10.94.

[@omartorres5688]

My favorite of the Winchester series especially the octagonal barrel though I would really like to get a reproduction Musket version in either .44-40 or Smith and Wesson .44 magnum

[@plague1739]

Lever action rifles possible some of my favorite guns

[@otanalezinek3221]

you are just right Ian.

[@skraabruh8294]

Ian ur a good guy man nice video's

[@NEPAscallywag]

so $35 is around $600+ in todays value, it had a high volume of fire and was reliable and loved by its owners. it was the ar-15 of its day, Good thing dianne feinstein wasn't around back then.

[@Mildcat743]

NEPAscallywag Have you seen her? She looks like she predates this rifle a few dozen years

[@AZNwannabe06]

These hold more than 10 rounds though(!!!!1!), so she still wants it banned. Over 130 year old technology and it's still too advanced for backwards antigunners.

[@deepwoodskentuckian]

Fun fact feinstein has been around sense queen Victoria!

[@QurttoRco]

And what do you need a AR - 15 for ?

[@QurttoRco]

Universal Kombat Like what ?

[@Punisher9419]

I'll take the very short one thank you very much.

[@peternewton2200]

That carbine just looks bad ass

[@doctim111]

Yes, it's just right. Once the Browning mods were introduced the slickness went away.

[@zuttoaragi8349]

That cold open is cringey brilliance and I love it.

[@johnnysmith4576]

It would be cool to see the reloading kit they sold back then.

[@edwarddesoignie1396]

One more since Ian mentioned the Little Big Horn fight. Part of the problem with the Springfields used by the 7th Cavalry was using ammunition with copper cases which caused problems for the troopers in that the case would get stuck disabling the rifle.

[@duanesamuelson2256]

Case issues, sticking primarily but also ruptures where fairly common through the early 1900,s. It's why the early rifles cartridges often had rather extreme tapers by today's standards (look at the .375 H&H). That oversized claw extractor on the Mauser actually helped prevent tearing the case when one was stuck.

[@nodosa994]

I just love weapons from the late 19th century.

[@dekstehnrasta741]

The 1873, my favorite rifle.

[@teddyfartypants]

I remember my father had one of these around ten years ago. It was a custom gun with the owner's surname, "Vickers" (it's been so long but I think that was it), stamped on it and it was a short carbine though it was pretty heavy. The tube held only seven rounds of .44-40. Shortly before my father sold it I shot it a few dozen times. The brass goose-egged and cracked every time, so I don't know if this thing was made for black powder cartridges or it was just too worn out.

[@michaeldemetriou1399]

goldey looks and the three rifles i love the videos all the videos

[@johnyricco1220]

Could you do a video explaining the internal workings of the Colt-Burgess and 1881 Marlin?

[@exothermal.sprocket]

7:20 The .38-40 was indeed a necked down .44-40, but it is not a "38 caliber" as stated, it is a .4005 caliber (or 10mm). The naming convention on this cartridge is sort of backward compared to the usual convention, for weird reasons.

[@anter176]

Damn the fullstock rifle is snazzy

[@matandcat2506]

regarding the henry mechanism, is the same mechanism used in the martini henry rifle or is it just coincidence?

[@douro20]

You can still buy .44-40 black powder ammunition but it's quite expensive.

[@missingthe80s58]

Once you know how charcoal bluing is applied and how insanely difficult it can be to remove, you'll never fail to spot it on old guns. The slow rust bluing on the barrel has reverted to brown as bluing does. The charcoal bluing however, on the hammer, kings gate and sight remain black. So it's actually pretty straightforward. You whiten the parts (400gr polish), you tie a wire to the parts, you degrease the parts and you bury them in a vat of hot charcoal. The 4-6" deep vat or pot is gently heated from below, the charcoal is allowed to smoke off any volatiles if it's fresh charcoal. If volatiles remain and the parts are added while the charcoal smokes, it'll try to color the surface with a blotched finish as case hardening does. Pro tip: Old man told me once charcoal is used for color case hardening, it's spent. Probably volatile gasses are what imparts color. The charcoal isn't heated to glowing. That's too hot. It's heated to the point it is just barely starting to develop ash where wind hits it. It will not glow red on its own. Bury the parts in so air currents don't get to them. Allow them to heat gently, they'll turn blue to blue gray. If they go gray, too hot. Better to let them slowly heat even if it takes longer, this is better as subtle amounts of air get to the char and steel and coat the steel in an oxide that is quite thick. Longer it sits, thicker the oxide gets, the more durable it becomes. After 5 minutes, check your parts. If they're where you want them, either remove and cool or, if a darker color is desired, wipe the parts in Jojoba oil immediately while still searing hot. The parts will darken. Small parts are less apt to take a dark tone as they cool so quickly and this leaves them lighter shades of blue black. Old charcoal blued parts that are rusted now, either suffered extreme salt exposure or the application was rushed and the oxide layer far far too thin. The result is going to be an assortment of shades of blue black which for anything predating a temperature controlled kiln is correct. If you want unauthentic uniform tones, you need a kiln, more importantly, a kiln with proper "carbonia" retort, pressed charcoal chunks and carbonia oil. Essentially "Carbonia" was the updated mechanical application of charcoal finish in an automated oven.

[@chocolatte6157]

Clever intro using the 3 bears children’s story.

[@WhiteChevy4.8]

Imagine if that guns could talk. What stories could they tell, mysteries could they solve, truths and lies they could depart.

[@stevebrown8745]

How do I find more on the Mexican trapper need to know more.

[@gonshocks]

I love the movie "Winchester 73".

[@nathancole6678]

Maybe you haven't got there yet, but i think you mentioned in the 1860 Henry video, that there was no half cock or safe way to carry this style of rifle with a round chambered. Do the Winchesters get that at some point?

[@joeguzman8783]

one of my friends got a new Turnbull and it's like a real work of art ,he paid 8k but it's worth every cent