Winchester 1873 Third Model .44 WCF 24″ Lever Action Rifle MFD 1887 Antique

SOLD FOR: $3,332.57

LSB#: LSB260625WM034

Make: Winchester

Model: 1873, Third Model

Serial Number: 230785B

Year of Manufacture: 1887 / Antique

Caliber: .44 W.C.F. (.44-40 Winchester)

Action Type: Lever Action Rifle with Tubular Magazine

Markings: The top barrel flat is marked “WINCHESTER’S-REPEATING-ARMS. NEW HAVEN. CONN. U.S.A.” over the King’s Improvement patent marking with the dates March 29, 1866 and October 16, 1860. The barrel is marked “44 W.C.F.” at the chamber. The upper tang is marked “MODEL. 1873.” with decorative flourishes. The brass carrier is marked “44 CAL”. The lower tang is marked “230785B”.

Barrel Length: 24″, Octagonal

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade in a base dovetailed into the barrel. The rear sight is a notched leaf with a stepped elevator, dovetailed into the barrel. There are two drilled, tapped, and filled holes in the upper tang for a tang sight.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece smooth wood with a capped forend, straight grip, straight comb, and a steel crescent buttplate with a sliding trapdoor. The wood has scattered scratches, small dents, and handling marks, with darker areas around the wrist and forend. There are no chips or cracks. The buttplate has scattered light pitting and wear to a gray patina. The LOP measures 12 3/4″ from the front of the trigger to the rear of the buttplate. The stocks are in Very Good overall condition for an Antique.

Type of Finish: Blued with Case Colored Hammer and Lever

Finish Originality: Original

Bore Condition: The bore is bright and the rifling is well defined where not interrupted by erosion. In this writer’s opinion the bore rates 5/10.

Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 65% of its original metal finish. The finish has thinned and developed a brown patina, with lighter wear along the barrel edges and the raised edges of the receiver. There are scattered light scratches, handling marks, and patches of light surface erosion. The hammer and lever have largely worn to gray and brown. The screw slots show light tool marks. The markings remain legible, though portions of the barrel markings are faint. Overall, this rifle is in Very Good condition for an Antique.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly.
We did not fire this rifle.
As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance requirements.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None

Our Assessment: This Winchester was made in 1887, just as John Browning’s designs were opening new possibilities for the company. The Model 1886 had recently given Winchester a repeater for large cartridges such as the .45-70 Government, and the Model 1887 extended the lever-action principle to a repeating shotgun. The older 1873 still had a place beside those newcomers. Its .44 W.C.F. cartridge had been central to the model from the beginning: a centerfire round with a reloadable brass case, an important advance over the rimfire ammunition of the earlier Henry and Model 1866. The 1873 combined that cartridge with the side loading gate inherited from the 1866 and the familiar lever-operated mechanism. This 1887 rifle belongs to the period when that established combination shared Winchester’s production with a new generation of arms.

Several details make the development visible on this example. The King’s Improvement patent marking on the barrel reaches back to the loading-gate improvement that allowed cartridges to enter through the receiver while the magazine remained enclosed. The Third Model dust cover runs on a rail machined into the receiver itself, replacing the separate, screw-attached rail of the Second Model. Winchester had refined the construction while preserving the rifle’s basic arrangement. Its 24-inch octagonal barrel identifies the sporting-rifle configuration, and the barrel’s “44 W.C.F.” and carrier’s “44 CAL” markings identify the original chambering of a family that later expanded to include .38 and .32 centerfire versions and a .22 rimfire. By 1887, the 1873 was an established platform with several roles and calibers, and this rifle preserves the .44-caliber combination around which that success was built.