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Need an opinion on restoring 73 carbine

dsmc1
Hi
I bought this 1873 barrelled action andwant opinions from those with more experiernce than I have: should I polish and reblue this, or restore it in the "aged" condition? the adress is practically gone already, and I would probably have to use a new stock, as I haven't seen any carbine stocks on GB.
What would improve the value more, as a collector or shooter?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=144556614

Appreciate any opinions.
Dave
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • SP45
    Reblueing or restoring will not hurt this gun. Remember that you can put more money onto a project like this than it costs to buy an origional. With that said I may have a stock and fore-end for this.
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  • Bert H.
    My personal opinion is that it is going to cost you considerably more $$$$ to make it a whole (complete) gun again than it will ever be worth... in otherwords, you will never recoop the money you will need to put into it.

    The overall condition of the barrel and the bare receiver frame is deplorable, and it would require removing an excessive amount of pitted steel to make it look presentable again. Additionally, you are missing nearly all of the parts needed to make the receiver group whole again.

    That old Winchester will never ever be a "collectable" piece again in its remaining lifetime, and I just can not see putting any money in to make it to make it a shooter. My advice... sell the barrel to someone else who needs it.
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  • dsmc1
    Thanks for the replies. You confirmed my suspicions. However I enjoy taking in these battered ladies and restoring them, even if I don't get any financial return on investment.
    SP45, I sent you an email to ask for more info on the stock set you have. May be interested. Will probably just clean it up and restore it as an old gun, if I can get an older stock set to match it. I have some well worn parts i have picked up on GB and the "other" site.

    Again, thanks for sharing. Really appreciate your views.
    Dave
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  • Fatstrat
    My gunsmith told me recently of a local man who restores Winchester 1890's. Said he can even restore worn markings. I wonder if he could do a '73?
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  • dandak1
    dsmc, I was the other person who bid on this gun that you won. They make very interesting projects. I think like you do...some restore old cars, I like to tinker with old guns. Bert is right, a collector may scoff at it, but the ones I rebuild I shoot. Just rebuilt a 38 WCF 1873 from a frame/barrel just like this. I think i wound up with a total of under $900 and let me tell you, I have owned 7 1873's and NONE have shot as good as the one I assembled from parts. It is a keeper. As to your question, if it were mine I would definitely not reblue it...it just wont look right and you would constantly be defending it, whereas if you rebuild it slowly with parts picked up on GB, parts that pretty much match your frame, you will wind up with a presentable gun that you wont have to make apologies for. All the parts eventually show up on GB except as you stated, the stock. You may want to consider buying a newly made stock if the one you have pending falls thru, just dont doll up the new stock...try to antique the stock to look like it was with the frame awhile. My concern however, before doing any of this, is the condition of the chamber...if bad you may have to reline and that really boosts the price up..then you may not want to put all the money in it.
    1873 rifles seemed to have come down in price in all calibers, but a SRC is still very pricey.
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  • dsmc1
    Hi Dandak
    I guess we think alike. Trick is going to be making a brand new stock LOOK 100 years old. remember hearing about a copy of the William Bradford chair being made and antiqued so well it fooled ALL the experts. I think he soaked it in a solution of salt water and SEWAGE if I remember correctly (No I'm NOT going THAT far to age it), but I'm sure there are some tricks of the trade that can be found online.
    As you said the trick is finding parts that look the same age. One of the easier aspects of Winchesters is that the only serial number is on the tang; don't have to worry about matching numbers.
    Hope you enjoy your hobby as much as I do. A Happy Thanksgiving to ALL you shooters.
    Dave
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  • rhmc24
    Take heart! It is possible to make it into a gun again. What they say about cost can be true. You can put more money into it than it will ever be worth for re-sale. People who worry about that probably never experienced the satisfaction of bringing something back from the 'brink of oblivion'.

    I have been doing it with Colt pre-1911 .38 and .45 automatics - and there are probably ten times or more parts out there for Win 73s. I have built several pistols up from parts. It can be done.

    Rotzaruck!
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