Uberti's Winchester 73: this fast firing repeater speaks with an Italian accent, and is mighty popular with the cowboy crowd

Guns Magazine, July, 2002 by Case Color, Aka Jim Gardner

The door creaked as I pulled it open. My boot heels thudding on the dusty floor alerted ol' Sam dozing behind the counter to my presence. His grin told me without a word that yes, it had finally arrived. It had taken a long spell of careful saving on my part before I could place the order. Now the eternal wait for the long heavy package to arrive from back East was over.

Opening the box, I lifted out the new Winchester. Behind the counter, I could see that ol' Sam was just as enthralled as I was by the gleaming blued steel and polished walnut. I knew that he had been a sheriff's deputy in Texas, and I wondered if the sight of the new Winchester sparked any old memories.

Yessir, a Winchester Model of 1873. It was a special ordered "short rifle," and wore a 20 inch octagonal barrel in place of the normal 24 inches. It used the .44-40 central-fire metallic cartridge, and would carry 11 of 'em in that 20 inch length.

"You need any ca'tridges" Sam asked, knowing full well that I did as he laid two boxes on the counter. Clever merchant that he was, Sam knew that the rifle and cartridges had cleaned me out, so he didn't bother to ask what else I might need. After a little careful ciphering on a scrap of paper, Sam put down his pencil before asking: "Cash or credit card?"

Incredibly, 129 years after the introduction of the classic Winchester '73, and fully 79 years after Winchester discontinued the model, you can buy a brand new 1873 Winchester rifle. They no longer come from New Haven, Conn., but rather from Gardone, Italy and the factory of Aldo Uberti and Co. They are available in a stunning variety of calibers, finishes and configurations, harkening back to the special order guns that Winchester once supplied. And they are selling like hot cakes, er... biscotti.

A Little History

The '73 was the third evolution of Oliver Winchester's world changing repeating rifle. The first of this series was not called a Winchester at all. The Henry took its name from B. Tyler Henry, the capable genius retained by shirt maker Winchester to run his new arms venture. The Henry was an outgrowth of the earlier (and completely unsuccessful) Jennings, Hunt and Volcanic repeating firearms. The repeating design had merit. What it lacked was a usable cartridge. Henry provided that by developing the copper cased, rimfire, .44 Henry Flat.

The Henry cartridge carried a 200 grain bullet propelled by a mere 26 grains of black powder. The Henry was no powerhouse, but it made up for that with its capacity to carry 16 rounds and to fire those rounds as fast as the lever could be worked. The advertising hyperbole of the day proclaimed that the Henry, fired "Sixty shots per minute," and further that "A resolute man, armed with one of these rifles, particularly if no horse-back, cannot be captured!" This was heady stuff indeed in a day when the average rifle could fire perhaps three shots a minute.

The Henry was extremely successful, and would have been so even if the events of the 1860s had not swelled production figures to nearly 14,000. But the Henry was not without flaws. Its open magazine tube permitted the accumulation of dirt and debris. The exposed magazine follower could be interfered with by the support hand, causing malfunctions. And with no forend, that barrel was too hot to hold after prolonged fast firing.

The Winchester Model of 1866 -- sometimes called the improved Henry -- rectified these objections. This was the first Winchester to incorporate the "King's Patent" loading gate. This made it possible to simplify the construction of the barrel, to use a sealed magazine tube, to add a wood forend, and to greatly lessen the weight of the rifle. The new model was an instant success, but it did retain one weakness from the earlier rifle -- the impotent .44 Henry Flat cartridge.

Enter "The Gun That Won The West"

The 1873 was designed to answer this shortcoming. A new iron frame, in contrast to the bronze frames of the '66 and most Henrys, made the rifle seem stronger. In actuality, there may have been little difference, as the '73 used the same somewhat weak toggle link action of the earlier rifles. Lengthening the elevator accommodated a longer cartridge, and a sliding dust cover sealed the top of the action. Cycling the lever automatically opened this cover. The firing pin was changed to strike a centrally located primer. However the biggest change was the new cartridge.

The .44 Winchester Central Fire, or .44-40, was a significant leap in performance over the .44 Henry round. A loaded .44 WCF measured about two tenths of an inch longer than the Henry cartridge, but the cartridge case itself was more than four tenths longer. Combined with a slightly larger diameter bottle-necked case, the powder charge of the .44 WCF was increased to a full 40 grains, while retaining the 200 grain bullet. Increased power was not the only benefit of the new cartridge. The bullet of the Henry cartridge carried an exposed lube groove and thus was subject to accumulating dirt and dust. The lube grooves of the .44 WCF bullet were sealed within the protection of the brass case.