1876 Winchester

[jackrabbit]

I found a nice original 76 in 45-60 this week. If wish I could figure out how to post pictures. I was pretty tickled about it. Now, just waiting on some brass, dies, and a mould to show up. I'll have to message Chip and see what his load data is. I really like the rifle.

Funny how when it rains it pours. Same day the 76 showed up, a fellow in our community called and wondered if I was interested in an old gun. I went over to his house and he had a 73 rifle in 32-20. It is well used, but shootable with a decent bore. It has 3 brands lightly/burned carved into the forearm. A rocking h, a house with a L inside and a house with a R inside. There is also PESTL on the buttstock. The guy didn't know much about the rifle other than it came out of Idaho. All of the writing is quite light and you have to look for it to see it. I don't know what it was worth, but I thought the price I gave was very reasonable. It is sure fun to handle these two rifles and think about where they might have been and what adventures they might have had. If they could only talk....
Thanks fellas for all the interesting conversation, Cody

[desert deuce]

Oh, if only old guns could talk? Know what you mean. Have been paying attention to what the Mexican Border Ranchers in Southern Arizona carried and used and the bulk were Single Action Army's and 73 Winchesters rifles mostly have been 32-20. In the transition to the 1892 Winchester era mostly carbines, vary, 25-20, 32-20 & 44-40. Some have the saddle ring stud cut off, most have obviously been in horse wrecks and spent much of life in a saddle scabbard. Only one 93 marlin 44-40 take down rifle and the barrel had been cut with a hacksaw, the stock had been shattered and put back together with glue and wooden pegs, it belonged to a trapper in Cochise County who was famous for his lion trapping skills. The two latest single action six shooters were, Bisley in 41 Long Colt and a U.S. Marked .45 SAA. Any double action, few, appear to have spent life in a drawer or on a shelf even though found in a holster showed little holster wear Colt New Service in 44 WCF and a Smith Nickel Triple Lock that appeared unfired. Anything leather apparently does not fare well in this area.

Those up off the border In the eastern mountains showing up are 94 & 95 Winchesters especially 95 Carbines in well used yet well cared for condition. There is a Sharps Rifle 45-70 from the settlers that came came to the Nogales Border at the end and after the Apache situation when mostly Mexican Bandits were a problem that shows a few prominent notches and apparently spent time travelling in a wagon of some kind. Rarely if ever see a shotgun of any description.

Was trailing a group of aliens in the remote Pajarito Mountains and came upon what appeared to have been a military engagement of some kind, the ground was littered with deteriorated empty .45 Colt brass and 50-70 empties on a rocky ridge. At another site a loaded 50-70 round was recovered. As one old timer opined, "there is a whole lot of history that never made it to paper."

[Woody]

Congrats Cody. I do love the old Winchesters.

Woody

[Woody]

Congrats Cody. I do love the old Winchesters.

Woody

[SSShooter]

Wish I could figure out how to post pictures.

If on your computer (can always send from your cell phone to your e-mail address to get it there) just click on "Attachments" just below the box you are typing in. Once you do so, click on the "Add files" and it will open to a file in your computer. Just find the pic you want to display and click on it until that file name appears. There's a chance your pic may be too large to post, so you may need to resize to make smaller. When you click on the pic to upload it will tell you if the pic is too large.

[jackrabbit]

Thanks Glen, but no matter how small I make them it always says file too large....any ideas?

[Woody]

Cody,

I resize before I even open the forum. I bring up the photo on my computer, then right click on it. That gives me a menu and the current size of the pic. The pics above were 19 MP. I resized to .25 MP, and then save it as a separate file under a new name. Then when I attach it on this forum, it loads with no issue.

Woody

[jackrabbit]

Will give it a shot, thanks for the help!

[SSShooter]

Thanks Glen, but no matter how small I make them it always says file too large....any ideas?

When I resize I find 800x800 or less works well.
The other option is to send to someone who isn't having that problem and ask them to post for you. Happy to do so.

[JWL]

Thought I'd chime in with my thoughts on the '76. While it is a huge beast of a gun I'm drawn to it since it was so popular with famous pioneers like Jeremiah Johnson, Vic Smith and others, plus it came out when and was around when the west was at it's wildest. To find an original gun that has a real nice bore you are usually looking at a gun most of us can't afford which brings us to the Uberti guns.

While nice looking the one thing that bothers me the most about these guns is the twist rate is faster than the proven originals. I bought a 40-60 to shoot the 210 grain bullets with BP. I was told it had a 40-1 twist but found it was more like 26-1. No matter what I tried it did not like the lighter bullets so I went radical and sent the gun off to have a custom made liner installed with the 40-1 twist. Sure enough my groups went from 8" at 50yds to 1" at 50 yds.

Also the Italian 45-60 comes in I believe in a 20-1 twist instead of Winchester's proven 26-1 twist for 300 grain bullets which explains why most of the people I talk to that are shooting this one find their best accuracy with bullets clear up to 400 grains. For BP shooters shooting this heavy (long) of a bullet leaves little room for sufficient powder to make for a flat shooting hunting rifle.

[mdeland]

My guess is the tighter twist needs harder bullets and gas checks and is probably what Uberti,Pedersoli and Pietta has in mind when making them for cowboy venues and today's lead bullet shooters. Us folks who cast our own are actually a minority I think these days as most people I shoot with buy all their cast bullets which usually are gas checked and have antimony in them.