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       #Post#: 129--------------------------------------------------
       Jimmy Stewart's winchester 73
   DIR By: allmanav
       Date: April 2, 2020, 7:50 am
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       Jimmy Stewart’s Winchester ’73
       Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:44 AM PDT
       Quite a few gun historians and firearm enthusiasts mistakenly
       credit the Colt Single Action Army revolver with having “Won the
       West.” In truth though, it was the Winchester 1873 that
       accomplished that mission. In fact while the Winchester ’73 and
       the Colt SAA came out in the same year (1873), it was the
       Winchester rifle that saw most of the action first.
       The Colt SAA gained most of its fame after the Army adopted it
       in 1875 in 45 Colt. Just as a sidebar, the Winchester 1873 did
       not use the 45 Colt until recent production. Other handgun
       cartridges of the day allowed gun users to have both a rifle and
       a handgun chambered for the same cartridge. The ’73 Winchester
       as well as the Colt SAA were chambered in other matching
       cartridges which was a very forward thinking concept for the
       day, and an extremely efficient one for taming the Wild West.
       Then in 1950, Hollywood (by cause or accident) celebrated the
       Winchester 1873 with its own movie starring Jimmy Stewart. Rent
       the movie if you have not seen it; it told the story of a prized
       rifle that was won at a shooting contest by Lin McAdam (played
       by Stewart). The rifle was stolen by the loser and the story
       began of how the rifle was passed around through the years. I
       cannot recall another movie that focused solely on the story of
       a rifle.
       In the movie credits, a comment caught my eye. “The gun that won
       the west. For cowman, outlaw, peace officer, or soldier. An
       Indian would sell his soul for one.” That pretty much confirmed
       the foundation for the popularity of this famous rifle.
       The Winchester 1873 lasted in production from that year until
       1918. Some 720,609 were manufactured in a dizzying array of
       models and variations, like most early Winchesters. Original
       models had frames made of iron, but production later changed to
       steel. Turns out the ’73 was one of the most popular Winchester
       rifles ever… at least until the 1894 came out.
       The ’73 was chambered mostly for the 44-40 accounting for 80 per
       cent of production. Next came the 32-20 and then the 38-40 of
       which only 24,826 were made. Those originals are highly
       sought-after by collectors.
       And talk about variations, the ’73 had options for barrels,
       magazines, sights, triggers, hammers, levers, loading port
       covers, stocks, buttplates, dust covers, and finishes. And then
       there were many special-feature rifles and the “One of One
       Thousand” run.
       Indeed, the Winchester 1873 won the west, and most of America.
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