Apologies to Shakespeare: to reline or not to reline

[coyote nose]

Picked up a fairly nice, TIGHT Winny Model 1873 in 38 WCF. Action is tight, gun looks all original. Got the info from buf bill historical center and it is as it left the factory: 1885 mfg, round bbl, standard rifle features. This is my third 1873 and is by far the nicest. No blue left, but brown patina here and there, wood is a great fit, etc. Problem: the bore is absolutely GONE. i dont mean severly pitted..I mean it is eroded to about 42 caliber! Really bad inside. Ground a pilot on a drill bit and welded an extension to it at work, bought a bbl liner from redman, and a chamber reamer. I have relined 22's before and it is not really a big deal to me to do it. Now I am having second thoughts....My plan was to reline it, and shoot it with pyrodex loads only. Bought dies, cases, and a mould. In the meantime I would look for a replacement original 38 WCF round bbl and buy it when available..that way i can always put it back to original. But i dont know. I'd hate to lose collector value and yes, i know from experience, selling a relined gun is difficult...value plummets. A sewer pipe bore will bring more than a relined bore. In fact, a relined bore is sometimes not even salable! plus, i know ME.. if the past is any indicator..I will keep this a few years then when a nicer one comes along will sell this one to fund the better one. So resale is a factor with me. But so is being able to shoot the thing.
Besides, the 1873 bbls I find are almost always octagon. I do have a NICE 1873 38WCF ocatgon bbl in my parts bin, great rifling, great chamber, but it is cut to 20". So....do i reline or leave it! as an aside, bought a Colt lightning in 38WCF and was thinking of relining that too!! decisions decisions. leaning towards selling the Colt and lining the 1873........hmmmm.....

[Ben_Rumson]

Wear wise it sounds like you don't have much to lose....Try some jacketed bullets in it.. I have a 73 SRC 44 WCF with major erosion ahead of the chamber, to the point that there are only faint signs of the lands and that's about it for about a quarter inch or so, eventually at about 4" up the barrel it turns to "normal" rifling.. pitted but with decent lands and grooves... But with Jacketed bullets it shoots great groups... Eventually I reasoned that if it shoots jacketed fine that maybe it would work with a lead gas checked bullet.. It does! ....A box of jacketed bullets may tell you a lot & won't be much expense... Good luck

[Old Time Hunter]

You are not to far from one of the best "old" gun re-liners in the country. He is Bob Hoyt of Fairfield, Pennsylvania. You'll never know it isn't original and he is very, very reasonable price, maybe a couple of hundred bucks at the most.

[KCSO]

Properly relined, and here I can recommend Bob Hoyt, the gun will shoot any 73 load you want to put in it. Generally a relined barrel wil shoot better than the original bore. The last 92 I relined ended up shootinng under 2" at 100 yards with it's favvored load. Go for it!

[Gun Smith]

My $.02. I would continue to watch for an original round barrel. Try the jacketed bullets before you reline, if you must. You will definately kill the value of the gun if you do. You said you have other 73's, do you shoot them? I shoot my '73 with LIGHT smokless. I hate cleaning BP residue!

[coyote nose]

If I reline it I will do it myself, it is not that big of a deal frankly. My main concern is if I want to KILL the collector value! My other 2 1873's are a 32 WCF with a sewer pipe bore also, but it shoots the RCBS cast bullet with pyrodex only if the bullet is cast from wheelweights (I took a squirrel with it once). The other is a 44 WCF with a fair bore. I wont shoot jacketed in any of them, but didn't think about trying a gas checked bullet...thanks for the idea guys. As far as the 38 goes, i am not just talking worn away lands..I am talking it almost looks like somebody already drilled the thing out. I mean...this bore is HORRENDOUS. Could probably drop a bullet straight thru it. Even with a bore like that tho, it is worth more on resale than a relined one. So, for the here and now I want to reline it...but I know 4 or 5 years from now I will be ticked off at myself for relining it!!!!!!

[claybob86]

How much value are we talkin about here? If several thousand dollars is involved, that's one thing. If its maybe a few hundred, I'd go ahead with the reline.

[coyote nose]

Claybob, I am guessing it will cut the value nearly in half. Maybe worth 1200- 1300 now (the outside is tha nice), if I reline it (which btw the liner and glue adds up to about 140$), drops the value to a PITA to sell and I would probably only get a high offer at a gun show of $700-800. I have been pricing and buying 1873s for a while. 5 years from now who knows.
It was only 5 years ago i held an 1866 in my hand for 2100$ at a Cabelas no less. Didnt buy it. Now I have not seen one for under 4K. Used to be in the market for one of those, especially since no one makes a true replica. They priced themselves out of the market for me. I am actually thinking of making my own replica!! The only problem is I would need an original to get dimensions...Of course then there is the ammo problem.
Anyway, kind of leanin towards just relining it and enjoying the gun, worry about resale when I cross that fence. Wanted to see what fellow levergunners think.

[geobru]

Why not leave the round barrel as is and put the 20" octogon on the frame and shoot the heck out of it? That way in 5 years, you can reinstall the round barrel without losing any value, if you decide to sell it.

[coyote nose]

Well, I thought of that, it could be done, but.....I would have to find a shorter magazine tube...I would have to get a new forend tip (round vs octagon is different), and the biggie: I would have to get a new forend. All possible and still an option.

[marlinman93]

Man those guys in Ohio must be really sticklers! I don't see those kind of price reductions for relined barrels out here! Sure a relined gun vs. a gun with a great bore will be severely reduced, but a relined gun vs. a sewer pipe bore will bring equal values here. I personally wouldn't hesitate to reline a gun that had a completely shot out bore. If it had enough bore to get it shooting even barely acceptable, I'd not reline it though.

[Old Time Hunter]

I'm one of those people that does not have a problem with an original that has been re-lined, especially a quality job. Figured it was ok for the military back in the day (1865-1892), it is ok with me. Won't pay premium price like a pristine original bore, but will pay the same for a pristine re-lined bore as a so-so/ave bore of an original. Doesn't bother me one iota. I have one Trapdoor carbine that had a sewer pipe for a bore, the rest was probably 90-95%. Bob Hoyt re-lined it with a chrome-moly liner (I challenge anyone to notice) and now it is my favorite Trapdoor. I can also shoot jacketed bullets without worry now (350 gr JSP, 31 grains of H4198, 1500 fps), whereas the original would have had all the rifling gone in a short while. Guys at the range have offered twice as much as one of my originals. I am parusing the market right now for a shot out '76 in .45-75. Figure is I get it cheap and re-line, I'm a century ahead.

[Grizzly Adams]

I have collected the 1873 and the 1876 for many years. I shoot those that are shootable, but I would NEVER reline a collectible example! You already know why. It's not like you don't have guns to shoot, right? If shoot you must, then look for another barrel for it, or fit the one that's in your parts bin.

My personal belief, as a collector, is that I never really own these old fellas; I am just the caretaker at this point in time. When they pass from my hands to another's , I hope that person will show the same care.

Don't mean this to sound like "preaching," just my response to your question.

By the way, given the condition you describe, and the fact that it letters, it may be worth more than $1200. I have seen some real beaters go for more lately!

[J Miller]

coyote nose,

I am not a collector, I just posted that somewhere here I think, and I will not own a gun that can't be shot. A gun with a shot out barrel is useless. I wouldn't hesitate to have it relined so it would be shootable. To me a fully functional rifle is worth more than one that is a pretty wall hanger.

Joe