Rebarreling - is it okay - or a collectors no no

[Bang]

Is it worth rebarrelling a rifle?

Today I am off to an auction:
WINCHESTER MOD 1873 FULL MAG RIFLE: 44-40 Cal; 24" oct barrel; f to g bore; standard front & rear sights; g. profiles & clear markings; thinning blue/grey finish to barrel; grey to receiver & fittings; g. stock with minor bruising; complete with 4 piece rod; gwo & cond. C.1892. #422666B

This rifle looks well loved from the outside but the fair to good bore description is wrong > rust and rust - i had issues with a .40 cal brush when i tried to pull it through!

I love the rifle but the bore is bad. The heavy barrel is just wonderful.

When does the collector just buy a uberti ?
or spend x2 as much rebarrelling ?
or leave it to be pulled apart as spares ?

[Old Time Hunter]

Did you think of the possibility of getting re-lined? The US military back in the 1800's had no compulsion of doing it, why not collectors? I have had a couple of Trapdoors re-lined and I challenge any one to tell which ones against my unlined ones. Besides that, they are spot on as far as accuracy. Bob Hoyt in Fairfield, PA is my choice...very reasonable too, maybe a couple of hundred bucks to make an original a regular shooter.

[jdad]

Relining it, keeping the original caliber, will not hurt the value if it makes a nice rifle shootable again.


I just noticed that you are not in the US. I would have suggested someone that a lot of us have used.

[Modoc ED]

Give that barrel a good scrubbing and cleaning before you do anything. You never know the barrel is bad until you shoot it. I've seen brand-spanking-new barrels that wouldn't shoot worth a darn, and bright shiny barrels on older rifles that wouldn't shoot worth a darn either and then along comes a dark, pitted, barrell that'll shoot 1" groups at 100-yards all day long. I say shoot it before you rebarrel it or line it.

[Kansas Ed]

From a purely collectors standpoint, relining the barrel would be a definate no-no. But consider the rifle itself from a collectors standpoint. Original '73's are in no shortage, and while 44 caliber is tougher to find in good condition than say the 38, it still isn't that rare of a rifle. If the rifle were say a 30" with set triggers then you wouldn't reline, but since 73's are still pretty common, and there are plenty of excellent examples out there for collectors, I wouldn't hesitate to pay a little more for an original with "character" and reline over the Uberti clone. Matter of fact, I sold a '73 in 32 a couple of years ago that I dearly wish I'd kept and had relined.

Ed

[Mike D.]

Some folks description of "f to g" means slightly cleaner than a sewer pipe, and evidently you purchased your rifle from one of these guys. The gun must appeal to you or you wouldn't have kept it. From the description the gun would not be a true "collector" piece, something that makes the relining question very plausible. Go ahead and do that, it's the easiest way to go. Locating a clean and correct original barrel will be a little difficult, too. Reline it and shoot the heck out of it.

[marlinman93]

I agree with Kansas Ed, if it's one of the common standard Win 1873's then I'd definitely reline. A new barrel will really hurt the value, and cost much more than a reline. A relined barrel retains the matching finish, but gives you a nice new bore, and actually adds to the strength of the barrel, as new liners are much higher quality steel than what 1800's makers used in their barrels. A TJ's hammer forged liner will really make it a great shooter if properly installed.-Vall

[Bruce Scott]

Bang, I had a 32-20 barrel relined a couple of years back. The Redman's liner came from Brownells and I had the work done by Sprinter Arms Co in SA.

Liners: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... EL%20LINER