Winchester 1873 .357 Mag
Model: 534200137
Winchester 1873 .357 Mag
Model: 534200137
Full Specifications
About This Firearm
The Winchester 1873 is a walnut-stocked lever-action .357 Magnum built for cowboy action shooting and collecting. It has an MSRP of $1,499.99. Winchester sells it as a Short Rifle reissue, with a 20-inch round barrel, oil-finished black walnut and a blued steel crescent buttplate just like the original, so it handles like the rifle it copies and not like a modern carbine.
It comes sighted with a Marble Arms gold bead front and an adjustable semi-buckhorn rear, and there is no manual safety anywhere on it. The hammer has full-cock, half-cock and dropped positions, and the owner's manual says outright that half cock is not to be relied on as a safety, so the carry condition is an empty chamber. A trigger-stop interlock in the finger lever has to be depressed before the rifle will fire. The receiver is not drilled and tapped for a scope, and the top tang is drilled for an optional tang-mounted rear sight instead.
If you're cross-shopping, the Rossi R92 has an MSRP of $840.99, matches the ten-round tube and weighs 1.07 lbs less, with a thumb safety fitted. The Henry Big Boy X has an MSRP of $1,129, threads its muzzle 5/8x24 and carries a Picatinny rail and M-LOK slots, none of which this rifle has anything like. A 13-inch length of pull and a crescent butt suit fast lever work and a shorter shooter.
Best For
Strengths & Limitations
- The top tang is drilled and tapped for an optional tang-mounted rear sight, which buys a long sight radius without touching the receiver's lines.
- Chambered for .357 Magnum and .38 Special together, so a cowboy shooter can run light .38 loads and the same rifle still takes full-power .357.
- At this weight .357 Magnum is barely felt, so a long stage or a long bench session costs nothing in flinch.
- This is the dearest of the three .357 lever guns here, and the money goes into period detail and not into features.
- Nothing is threaded, so a brake or a suppressor is off the table.
- A crescent buttplate sits in one place on the shoulder, and a shooter in a heavy coat has to find it before the shot.
Ballistics Calculator
Calculate trajectory, drop, and energy for .357 Mag ammunition.
.357 Mag Ballistics →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the trigger-stop mechanism?
An interlock and not a safety. The finger lever has to depress it before the trigger will fire the rifle, which assures the breech is fully closed first.
Where does its twist sit against the others?
At 1:18.75 it is between the Rossi R92's 1:30 and the Henry Big Boy X's 1:16.
Why is it called the gun that won the West?
Winchester markets the Model 1873 Short Rifle as widely credited with being 'The Gun that Won the West', on the grounds that it was chambered in the popular handgun calibers of the day.
