Cowboy Action Shooting Nerdboy Stuff

I just picked up my Winchester 73 reproduction of a Winchester 73! Basically, it's part of Winchester's long-term plan to offer some of their classic models back into the market. The 73 is made by Miroku in Japan, which has a reputation for building world-class firearms. I think the Browning 92s in .357 and .44 Magnum, clones of the Winchester 92s, are some of the finest lever guns ever made.

Some quick first impressions....The wood-to-metal fit is every bit as good as the fit on my pre-'64 Model 94, which is pretty impressive. One thing to immediately notice is that in spite of the fact that I love the color casehardening finish on the Uberti receivers, the Winchester 73 carries the same, deep blue-black finish as my pre-'64 30-30, which I believe is indeed the standard all lever guns are compared against. Here's the 73 on top, my pre-'64 Winchester 94 on the bottom:

The wood is very nice, and I like the matt finish better than the shiny finish of both my pre-'64 and my Ubertis. Definitely a step up from even my older Marlins. The trigger's not bad...not as good as a tuned Uberti, but QUANTUMS better than an out-of-the-box Italian gun. Ditto on lever motion...it's a little stiff, but not even in the same universe as the last Italian '73 I purchased...I needed an Iron Man suit to run that lever!

Here's the Winchester 73 on top, my match Uberti '73 on the bottom:

Here's the wood comparison between the 73 (on top) and hte pre-'64 94 30-30:

...and the 73 versus my match Uberti:

Finally, for all you cowboy action shooters out there, here's the picture you really want to see, the comparizon of the stroke on the Winchester 73 to my short-stroked Uberti 73:

Will be shooting it Saturday!