Hit up the LGS today in hopes of trading my Remington 1100 A/C 12ga for something I'll take out and shoot a little more often. I was really hoping they would have one of the new Winchester 1866's but apparently those are really hard to come by. They did have a "used" Winchester 1873 Short Rifle in the back so I sent them off to fetch it and once I saw it had the case-color hardened finish and the wood had some nice figure to it I knew I wanted it. Didn't get quite what I would have liked to out of my shotgun, but I got the 1873 for about $300 less than what they're selling for new so I can't complain.
I had a Cimarron/Uberti 1873 that I made the mistake of selling two years ago, and this Winchester is every bit as nice as it was. Supposedly the previous owner had never shot it, and I can believe it as there's no indication it's been fired and it still has cosmoline on the lifter block and loading gate.
The chemical case-color hardened finish is just as nice as what was on my Cimarron/Uberti, but the wood on the Winchester is much, much nicer. So far it seems to hold true to the original design just like the Uberti's, but we'll find out for sure when I pull the side plates to give it a thorough cleaning. Would have preferred one in .44-40 but beggars cant' be choosers.
Can't wait to take it out and see how it shoots.
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