Here's a cool project I wanted to share with you. This spring I picked up a beat up Winchester Model 1873 chambered in 44 WCF / .44-40 (built in 1893) from Johnny Dury's shop in San Antonio. The intent was to use it in my gunsmithing courses on lever actions and bluing.









Disassembling a firearm with >130 years old was a challenge. Some of those screws took some heat to get loose.



Once disassembled, the parts were cleaned, sanded, polished, etc. The parts to be color case hardened were then annealed by placing in these crucibles for at 1350 deg F for 3 hours.



Here's the parts post annealing



Polished the brass to a high shine



The annealed parts were then repolished to 420 grit then returned to the crucibles at 1350 deg F for 3 hours. Then they were quenched in icewater. Then moved to an oil bath. The anticipation was high!













Turned out much better than I hoped.

Nice work, and the end product is awesome!

I bet that gun has a few stories to tell.

Really awesome. How did you heat the crucibles and looks like the barrel and magazine tube got reblued or no?
Really looks nice sir.

That looks awesome!

That's impressive! What caliber is it, 44-40?

After my grandpa died, we found his 100+ year old .22LR falling block "Crackshot" in his barn.

My goal is to restore it one day, just for the sentimental value.

Man, that's great! Blue parachute for your effort!

How's the rifling? Shot out or will it be an occasional shooter?

Awesome!

Give us a side by side before/after of the whole rifle

Thats awesome

Have a Winchester 1876 in .40-60 sitting in the safe in slightly better condition than the OP pre work. Should do something with it someday.

This is why I come to the OB. That's so badass. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Beautiful work. Well done.

That looks so good. Bet you got an A+ in your gunsmithing class. Just fantastic.

Thanks, Gunny- Yes, I reblued (hot salt blued) the magazine tube, barrel, Kings loading gate, and rear sight. Exposed screws and trigger were nitre blued at 650 deg F. Needless to say, one sweats a lot when bluing.

HumbleAg - I'd encourage you to sign up for a summer bluing class at Trinidad College. Take you rifle up there, break it down, sand / polish it, then and blue and reassemble it with an instructor's help.

Course costs about 400$

Donna can get you on the email list and let you know when the 2025 dates are out.

I'm considering repeating the course so that I can blue a few more weapons. I'll do the pre-work down here this time.

No doubt about that! The rifle that "won the west"!

That is awesome.

Is it a 44-40? Any plans to shoot it?

yes sir, 44WCF / .44-40. I've got brass, dies, and cast lead bullets which I hope to load sometime this fall.

Excellent.

Thanks for the reply. There are not words for how choice that rifle looks! You should feel very self accomplished and proud of your work sir!

ETA… Think your giving Turnbull a run for their money!!

This is easily the most interesting gun thread on the OB. I have a soft spot for old Winchesters.

The color case hardened pieces look really nice.

Cool

What does that typically do to the value of the gun?
I have a Winchester '92 in 44.40 that is fairly beat up. I'll never sell it, but would hate to do something that really trashes the value or "ruins" the rifle. It is an old family gun, but has some serious wear.

Beautiful work!

It's kind of a trade off. You can usually assess the close value of your 92 as it is now. If is low enough in value due to poor condition then you really won't diminish that value any more by doing some restoration and might get some more $$ for it if it had some restoration.
However, if it has some special desirable configurations or options like longer than normal barrel, rare cartridge type, (44-40 cal on a pre 1899 dated rifle will double its value),set trigger, special target sights, special wood upgrade, pistol grip, carbine model, delux model,etc. etc. …that can be verified by a Cody letter as original…. You might be better leaving it alone.
Also age is important as a 1892-1898 Model 1892 is more valuable than one built after 1898 typically.

Apache,
I don't want to derail Cow Docs thread. His rifle restoration and his hard work don't deserve a derail. I love to talk and discuss old Winchester lever guns. Would like to give you some other info so I will start a thread by paging you and give you some info....and we leave Cow Docs thread pure.

Nice work! Very cool!

Would you be interested in doing some restoring/gunsmithing on my dad's old Marlin 30-30? I'm in SA and would gladly pay someone to work on it.

I'll respond to a few posts at one time.
1st - Gunny mentioned Turnbull restorations. Par excellence. None better. I've had them quote a few projects and neither I nor my customers could stomach the $7k-$10k price tag. I'm flattered that you would mention that. In my recent course, there were a few that said the actual CCH (color case hardening) we pulled off was in the same ballpark. It's the other stuff they do that command the price difference. The woodwork etc. is magnificent.

Apache - The value is relative. For the purist collector, having a factory letter (Cody Museum as Gunny mentioned) and a good condition weapon will bring a premium. For this project, I paid $1250 for the rifle and could easily double/ triple that without a letter. This was about learning the mechanics of the 1873 (which by the way are incredible) and restoring a firearm that had shown the tests of time. It had no sentimental value to me.

Bam- Happy to assist as long as you're not in a hurry. That's the thing with projects like this.... Everyone is impatient (me too). For now, I've got 3 bolt guns (2 of which are for TexAgers) that I need to get completed before the fall hunting season. I'm happy to take it on but I'd really suggest you restore it yourself. Take the course next summer. The instructor is retired Army special forces. Really cool guy to hang out with. Where else can you learn to work on a lever action rifle while watching Lonesome Dove on the classroom monitors?

I would encourage any of you that have a project / heirloom weapon that you'd like to restore to consider taking a course in Trinidad next summer. You'll be glad you did. I will likely be there as well.

Some of the courses have prerequisites some don't. I'll post more on the program when able.

COWDOC. I wanted to comment on Turnbull's restoration vs your work. Turnbull does great work…. But to me the firearms look TOO good. What I mean is the guns look better than originals in most cases. Yes they impeccably are restored ….. almost to the point of too well done.
Your restoration, imho, looked like I would imagine back in the 1800's a 1873 would have looked.
Bottom line, if I was given the choice of your restoration or a Turnbull restoration…. I would pick yours sir.

That is absolutely beautiful!! Nice work!

I appreciate the kind words, sir.