By Rachel Kovaciny
If you’re a fan of classic western movies, like I am, then you’ve at least heard of the 1950 film Winchester ‘73, even if you haven’t seen it. The film centers on a sharpshooter (James Stewart) who wins a special “One of One Thousand” 1873 Winchester repeating rifle in a marksmanship contest, only to have it stolen by a sore loser. He tracks the rifle for quite some time, as it keeps changing hands before he finally finds it. Doesn’t sound like it’d be much of a movie, but it’s a great one—and it saved James Stewart’s faltering career, helping him flip his image from slender and stammering to fierce and formidable.
It may seem odd to name a movie after a particular firearm model, but the 1873 Winchester was famous in its own right, and audiences in 1950 would have known its traditional nickname: The Gun That Won the West. While James Stewart’s character was chasing after a specific variation of the 1873 supposedly unerringly accurate model called a “One of One Thousand,” I’ll be concentrating on the ordinary model for this article. Fewer than 150 of those “One of One Thousand” 1873 models were made, but there were over 720,000 of the regular models. This was a widely available, affordable firearm that was easy to use and reasonably accurate, which is why this was one of the most widely owned firearms in the Old West.
The 1873 Winchester repeating rifle was popular across the western population. Hunters, ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws all favored it. The 1873 was reliable, easy to operate, and accurate. It wasn’t too heavy or difficult to load and fire, which meant anyone could use it, unlike heavier or more cumbersome rifles. Women and older children wielded it for hunting or defense with no real problems.
Another advantage the 1873 Winchester had was that it took a new cartridge, the .44-40 Winchester Center Fire (WCF). Previous rifles from the same company used a “rim-fire” cartridge that required a double firing pin, which rifles had, but pistols didn’t. This new “center-fire” cartridge needed only a single, central firing pin to set it off, so it could be used in a wide variety of handguns. Soon, Colt and other handgun manufacturers were creating pistols that would fire.44-40 WCF cartridges, though many already-existing pistols worked with them already. You no longer had to buy and carry separate ammunition for your rifle and handgun. Westerners immediately saw the advantage.
The 1873 model manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was based on the company’s 1866 repeating rifle, nicknamed the “Yellow Boy” because it had a brass-bronze alloy frame which looked yellow or golden. That 1866 model was based on the famous 1860 Henry repeating rifle, which saw a lot of use by the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 1873 model switched from the brass-bronze alloy to a stronger steel frame. That, plus the change to the “center-fire” cartridge, made this rifle a long-lasting and practical investment.
I’ve been saying “rifle” all this time, but the 1873 model was available as a rifle, a carbine, and a musket. Few muskets were produced, and they and the carbine were only sold with limited customization options. But the buyer of the 1873 rifle could customize it with a round, octagonal, or half-octagonal barrel, request engravings, or select a longer barrel than the typical 24 inches. They could swap out the crescent-shaped buttstock for a different shape and choose from multiple trigger options.
The 1873 Winchester held up to 15 cartridges. It had an effective range of 150 yards and could bring down game as large as an elk or a black bear. While it wasn’t renowned for its accuracy, you could hit your target, which is all most folks cared about.
The one photograph we have of Billy the Kid shows him posing with a Winchester 1873. Fellow outlaws Butch Cassidy and Belle Starr favored the 1873, as did Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody. Native warriors used the 1873 Winchester at the Battle of Little Bighorn, among other firearms, and their use of repeating rifles gave them a significant edge over the 7th Cavalry soldiers, who were armed with single-shot carbines.
The 1873 was in production until 1919. Firearms changed drastically during World War One, and the relative tameness of the West meant folks didn’t need to fend off outlaws or warriors anymore, so repeating rifle sales declined. Collectors now pay between $1,000 and $5,000 for an original model, depending on the condition and age. One of those special “One of One Thousand” editions sold a few years ago for a quarter of a million dollars. There are modern replicas available at more reasonable prices, though they’re still a little too pricey for me. I’d rather save my money and just watch James Stewart’s hunt for his prize rifle again instead. ♦
