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Winchester (Miroku) 1873 Deluxe Sporting Lever-Action Rifle--Opinion Question


portugeejn

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Saw a NEW Winchester 1873 Deluxe Sporting Lever-Action Rifle 44-40 with gorgeous figured wood for $1725 out the door, half octagon, half round barrel, case colors, shotgun butt plate.  Is it worth that much, or should I keep looking?  What experiences have folks had with the Miroku Winchesters?  Let the opinions begin!  :-)

 

Stock photo...

 

Winchester Model 1873 Deluxe Sporting - 534259137.jpg

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They are a perfectly good rifle but the price tag seems a bit high.

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Buy it. Your money be happy. I bought one had Cody do action job and cut it to 20” barrel. Had Ricochet Roy put leather wrap on the lever and trigger guard at Winter Range and he wanted to buy it from me. It is one fine rifle

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Buy it and Shoot it , they seem to be fine Rifles Don't get any in the Shop so they seem trouble free so far some of the Top Shooters Up here are using them ...

 

Nice Wood on some that I have seen ...

Just to bad they don't make them in .38 Wcf.  ( .38-40 ) I like the 24 inch barrel Guns ....

 

 

Jabez Cowboy 

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I think the price is a little on the high side, but if that is the actual wood on the rifle I could probably convince myself that it's worth it - especially in .44 WCF.

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These are nice looking rifles, but, If I remember correctly, short stroke kits are currently not being made for this rifle and kits made for Uberti rifles will not work in these guns.

 

If you were planning to install a "drop in" short stroke kit, this may be a consideration before your purchase.

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If you are looking at last year's Shot Show special (I bought one, absolutely gorgeous!), the upgraded wood drives that price.

 

There are some out there now with excellent maple furniture for a few hundred less. And others with standard furniture are a bit fewer dollars still.

 

The Miroku furniture has an oil finish, repair nicks and scratches with more oil. The Uberti has a poly finish. Deeper and shinier, but repairs require refinishing.

 

There are no current short stroke kits for the Miroku, but the factory stroke is already shorter than original Winchesters (or Ubertis). You might find it does not need a stroke kit. Many shooters never stroke their Ubertis. And if it matters to you, stroked Ubertis and stock Mirokus are not legal in NCOWS.

 

What the Miroku does need is a lighter lever safety spring, at least two smiths sell these parts. And some minor overall slicking/deburring won't hurt the Miroku.

 

Out of the box without any slicking, the Miroku is better than the Uberti. But a fully and professionally slicked Uberti will likely be smoother than the Miroku will ever be. This in part is because there are many good smiths with Uberti experience, not so many with Miroku experience.

 

I like my Miroku, and went with the Shot Show special because of the furniture and excellent CCH on my particular rifle. I understood the tradeoffs I made, particularly with losing access to the wealth of Uberti smith experience.

 

Consider your own skills (mechanical and shooting), goals (for the sport), and desires (look, feel, and appearance). Neither rifle choice is wrong, just a bit different.

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That is not the same rifle as the op is looking at. I have the same as op is looking at. Buy it. Right now is supply and demand and there are only so many shot show rifles made and then done. Mirokus have better fit and finish and nicer wood with the more deluxe models. The lever safety spring is easily adjusted by tweaking it. The pistol grip and shotgun buttstock are what made this attractive to me. The 24' barrel actually impressed me with how well stays on target without feeling heavy, maybe due to the half octagon half round barrel.

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I recently bought a base model Miroku short rifle in .44-40.  I paid $1200 so $1700 for the features on the nicer rifle doesn’t seem so bad.

 

I ordered the aftermarket lever safety spring from Slixprings and had a local smith install it and do some general smoothing.  It’s pretty nice but it’s very plain looking next to my Uberti deluxe short rifle.

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Buy it. Fair warning: you will think it's too pretty to shoot and you'll just stay home and love on it. For the features, that's not a bad price.

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3 hours ago, MBFields said:

That is not the same rifle as the op is looking at.

I know. The $1,700 price is probably the Shot Show special, which is what I bought last year.

 

The plain jane version should be round $1,000.

 

The maple furniture version sits between them in price.

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I really like my Uberti.  It's very smooth, reliable, and accurate.  What it isn't, is pretty.  Why, because it's had tens of thousands of rounds through it in competition.  It's been rained on, dropped on props, bounced around in a gun cart, had a shotgun or three dropped down on top of it (not necessarily on purpose).  It hasn't hit the ground yet, knock on wood, but my shotgun has and if I shoot long enough the rifle will probably end up on the ground at some point. 

 

That's a beautiful gun, both the wood and the case hardening.  I wouldn't want to shoot it in a match. 

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The Miroku can be made as slick as any Uber to that I’ve ever seen!!!!!

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31 minutes ago, Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 said:

The Miroku can be made as slick as any Uber to that I’ve ever seen!!!!!

I'm hoping to work on mine this winter. Just have not been snowed in long enough to get to it.

 

Having heard angel song levering a professionally slicked Uberti, I know what is possible. Just not sure I am that capable.

 

There will be a thread for it, I promise.

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Too pretty Not to Shoot .... Scars are only skin deep ,,, mostly ...

Enjoy it ...

Just wishing they made it in .38 WCF ....

 

Jabez Cowboy 

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After a trip from TX to CA for EOT in a non-heated space I found my formerly pristine Shiloh Sharps cover in flash rust on the barrel.  After going over it with a copper penny and some bronze wool, a light application of cold blue, I'm over the momentary dismay.  I bought it to hunt with...  Saddle scabbard wear is far more  onerous than that 2-day jaunt thru a wet spring!

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I have and shoot 2 Winchester, Miroku built, 73 short rifles.  One in  45 Colt, one in .357 mag.  Both are stock.  Both have been flawless.  I'll need to improve a lot before modifications would prove benificial.  A high grade version is a "someday" thing.

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Buy the deluxe sporting rifle. Last I talked to Winchester,  they said they make less than 200 of each caliber when they make them.

 

I have both the 2018 and 2020 shot show deluxe sporting rifles in 357.  
‘These are Great rifles !!!

 

Cowboy Carty did the actions on mine and they are truly amazing.

 

3GC

6C0907E2-0241-413B-A158-75E8B6AE10E4.jpeg

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On 1/24/2021 at 5:39 PM, Joke 'um said:

I have and shoot 2 Winchester, Miroku built, 73 short rifles.  One in  45 Colt, one in .357 mag.  Both are stock.  Both have been flawless.  I'll need to improve a lot before modifications would prove benificial.  A high grade version is a "someday" thing.

I wonder if chambering makes a difference in the Miroku experience.

 

Mine (a 2020 shot Show special) is chambered in 44-40. The lever safety spring is costing me time. No question. No doubt.

 

I have to put my thumb on top of the stock after each ejection cycle and squeeze to close the safety which is wasted movement and wasted effort.

 

I'm not real fast either, so the rest of any work I do on mine is likely just in pursuit of Angel Song and won't actually make me any faster.

 

This is my opinion after about one box of ammo, I'll reassess it after maybe 100 boxes.

 

Just to reinforce the point, I'm not real fast and the lever safety is slowing me down. I'll be changing that spring.

 

 

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John

It may not be the trigger safety that is causing the binding of the lever.  Check to make sure that the lever is contacting the safety post or if it is binding before it touches the post.  On mine the block on the bolt had too much meat on it and when it butted up against the frame it would cause the lever to need an extra oupph to get it to close.  By taking of .001 from the face of the bolt the problem was solved.  See picture.  I can give you more details if you want to PM me your phone number.

 

bolt for 1873.jpg

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Like 3 gun cole,  I own the 2018 shot show rifle and purchased in September the 2020 shot show version with the deluxe wood.   First one done by Cowboy Carty and loved it so much that I searched for 3 months to find that 2020 version and pricing was yes in that $1700 range.  (very hard to find and demand high)   That rifle is at Carty's now and look forward to getting it really soon!    Buy it,  you won't be sorry.

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Just now, Irish-Pat said:

I sent mine to Cody Conagher. He is fast and does excellent work. I think I had him increase the size of the front gold bead to make it a little easier to see. 

 

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15 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

 

Mine (a 2020 shot Show special) is chambered in 44-40. The lever safety spring is costing me time. No question. No doubt.

 

I have to put my thumb on top of the stock after each ejection cycle and squeeze to close the safety which is wasted movement and wasted effort.

 

Just to reinforce the point, I'm not real fast and the lever safety is slowing me down. I'll be changing that spring.

 

 

Slixprings makes a replacement lever safety spring.  It’s one of the few aftermarket parts available for the Miroku ‘73.

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6 hours ago, Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667 said:

Slixprings makes a replacement lever safety spring.  It’s one of the few aftermarket parts available for the Miroku ‘73.

I bought the Slixprings replacement and the one from Shotgun Boogie. Neither installed yet.

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20 hours ago, Nickel City Dude said:

John

It may not be the trigger safety that is causing the binding of the lever.  Check to make sure that the lever is contacting the safety post or if it is binding before it touches the post.  On mine the block on the bolt had too much meat on it and when it butted up against the frame it would cause the lever to need an extra oupph to get it to close.  By taking of .001 from the face of the bolt the problem was solved.  See picture.  I can give you more details if you want to PM me your phone number.

 

bolt for 1873.jpg

Thanks for the conversation today, and for this pic and the PM.

 

Snow will start falling the middle of Sunday night, and I will likely be snowed in for a couple days. I will have plenty of time Monday to check this out. I will start a separate thread for it.

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