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Winchester/Miroku '73 - I give up.


Totes Magoats

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So, I broke the sear in my tuned Miroku '73.  I call Winchester parts department to be told that under no circumstance will they send me a new sear and my only recourse would be for them to give me a quote to send the rifle in and it be returned to factory stock parts.

 

Unless someone can machine me a sear, I now have a very expensive paper weight.  Such a shame and the rifles are fantastic, until a part breaks.

 

image.thumb.jpeg.4ee71721866fc9067177fee5d5e26090.jpeg

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Would one from a Uberti made rifle fit or maybe it is close enough that some minor modifications would allow it to fit?

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27 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

Would they send the part to a licensed gunsmith?

 

No.  Only recourse is to send the rifle in for a quote to return to stock, losing all the action work done.

 

Totes

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How about the person that modified it.  I am not sure but the sear may be one of the parts replace or modified when the gun was made race ready for CAS.  I would check with them.

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Just now, Nickel City Dude said:

How about the person that modified it.  I am not sure but the sear may be one of the parts replace or modified when the gun was made race ready for CAS.  I would check with them.

 

It's a Carty build, but the sear looks to be, at the most polished, I don't see any other changes from a stock one.  I know Carty is working on aftermarket parts like the one piece extension firing pin extensions.  I plan to ask him, but I am not hopeful that even he can get a new sear at this time.

 

NOTE:  This has nothing to do with Carty's work so please do read this as a knock on his action work.  Parts fail.  He built me a fantastic running rifle!

 

Totes

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Totes.

That sucks!

You might be reduced to the Wiley Coyote School of Gunsmithing solution. Cut to size, file to fit, and paint to match.

Find a local 3-D metal print shop to do the work. (If no local ones, Google is your friend.) Someone somewhere should have the correct dimensions.

Best of luck.

 

La Sombra

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Buy a piece of crap (non-CAS) Miroku '73 and steal the sear from it! 

Still a bit to replace a small part but might be cheaper than having a custom piece machined.

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UPDATE:

 

I emailed Winchester support (not parts dept) with a long email about supporting Cowboy Action.  Got the following reply and will post an update here is I make any progress.

 

From Winchester Support:

Send me your contact information and I will have my boss Call you. and she will need the name of the parts rep you spoke with and we can see what is going on

 

Totes

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20 minutes ago, Totes Magoats said:

UPDATE:

 

I emailed Winchester support (not parts dept) with a long email about supporting Cowboy Action.  Got the following reply and will post an update here is I make any progress.

 

From Winchester Support:

Send me your contact information and I will have my boss Call you. and she will need the name of the parts rep you spoke with and we can see what is going on

 

Totes

This sounds promising to the solution of your problem.

 

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1 hour ago, Totes Magoats said:

UPDATE:

 

I emailed Winchester support (not parts dept) with a long email about supporting Cowboy Action.  Got the following reply and will post an update here is I make any progress.

 

From Winchester Support:

Send me your contact information and I will have my boss Call you. and she will need the name of the parts rep you spoke with and we can see what is going on

 

Totes

 

Might want to let them know that they can see a picture of the broken part on the Sass Wire. May influence their decision.;)

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People are apparently not reading the OP's post.  He has a MIROKU 73, not an original 73 or a Uberti.  The Miroku sear is nothing like an original 73 or a Uberti.

 

PA133737.thumb.jpeg.74301bb274fa45976b0206afb855d992.jpeg

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I considered the MIroku 73 to be a superior built rifle to the Uberti 73 due to the fit and finish.   Cowboys are hard on their firearms.  I shoot thousands of rounds a year and occasionally something breaks or wears out.  If Winchester won't support us with available parts without stripping out $400 worth of gunsmithing, I certainly wouldn't be traveling down that path.  

 

Please keep up updated.  

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UPDATE:

 

Just spoke with Shannon at Winchester.  No way possible for them to sell a sear.  It's on the restricted list, lawyers won't let them sell the part.  They won't even give them to the authorized repair centers.  Shannon transferred me to the Tech Team and they told my I could send a rifle in with no internals and they would quote me a price to rebuild it with factory new internals, but that it could be months due to limited number of parts for the new 1873.  Parts would need to be ordered from Japan to see what's available.

 

With this, I have purchased my last Winchester and only hope someone has the gumption to make aftermarket parts.  I'll be first in line for a new sear. 

 

Totes

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36 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I considered the MIroku 73 to be a superior built rifle to the Uberti 73 due to the fit and finish.   Cowboys are hard on their firearms.  I shoot thousands of rounds a year and occasionally something breaks or wears out.  If Winchester won't support us with available parts without stripping out $400 worth of gunsmithing, I certainly wouldn't be traveling down that path.  

 

Please keep up updated.  

This was my concern when the Miroku Winchesters were announced and people started mentioning difficulty getting parts.

27 minutes ago, Totes Magoats said:

UPDATE:

 

Just spoke with Shannon at Winchester.  No way possible for them to sell a sear.  It's on the restricted list, lawyers won't let them sell the part.  They won't even give them to the authorized repair centers.  Shannon transferred me to the Tech Team and they told my I could send a rifle in with no internals and they would quote me a price to rebuild it with factory new internals, but that it could be months due to limited number of parts for the new 1873.  Parts would need to be ordered from Japan to see what's available.

 

With this, I have purchased my last Winchester and only hope someone has the gumption to make aftermarket parts.  I'll be first in line for a new sear. 

 

Totes

Sorry to hear this.  I'm glad I didn't get one.

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No chance that can be tig welded and re fitted? Winchester Bob maybe the only chance of having one made or even having one in stock to the best of my knowledge.  I ran into issues finding a mainspring for a tuned miroku and sadly have came to the same conclusion that I'm done with them for anything cowboy action related. As a last resort you may try calling browning/fn parts department as they own winchester. Best of luck 

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2 hours ago, Itchy Trigger said:

Buy a piece of crap (non-CAS) Miroku '73 and steal the sear from it! 

Still a bit to replace a small part but might be cheaper than having a custom piece machined.

 

Or buy a brand new Miroku, swap the sears, send in the new one for warranty repair, then sell it.  Yeah, it's a pain in the butt, but could work.  Otherwise, can a good welder repair it and file to shape?  Cheap-a$$ that I am, I might try JB Weld first, easy enough to try.  When Miroku redesigned that part, I guess they weren't expecting people to shoot them like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V28d3gdITbA

 

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10 minutes ago, Turkey Flats Jack said:

No chance that can be tig welded and re fitted? 

 

I have no welding ability, but if someone out there (hint hint @Smokestack SASS#87384) has the ability, I'd be all in for them to try.  It appears to be a MIM part, but i am no expert.

 

Totes

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54 minutes ago, Totes Magoats said:

UPDATE:

 

Just spoke with Shannon at Winchester.  No way possible for them to sell a sear.  It's on the restricted list, lawyers won't let them sell the part.  They won't even give them to the authorized repair centers.  Shannon transferred me to the Tech Team and they told my I could send a rifle in with no internals and they would quote me a price to rebuild it with factory new internals, but that it could be months due to limited number of parts for the new 1873.  Parts would need to be ordered from Japan to see what's available.

 

With this, I have purchased my last Winchester and only hope someone has the gumption to make aftermarket parts.  I'll be first in line for a new sear. 

 

Totes

I’d still call a couple of the service centers. I’m not saying things couldn’t have changed, but I worked for 2 different shops that were both Winchester repair stations and we could get any part we wanted. They probably wouldn’t sell you the sear but they might agree to install it for you, and as long as it’s considered safe return it to you.

Also for the price of a spaghetti sear and trigger, maybe hammer you could investigate that. 
Ruger will do the same thing with a Vaquero if you sent a modified one back .

If the sear isn’t mim it could probably be tig welded and made to work again 

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Good Lord!

I'm in Canada, so getting one fixed up here would be a REAL nightmare!

I was considering a Winchester for CAS and keeping my Uberti for a back-up!

I guess I won't be doing that!!!

Thanks for the warning!

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1 hour ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

People are apparently not reading the OP's post.  He has a MIROKU 73, not an original 73 or a Uberti.  The Miroku sear is nothing like an original 73 or a Uberti.

 

PA133737.thumb.jpeg.74301bb274fa45976b0206afb855d992.jpeg

 

I only suggested trying to use a Uberti part in the Winchester because the factory part seams to be made out of Unobtanium and I have in the past been able to fix guns and other things using parts from another manufacture sometimes with a little tweaking.  I just repaired my spotting scope tripod using parts from another tripod that also had some problems using some files and a Dremil tool.  I was able to use the working parts from each broken tripod to make one working one. And I figured if it didn't work out I am no further in the hole then I was before I tried.

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I would not weld or otherwise attempt repair on that part. The sear is not under much stress and for one to break in that fashion points to a flaw in the metal it was made from. 

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1 hour ago, Marshal Fire, SASS 10064 said:

Lawyers vs common sense

can’t drive a road or watch TV without some law firm asking you to hire them to sue someone.

 

 

Apparently lawyers are afraid of criminal's making Auto-sears for 73's        Regards  Marshall      GW

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Would it be possible to send the lower tang/trigger assembly in to be fitted with a new sear?  You could save your tuned main spring and trigger safety spring and let them "return to spec" the trigger assembly.  Smiths like Carty and Boomstick Jay are known for their work short stroking Mirokus have you tried sourcing a part from either of them?  

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1 minute ago, July Smith said:

Would it be possible to send the lower tang/trigger assembly in to be fitted with a new sear?

 

I asked Winchester and they said they needed the entire rifle and all parts would be returned to stock and could not return the old parts.  crazy!

 

I reached out to Carty just to see what's possible.  I've also emailed a few machine shops that claim to take small run jobs and also make firearm parts.  We'll see what happens.  It's a shame, as I really like that Winchester!  It's started life as a 24" with the longer forearm and was cut down to 20".  I like the longer forearm as I have long arms.  Carty build a great rifle!

 

Totes

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5 hours ago, Itchy Trigger said:

Buy a piece of crap (non-CAS) Miroku '73 and steal the sear from it! 

Still a bit to replace a small part but might be cheaper than having a custom piece machined.

Then send the one you bought for parts back with the broken part. ;)

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