Winchester Model 1873
Winchester Repeating Arms Company1873–1923Metallic cartridge
Also known as The Gun that Won the West
Image credit
- Title
- File:Winchester 1873 Rifle.jpg
- Author
- Hmaag
- Licence
- CC0 — public domain dedication
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winchester_1873_Rifle.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
no sourced velocity for this pairing
Not calculated: muzzle velocity has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Not calculated: v_recoil has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity14verifiedsourceTube magazine under the barrel; the article gives 7 to 14 rounds across barrel lengths.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Lever action
- Fire modes
- Single shot
- Operating system
- Manually operated
- Feed
- Roles
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1873
- Production
- 1873–1923
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
Published as 9.5 lb; 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg exactly. The cited article publishes this for the Winchester rifle series as a whole, illustrated with an 1873; it is not stated for the 1873 specifically.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
Published as 49.3 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. Published for the series rather than for this model.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
Published as 30 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. Published for the series rather than for this model; the 1873 was catalogued with 20-, 24- and 30-inch barrels.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- not recorded
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- .44-40 Winchesterprimary14 rounds
- .22 Long Rifle14 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Winchester Model 18731,252 mm49.30 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Winchester Model 1873 records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Detail
The toggle-link action is Volcanic’s, by way of the Henry rifle and the Winchester 1866, and by 1873 it was already the weak part of the design — a pair of links folding under the bolt, strong enough for pistol-pressure cartridges and nothing more. What the 1873 added was an iron frame instead of brass and a loading gate in its side, and what it added that actually mattered was a cartridge.
The .44-40 was Winchester’s first centre-fire round, and Colt chambered the Single Action Army for it within a year. One cartridge that fed both the rifle on the saddle and the revolver on the hip is a supply argument, and it is the reason this particular rifle became the one people picture.
Its limitation is the same toggle link. A Winchester 1873 cannot be chambered for a full-power rifle cartridge, which is why Browning’s 1886 and 1894 designs with vertical locking blocks replaced it.
Its three dimensions here are estimates, and the reason is worth stating plainly: the encyclopedia covers the Winchester rifles in one article and publishes one weight, one length and one barrel length for the whole series. This entry records them as the series figures they are rather than claiming them for the 1873.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Winchester rifle · Wikipedia · 1372177916 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated