Gents,
I like the look of the Whitney-Kennedy lever actions with the "S" shaped lever and wondered if they were the equal of the Winchester. The madness finally overtook me and I headed out to the desert for a comparison.
The guns were an "S" lever W-K ca. 1879 and a Winchester model 1873 that was shipped in 1883. Both had 24" barrels,
full length magazines and both were chambered for .44/40. They both have had a million rounds through them. Their dimensions were almost identical with the length of both 42.5". The '73 was heavier than the W-K by a few ounces.
The cartridges used were my reloads; 185 gr. .429 dia. flatnose lead, over 25 gr of Schutzen FFFG. There were forty rounds for each rifle.
The first thing I noticed was the oddness of having to have the W-K's action open to load the magazine. The Winchester loaded with the action closed. Both loaded smoothly with no hitch. No problem loading either magazine was encountered the whole
time.
I set up some milk jugs at 30 yards and started with the 1873. It functioned with no problems at all and I was able to consistantly
hit the jugs.
The W-K jammed four shells out of ten. It was accurate but inconsistant.
Another round with the 1873 and again smooth operations with no jams.
On the W-K's second try, I moved the lever slower. It still jammed three times. The empty would eject but the fresh shell would
come up and jam trying to chamber. It would chamber after I moved the shell with my finger.
I then shot the Winchester as fast as I could, but no jams. It just wouldn't hang-up. No matter how hard I slammed the lever,
it wouldn't hang up.
I futzed with the W-K, adding more grease to the internals and put bore butter on the bullets. I had the same results, three
hang-ups out of ten. I ran through the rest of the ammo with the same results, the '73 would NOT jam and the W-K would jam
two or three times per magazine.
My totally unscientific conclusions were;
A. Lever throws, the Whitney-Kennedy's throw was two inches longer than the Winchester's. It seemed like you had to go too
far. I found myself working the lever like a Winchester and having to go further to open the action. It seemed that you were
moving the lever too far forward.
B. The cartridge lengths could also have been a problem ( they were picked a random from a box, so I'd think the 1873 would have
as much chance of getting a long cartridge as the W-K). The W-K may be more "finicky" with case lengths,
Either of these could be worked on and perhaps inprove the consistancy of the Whitney-Kennedy.
As I said, this was just me "putzing" around, but it was interesting. All I can say is that my 1873 was much more reliable than my Whitney-Kennedy. W-K dropped the "S" shaped lever and adopted a loop lever after the first couple of years. Perhaps the new
design improved the lever throw problem I had.
Anyway, just me wasting an afternoon in the desert.
Tubac