Mystery of 73 Win. Saddle ring carbine solved

[73_winchester]

Just wanted to say "thanks" for the info~~Finally got it figured out~~it did turn out to be a 73 Win. saddle ring carbine that was special ordered in .44 Henry centerfire and a 19" barrel~~ ~~Special thanks to Angel Eyes for the Henry Center fire dimensions~~they helped alot~~ ~~Have loaded the rounds with 13.3 gr. of FFg  black powder and 200gr. bullets~~The rifle fires and works great~

[Fox Creek Kid]

Just wanted to say "thanks" for the info~~Finally got it figured out~~it did turn out to be a 73 Win. saddle ring carbine that was special ordered in .44 Henry centerfire and a 19" barrel...

Out of curiousity, is there a Winchester Factory letter to verify that? If so, I would sure like to see a copy.

[Wolfgang]

If the rifle is in fact what you say . . . and documented as such  . . . I'd think it is a pretty rare and collectable item.  One way or another I'd suggest that you post about it over on the Winchester Collectors Forum.

http://www.winchestercollector.org/forum/index.php   Winchester Collectors Forum

[Mako]

'73,
In either your email to me or in the original post you said that you had taken a Cerrosafe casting of the chamber.  Can you relate those measurements to us?  I have been trying to get actual chamber dims of a Henry CF for some time.
Regards,
Mako

[Pettifogger]

A highly unusual combination.  Is this an original or reproduction 73?  The .44 Henry center fire round is to short to properly cycle in an original 73 as configured by the factory.  The carrier would have to be modified to work with the shorter rounds.  Original 73's had virtually no bevel on the front of the carriers since they were designed for longer cartridges than the Henry.  Seems very doubtful that Winchester would spend the money to make a one-off 73 in a caliber that was pretty much obsolete in the U.S. even in the late 1800's.  Maybe it was made for export to Mexico?  Winchester did make some 66's in .44 Henry center fire, but then those rifles had the shorter carriers and would cycle the rounds with no modifications.

[Mako]

A highly unusual combination.  Is this an original or reproduction 73?  The .44 Henry center fire round is to short to properly cycle in an original 73 as configured by the factory.  The carrier would have to be modified to work with the shorter rounds.  Original 73's had virtually no bevel on the front of the carriers since they were designed for longer cartridges than the Henry.  Seems very doubtful that Winchester would spend the money to make a one-off 73 in a caliber that was pretty much obsolete in the U.S. even in the late 1800's.  Maybe it was made for export to Mexico?  Winchester did make some 66's in .44 Henry center fire, but then those rifles had the shorter carriers and would cycle the rounds with no modifications.

Pettifogger,
You are absolutely right!  I hadn't thought about that.  All of the cartidges used in the '73 , except for the few they made in .22LR  are exactly the same length.  To retool to produce a one off is almost unthinkable ansd incredibly expensive.  You couldn't use the '66 tooling, the holding fixture for the broaching operation wouldn't fit the '73 frame and I'm sure the engineers and production people would have howled bloody murder if someone tried to cut a steel frame with the tooling designed for Bronze (Gun Metal).

73_winchester,
What is the measurement from the front to the rear on the carrier?  Can you snap a picture of it with the lever down from the top?  That way we can see if it has some sort of a stop in it.  This is an interesting find.

Regards,
Mako