Vintage Hunting with the 1873

[Cholla Hill Tirador]

  I'd stick with the standard rounds. Hollowpoints are nice but have a tendency to limit penetration.  Good luck on your hunt!

  CHT

[dusty texian]

Cholla's right the solid will be much better,,,,,DT

[Rowdy Fulcher]

58
Good luck on your pig hunt . Let us know how the weapons performed ie 5.56 verses the 44wcf ? Are your 44wcf bullets soft lead  Also take lots of pictures . Happy Hunting

[Cholla Hill Tirador]

So.....my family is going wild pig hunting in SW Texas this spring.
They'll carry AR-15s with special pig scopes. Haha!
I'm considering opting for my Marlin Cowboy in 44-40.
Got a solid scope sighted for 100yds.
Very accurate thanks to John 44wcf.
I have 240 gr standard and hollow point blackpowder rounds.

What do y'all think? Happy New Year.

Mike Arthur
Charleston, SC.

  Wait...you said "wild pig" and SW Texas. Are you hunting hogs or javelina? The latter are much smaller than your typical feral hog and I wouldn't hesitate to use a hollowpoint bullet.

CHT

[58cal]

I think it's s pig

[King Medallion]

Yep, thats a pig. Nice shootn.

[dusty texian]

Nice eating size pig right there! Picture looks like it could have been taken on my place up on the divide ! N/W of San Angelo Tx. Good Shooting ,,,DT

[Cholla Hill Tirador]

I think it's s pig

  Yep....for sure a pig!

   CHT

[Rowdy Fulcher]

58cal
Thanks for posting the picture and congratulations on your Hog hunt . We would love to here all about your adventure . 

[58cal]

Thanks but I'm not going until late March. That's a picture of a recent sW Texas pig hunt. But I will take my 44-40. Thsnks y'all. 🏆🏆

[Rowdy Fulcher]

58cal
Good luck in March . Be safe have fun and take lots of pictures . 

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Well it's 2017 which means Winter Hunting is in full swing . The COLD weather makes hunting for long periods of time very difficult . We have all Froze out , but pre hunt planning can make your next hunt an enjoyable one .Remember hands feet and head are your biggest heat loss .Keep these warm and you will have a more enjoyable hunt .

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Well spring is finally here . There are Coyotes and Ground Hogs to hunt . I spotted a few ground Hogs out of there den a few days ago . Sure would like to use my 44wcf on them . Hum I aint ever had smoked Ground Hog ?

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Howdy
Found a picture from last Deer season . It was a nice sunny fall day .

[Coffinmaker]

Has/Have/Will/Does anyone else notice just HOW LONG Rowdy has been keeping this thread alive??  Pretty soon we're gonna run outta fingers 

[Slamfire]

"YO",,Rowdy...Keep it going,,at least someone is getting to do what more of us "should "be doing.







  If ya' got'm smoke'm,,,Thank's Hootmix.

[Scattered Thumbs]

Has/Have/Will/Does anyone else notice just HOW LONG Rowdy has been keeping this thread alive??  Pretty soon we're gonna run outta fingers 

And rightly so coffin dude. 

[Carlsen Highway]

It is an honour to be able to contribute to this thread. When you search for hunting with the Winchester 73, this is a thread that comes up often and so I have come across this thread many times since I am a both a .44-40 fan, a lever action fan, and like to use them for hunting. (I actually just did my first CAS match last weekend also too)

I bought this Uberti '73 short rifle six weeks ago, it has a 20'octagonal barrel. I load it with soft lead cast bullets from an Accurate Mold designed by John Kort (W44WCf on this forum), his 43-215C and 36 grains of 3F black powder. This gets me 1200 - 1220 fps which is about right, this will shoot 5 shots into 3 inches at 100metres with the factory sights.
Rarely have I been so excited to receive a rifle. And I have had a lot of rifles in my time, but I was really looking foward to this one. As well, it came just n time for a hunting trip I had planned to the mountains the next week. The deer here are European red deer, same species as American elk.



on this trip I shot two red deer hinds, both looked the same below. (My camera died after this one photo, it was the only picture I took on the whole trip) Both were shot with black powder .44-40 loads replicating the original ballistics of the cartridge.



I found that despite the low velocity, and the soft pure lead, the bullets all exited. The first deer above was shot once and died only a few feet from where I shot her. A second deer shot later I had to shoot again because I shot too high - the wound was mortal I discovered later, but I wasnt waiting to find out, because I was experiencing what black powder shooters knew better than me, because of the cloud of smoke when I fired, and with open sights, I wasn't sure exactly if I had hit the deer where I intended, and I didnt get to see the the animals reaction to the shot  as one might with smokeless modern rifles. So I payed the insurance, as they say.
So all bullets completely exited going through and through. I ddint autopsy the deer properly, I would have liked to see exactly what the bullets did, but it was getting dark soon and I was a long way from camp.

I was well pleased with how the .44 Winchester performed. I carried it a great deal, as the hunting where I am is all backpack hunting, and shifting fly (spike) camps often, and with many river crossings and climbing up ridges through thick bush too. I am glad I got a short rifle, as a 24 inch barrel might have been too heavy for carrying, I am pleased with it as it is.

I am also pleased with the performance of the black powder load and bullet, I cant see where these deer would be any deader if I shot them with my .270. And I got a real kick out of this rifle shooting black powder...the thumping concussion of it is always impressive.

[Cholla Hill Tirador]

  Beautiful pictures and many congrats on your kills! Where are you hunting?

  I knew there was another hunting thread here somewhere. Now that I've found it, here are my two most recent using my old '86 production 1873 Winchester 38-40 using a bullet cast from an RCBS 40-180 mould (192 grs.)  and as much Swiss 3Fg as I could get under it. Velocity 1300+ as I recall.

   Last fall:

   

   A few weeks ago:

   

  CHT

[King Medallion]