doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Winchester 1873 pistol grip conversion

I would like to convert my 1873 from straight grip to pistol grip. I wanted to know how Winchester did it. Most factory pistol gripped 1873 seem to be made from straight gripped guns (I may be incorrect). There seems to be a filler piece (which is drilled and tapped for the tang screw) of metal that extends through the lower tang. Does anyone know how Winchester attach this filler piece?

Thanks

Shawn

The 1890 pump 22's have a round stud w/ a stepped down diameter shank that fits through a hole in the end of the tang and is rivited into place from the outside. There is a countersink cut into the outside of the tang for the riviting process.

The inside portion is then milled parallel to the top tang to give a surface for the tang screw to tap into.

IIRC, there is also a cross pin through the tang and intersecting the stud to halt the stud from turning when the tang screw is turned into it.

When the outside of the tang & rivited stud are polished over,,very hard to see.
I don't recall if the '73, etc were made the same way. If I can get to the back of the pile I can check a PG tang from a '73 for you,,but it may be a while!.

Shawn

Winchester's PG tangs were indeed made from standard tangs and bent. Somewhere I have a copy of the drawings for the fixture...It weighed about 5 tons.

That filler piece is press/shrunk fit into the lower tang, no rivets solder etc that I'm aware of.

Couple of things to keep in mind... plug all holes before bending, that keeps the holes from becoming out of round... also anneal the tang, and heat the tang to red/orange heat when bending...minimizes cracking.

Also your lever will need to be bent, and you will need to find a hammer spring for a PG.

V/R

Mike

Thanks for the information Kutter and Mike

Shawn

I've done this once, as seen in my Custom Rifles in Black & White book. The above info is correct, the tang screw hole is plugged with a stud, the tang heated and bent but the lever must be cut and welded. I have a stud, template for bending and other info but I don't give this stuff away anymore.
My book is available through my website and you can contact me if you are serious about utilizing my experience and parts.
The owner of the rifle is a member here and may wish to comment.
(I also have an EXTRA set-trigger adjustment screw, an impossible part to find!!)
Here's a photo.

Here's a couple of pics of some factory Winchester PG guns.
A Win 92 pre1900
Notice the cross pin. The stud sits a little higher on this one than others I've seen. This rifle has been reblued and worked on (and abused!)


Win 94 PG rifle from around WW1. There's that cross pin again! A better condition gun. You can see the outline of the stud on the tang outside surface.




Last at the bottom of the pile was the '73. This is a second model '73. Surprise!! No stud used on this one. Maybe they did on the later model,,I don't know. Don't happen to have one lying around.
They just D&T directly through the tang on this one.



The Model 90 I did have the experience of removing the stud and making and replacing one for was in fact rivited into place from the outside surface of the tang. Was this the way all were done?,,I don't know. This particular one was. Maybe it was only to further enhance the close fit between the stud and tang in an attempt to hide the joint. There was a definete small countersink cut for the process on the outer surface for it.
I've never replaced one on any other model Winchester other than that one model 90,,so I don't and wouldn't make a blanket statement as to how they were done. They were always changeing methods. That's eveident from the 3 pictured above.
Hope these help.

The '73 .44-40 Steven posted above is mine - a superb little rifle! All the modifications/custom features were factory options on the '73, but would not have received the level of fit and finish Steven provided. It is the last chapter in his book "Custom Rifles in Black & White."

As I recall, in bending the lever, Steven actually made a cut in the lower leg as it needs to shorten slightly to make the curve.

Yes Terry, that's how it was done.
And you were the dream client for the project providing books, photos, parts, time and money to make it possible. Also the impossible to find, single-screw tang sight!
How many factory options did we replicate?
The difference with the '73 tang was that lever catch & spring, and of course, yours was a set-trigger tang with extra holes, etc.
There is a piece on making a lever action forend from scratch on my website.

Just thinking about the rifle, without pulling it out of the safe, I can identify 12 optional/"customer to specify" features. I think there are more, but without looking, I can't think what they would be. For sure, it is a unique custom rifle.

Shawn,

After looking at the pictures that Kutter posted... I decided to take a look at my "how to bend a 73 tang" notes...

The original 73 PG tangs had a very light bend to them, not nearly as much as the 92/94s and certainly not as much as the 64s.The bend is rearward of the mainspring and tang screws.

Because of this, Winchester did not put a boss into the lower tang, they also used the standard mainspring, and if my notes read correctly they did not bend the lever, since the standard lever will activate the hammer safety and can still be latched by the lever latch. The bend on a PG 73 is actually quite minimal.

Try and borrow an original PG lower tang to get the bend correct, and still anneal & heat prior to bending.

Steven, FYI; in case you need another set trigger adjustment screw, it's a 0-80 screw,easily made as the dies are available, and the Model Railroad guys seem to keep them in stock

V/R

Mike