Well, seems pricey for an 1873 part

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I saw this auction the other day but I didn't post about it until now. His first auction started at $1200 with a reserve price of $1500. That auction ended and he has reposted it with a lower start of $1000 and a Buy Now of $1200.

I've always wondered how well the Winchester set trigger mechanism works and whether it wears too quickly or stands up over time. I don't think I've quite reached $1200 worth of wonder though.

Winchester 1873 Set Trigger

Was this same mechanism used in the 1886, 1892, etc, in the same basic format?

[Malamute]

I don't recall seeing just the set trigger setup for sale before, so couldn't comment on the value.

I know I've seen complete, shooter grade 73's selling in the $1200 price range tho.

[Gun Smith]

It's hard for me to see $1200.00 for just the lower tang assy. I've seen complete M.73's with set triggers for less than $1500.00 on a couple of auction sites though. I think the set trigger feature is similar to the M. 86 set trigger.
The set trigger feature is a bit delicate, I have one on one of my '86's. It has a "bubba'd" piece in it, and has never worked properly for me. The problem is getting parts for repair. There was someone it California who had parts, but I can't find his address in my files.
edit.
I just remembered, I found a web site that has a few rare Winchester part reproductions. It's HMS Gunparts Products. They have set trigger parts for sale. Their price list shows two different prices for the same descriptive part between the M.73 and M.86. Probably different design.

[Kansas Ed]

The SST version is very delicate. The weak spot seems to be where the adjustment screw goes through the trigger itself. The hole for the screw is drilled very close to the end point which weakens the assy. and will break off the set activation feature. It doesn't affect using the trigger in the normal fashion, but totally disfunctions the set feature....ask me how I know. My 30" 38-40 1873 has one, and I searched High and Low for the replacement part for a long time. Finally found one and it is sitting in my safe for when and if I ever decide to sell the rifle. The picture below shows the weak point...



Ed

[Gun Smith]

I see that the '73 trigger is definately different than the '86 which has a notch cut out of the sear and a pivot piece riveted to the side of the hammer.

[Sixgun]

McNutjob,
In this great nation, there is a seat for every #*s. Somewhere out there is a guy who has more money than brains that will pay that price. The gun dealers call it "fishing". Sometimes they win. Last year I saw a guy pay $2750 for a standard 50% 1892 Winchester in 32-20 with a pitted bore. The scary part was that another guy was bidding against him. (2 dopes)

The 73 set trigger is different than the other levers and the 1885 single shot. Its weak and 9 out of 10 set triggered 1873's I've laid my hands on, the set trigger was broken.

On the other hand, I regularly shoot a Hi-Wall (1893) and a Low Wall (1909) that have factory set triggers and thousands of rounds later using the set trigger probably 25% of the time has yet to fail me mechanically.

Both needed the gunk cleaned out of them a few times.-----------Sixgun

[20cows]

This reminds me of why I play with 94 Winchester parts!

[ole pizen slinger]

Kansas Ed,
How did the part break? Was it through normal usage (eg. firing the rifle using the set trigger function)? I own a 73 with the set trigger function and it works fine. Just don't want to break it, if I can help it.
ole pizen slinger

[Kansas Ed]

Kansas Ed,
How did the part break? Was it through normal usage (eg. firing the rifle using the set trigger function)? I own a 73 with the set trigger function and it works fine. Just don't want to break it, if I can help it.
ole pizen slinger

Just normal use, and not very many rounds after I got it. I'm pretty sure that the previous owner didn't shoot it much if at all, and had it for a substantial number of years. What is incredible is that the tiny broken piece wasn't lost in the field, but remained in the rifle. I was lucky enough to find it when I took the rifle apart. If I were you I'd just use yours normally and skip using the set feature. I called Turnbulls and asked them the cost to repair it and IIRC it was around $500 to start for the repair.

Ed