Since this is the review section, here is another thing that I thought I would share about the Miroku 1873's and this would pertain to any of them.
Miroku added an additional safety system that is not on either a Uberti or an original. However, it is unobtrusive and basically self-working. The long metal bolt that cocks the hammer when one works the lever is now called the firing pin extension. On an original there is no such part because it and the firing pin were a single piece of machined metal that threads through the breechblock.
Possibly for production efficiencies, Uberti chose to make this into two separate pieces, which simply mate inside the breechblock. The rear section (the part that you see) is now called the firing pin extension. Miroku followed this same method, but redesigned the extension to also house a hammer block safety. Basically what they have done is to take a single part from the original Winchester and turned it into an assembly comprised of 10 parts---now that's progress
Below a shot of the Miroku extension. It is now hollow with an internal pin under pressure from a small coil spring. The black button at the very rear tip of the extension is the contact end of that internal pin. The other end of the internal coil spring is attached to a cam lever, the top of which you will see protruding from a machined slot running length-wise on the extension. All this is held in place with two punch pins.
Peeking out from under the rear of the dust cover, is the base of a lug which the cam lever interacts with inside the receiver.
The whole purpose of this affair is to prevent an accidental discharge if the hammer is bumped while being in the down position
with a round in the chamber. The rifles still have the normal half cock position which has sufficed as a safety system for at least 140 years, but of course in today's litigious society, companies now have to protect people from their own negligence.
Thank goodness, they didn't go the route that they did with their 1886, 1892, 1894, and 1895, which replaced the half cock with a rebounding hammer and an upper tang safety switch. It's a shame that companies now seem compelled to fix things that weren't broken in the first place.
As I mentioned, the system on the new 73's is not as obtrusive, but I have already encountered a problem with it in my short rifle. It was probably just a freak accident, but I can see it happening to others if they are not aware of the possibility.
After a range trip this past summer with the short rifle, I had just finished cleaning the bore, and was giving the entire rifle a final wipe down. The lever was down, so the extension was fully extended to the rear. That's when my cleaning rag caught the little tab protruding from the slot on the extension and levered it up to a vertical position. This dislodged the internal coil spring from its track and left the cam lever sticking up at an angle. I could see the little spring inside doubled up, but there was no way to reposition it through the narrow slot. Consequently, I could not close the action.
A smarter and more sensible person would have probably sent the rifle to the Winchester service center, but having disassembled and done minor gunsmithing on my 73's numerous times over the years, I decided to see if I could correct the issue on my own.
The extension had to be removed and mounted in a vice to drive out the rear retaining pin with a punch. Then using an illuminated magnifier and tweezers, the coil spring was remounted inside the shaft and the whole thing reassembled. It took the better part of an evening to figure out and correct. It has functioned normally since then, and of course I have since taken care to avoid duplicating what caused the issue in the first place.
Fortunately, over the week end, I found a solution to prevent this from ever happening again. Pioneer Gunworks, who makes short stroke kits for Uberti's and the new Miroku's, also makes a replacement drop in firing pin extension that is a simple solid piece of metal. This effectively eliminates the new safety block system and restores the gun to a more historically authentic configuration.
I placed an order this week for two--one for each of my rifles at $40 a pop.
Cheers