Regarding smokeless in original 73's.......
We all have choices in life. “To each his own” as the saying goes.
As was mentioned, Winchester developed smokeless cartridges intended for the 1873. After I learned that, I did some investigating on what the original smokeless loadings were. As a result, I believe is perfectly safe to shoot smokeless in my ’73 made in 1882, PROVIDING that the cartridges do not exceed the SAAMI pressure limit for the .44 W.C.F. / .44-40. I also enjoy shooting b.p. as well.
1873 strength
The barrels are made of steel and contain the pressure of the cartridge. There is little bolt thrust since the cartridge case partially locks itself against the chamber walls upon ignition.
In the latest issue of the Winchester Collector, a fellow wrote an article entitled "THE TOGGLE LINK ACTION". He stated that he had been collecting Winchesters for 50 years and had never seen nor heard of an 1873 or 1876 with a blown up action.
Prior to writing the article he had reached out via the internet, questioned fellow associates and did find one instance of a '73 SRC where the barrel had blown out just forward of the rear sight due to a bore obstruction. Interestingly, the action was intact and still working even though the pressure was, no doubt, well in excess of SAAMI specs.
1876 Strength
Shortly after the 1876 Winchester was introduced, there was some concern from some of the shooting public about the rifle being able to contain a cartridge with a 350 gr bullet pushed by 75 grs of b.p. which was considerably more than the 1873 Winchester cartridge.
Winchester responded by testing an 1876 to the point of failure and as you will see, the links and small pins were still intact (!).
The first thing they did was to remove the one set of links, then fired the rifle 20 times. That “Worked Well.” They then replaced the missing links and increased the powder charge to 105 grs of Gov’t powder under two bullets totaling 700 grs. That “Worked Well”. Then the charge weight was increased to 165 grs. and 3 bullets were used. That also “Worked well”.
The powder charge was then increased to 203 grs. and 4 bullets (1,400 grs.) were stacked on top of the powder charge. That also “Worked well”. (Wow!)
They kept adding more bullets until finally, the shell burst, blowing out the side plates, leaving the links and small pins intact and in perfect order.
Who would have thought that was possible.
w44wcf