Hiyas all. I have had mixed success with the last few replica guns i have purchased. Some have exceeded any expectation (my 600 dollar sharps) and others have been quite dissapointing. So i find myself wondering, what to do? Im quite tired of brand new guns with problems out of the box (5 out of the last 6 firearms have needed immediate repair) and am unsure what to do? I have absolutely no experience with originals, are they better made? Will they remain servicable, here, 130 or so years after they were made? It seems my options are either to buy originals (pricey, and as i desire shooters...are they safe to fire? Should they be fired?) or keep dealing with Italian replicas, that all seem to have issues. Are there any other sources for replica winchester lever guns? If not maybe a US company could follow in Shiloh and USFA's footsteps...they would have my business. Any thoughts would be helpful, as im just not sure what to do from this point.

I think we need a little more info. Tell us where you are headed. Which design or model? Which caliber? Its intended purpose?

I think we need a little more info. Tell us where you are headed. Which design or model? Which caliber? Its intended purpose?

Well i have a general interest in Winchester leverguns, primarily the 1873 and 1876, would like to get an 1886 someday. Hunting, shooting, and general fun (i am not a CAS shooter, dont need to beat on them)

Prolly shoulda mentioned that!

You can't compare the cheap reproduction imports to quality reproduction guns and even some of the expensive import repro's suck and forget about getting any customer service.

If an original is in good condition and has been checked by a competent gunsmith, there is no reason why it can't be used within it's safe design limits. I could have purchased a 1914 Win saddle ring carbine in .38-55 for $175, perfect action but needed a barrel and buttstock because the original parts were totally buggered up by a bubba gunsmith. Of course repairing it means giving up the collector value but the condition of this one, repairing it to a functional weapon would have increased it's value because it wasn't even suitable as a "wall hanger" in the condition it was in.

It's all in what you want and how much you are willing to spend not only in money but time and effort to get what you want. I just worked a gunshow last weekend, guy in the booth next to me had some real nice original guns and all of them priced low compared to the fair market value and none of them needed more than little cleaning.

From time to time, Winchester produces limited runs of 1885's, 1886's, 1892's, and 1895's that are made by Miroku in Japan. FN owns Miroku, as it does Winchester and Browning. Miroku also produces the A-Bolt rifles and Citori shotguns for Browning, if that tells you anything about the quality level. Service, if needed, is handled by the Browning Service Center in Utah. If you can live with the tang mounted safeties, they're really nice rifles. IMO

The one on the top is my 1886 Take Down in .45-70. The second from the top is my 1895 in .405 winchester.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d70/Gunslinger2005/oc04_018.jpg

My 1892 in .45 Colt is the one on the bottom.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d70/Gunslinger2005/oc04_019.jpg

Azure,
Model 1873 or 1876 samples in good shape are probably priced appropriate to their collector status. There were not that many 1876s produced, and good ones are astronomically expensive. As noted above, there are many replicas which will serve as shooters or hunters, provided you check them out closely. Generally, the Winchester and Browning replicas are very high quality guns, and have the advantage of being made of modern steel alloys.

In general, when shopping for clone rifles, look for the Uberti and Pedersoli copies. Their quality has remained far more consistant than the Armi Sport pieces.

I'm not sure what your looking for but the Rossi leverguns are pretty good. I like mine as much as any other gun & more than most.

I have a couple old guns & theyre quite shootable. You need to handload anyway to shoot most of them & theres alot of mild load data thats quite safe.

I am a CAS competitor and sometime target shooter. Mostly my guns are used for CAS and hunting.

I have an early Uberti 1873 clone. It's in .45 Colt and had a problem with the extractor when new. Seems they didn't figure out that the rim dia and depth was different between the .44-40 and .45 Colt. It broken one about 4 years later during a match. This time I replaced the whole bolt. Only other issue was a broken firing pin about 5 years ago. But, understand this rifle has had about 200,000 rounds thru it. Far more serious that any plinking and probably any antique original.

I have 3 Rossi '92 clones. 2 from Interarms (pre-LSI) and one from EMF. All three worked as designed from the word go. However, for a CAS competitor, there is a certain need for more than just function. After a few hours with a stone, polishing compound and some missing coils that came with its springs, I have 3 very slick and pleasureable 92 clones that shoot great. Again, these see far more use than most original Winchester 92s.

I also have a Browning 1886 clone that was produced in 1985 and as a clone, it's wonderful. Tight yet smooth out of the box. As accurate as you'd want in a .45-70. I wouldn't trade it for an original.

Another clone I have is a Shiloh Sharps. Enough said. I know I wouldn't trade mine for an original.

I have 2 Marlins. Both functional firearms. But, they are just bone stock and are quite adequate for the hunting that gets done with them.

I have 30 Winchester 94s, the oldest being produced in 1897 and the newest being a pair produced in 1979. From the oldest to the newest, they are all serviceable and functional. I've rebuilt one of the 1979 produced 94s into a custom rifle and use it for competition and for hunting.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d197/sass93/Custom94.jpg

You might visit Not So Good Custom Manufactured Ammo (http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30174) to see one of the problems that can be had when dealing with either an original or replica.

And you can look at Uberti 1876 .45-60 Pics & Range Report (Long!) (http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30109&SearchTerms=1876) or Nevada Western Firearms has 1876 SRC (http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29015&SearchTerms=1876) and see what some others have said about both the Uberti and Chaparrel 1876 clones.