Here is the newest addition to my collection. "The gun that won the west". A Winchester 1873 in 357/38 with a 24" octagonal barrel, case hardened finish and AAA walnut. That's a mouthful, but they do come in different configurations. According to Winchester, only 250 have been produced.
After visiting my two local dealers who were as helpful as a stubbed toe, I again made the journey to north of Brisbane to give my hard earned money to a dealer who wanted to take it. 2 weeks later and here she is.
As you can see, it arrived as described and it's glorious.
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While I was at the dealer I bought some ammo that was really well priced. 3 boxes of 50 .38spl and 1 box of 50 .357mag for under $100.
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I took it for its first shoot this morning and it performed really well. The factory open sights were dead on, no need for adjustment. I shot the white paper target in a medium paced string of 13 shots off hand at 50m. The black circle off the sandbag 5 times at 50m and the cowboy silhouette off hand at 50m at a medium fast pace without missing once. I had a ball.
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It's the first time I've shot a pistol calibre out of a rifle and it was just so much fun. No noticeable recoil to speak of and when I switched from .38 to .357 the fun just doubled. Those .357's really put a smile on your face. They are a pretty hard hitting little round, especially after firing 70 rounds of .38.
If you are thinking of buying a lever action that you can plink and hunt with, without spending a fortune on ammo - I highly recommend a 357/38 calibre.
