Guns and Stuff Reviews

By Joe W Gorman

Cimarron’s beautiful 1873 Deluxe

For a long trip down memory lane, I present the Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle, with a full 20” octagon barrel, pistol grip, walnut stocks, crescent butt plate and deep, old-school bluing. This is an accurate reproduction of a fancy 1873 Winchester Rifle imported by Cimarron Firearms. Fans of the movie Winchester ’73 will recognize this rifle and are familiar with its importance in the history of the old west. I’ve mentioned before that the Duke was wont to grab a ’92 Winchester without regard to when the story was supposed to have taken place. Suffice it to say for many of the westerns he made, it would have been more historically accurate for him to have been carrying this rifle. But, hey, he was the Duke.

Let there be no mistake; this is chambered in the coolest caliber, 45 Colt

The 1873 Winchester design features a toggle link bolt better suited to lower pressure cartridges, vs, say, a 1892 Winchester; modern versions of which are purported to be capable of handling .44 magnum. No doubt, this Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle is capable of handling more pressure than an original 1873 Winchester, but to my mind, the .45 Colt is a low-pressure cartridge and I like to keep it that way. I make all my .45 Colt reloads to remain under the 14,000cup SAMMI specification. Honestly, with the right powder, I can get 255 grain hard cast SWC bullets to 1200 fps from the barrel of a 1873 Winchester rifle and still be within pressure spec. That’s plenty of horsepower for a whitetail out to 100 yards if the shot is well placed.

Cimarron’s historically accurate barrel marks

Cimarron Firearms in Fredericksburg, TX, has been a major player in and importer of historical firearms since the early 1980s. Their founder, Mike Harvey, worked with Italian maker Uberti to ensure the reproductions of historical guns were more accurate, including historically accurate roll marks, than what was being offered at the time.  In that sense, modern cowboys like me owe Mike a lot! If you peruse their online catalog www.cimarron-firearms.com, you’ll see all the many models of long guns and handguns they currently offer. The Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle under review is a top tier reproduction, with correct color case hardening of the receiver and lever and deep, polished blue of the barrel and sights etc. The checkering on the pistol grip and fore grip are expertly executed. This is a beautiful rifle. Fit and finish are first class.

Look at the beautiful color case hardening and blued screws

Taking the Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle to the range for testing was very fun. It was a bit like driving an old knuckle head-Harley around today, in that you don’t expect it to offer all the features and versatility of it’s modern counterpart, but that’s also precisely why you enjoy using it. It still does its job! It’s easy to put yourself in the Oklahoma or Dakota territories of the late 1870s when shooting this .45 Colt Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle. The toggle action makes the lever pull feel distinct from, say, a ’92 Winchester or a ’94 Marlin. There’s a particular cadence and sound when cycling the 1873 that’s a bit different than when I cycle my 1892s. Cowboy Action shooters consider a slicked-up 1873 to be the smoothest, fastest traditional lever gun. Round-nose, flat-pointed factory ammunition from Hornady and Black Hills fed more smoothly than the SWC I loaded to an OAL of 1.57”. With round-nose flat-point .45 Colt ammo I could rapid fire the 1873, which brought out my inner Jimmy Stewart (Winchester ’73 reference). With my SWC reloads, I’d inevitably get a hangup within 3 or 4 rounds. If you’re reloading for the 1873 you’ll probably want to load round nose cowboy bullets and mind your OAL.

More of Cimarron’s historically accurate markings

From the bench, I could easily shoot minute-of-deer groups at 100 yards. The trigger broke cleanly and crisply at 5 pounds. All the ammunition I tested could be counted on to reliably group 3 shots within the confines of the 6” black targets I use for iron sight shooting. I also managed to get several 3 shot groups under 3” with all the ammo used in testing! With the short sight radius inherent with the factory sight set up on a 1873 Winchester rifle, the real limitation of the rifle’s accuracy is the person behind the trigger. Off hand at 50 yards, keeping 3 shots in the 6” black was easy as well. The 45 Colt’s low recoil impulse, the excellent factory buckhorn sights and the rifle’s light weight all added up to a rifle than would serve a stalking deer hunter well in the woods.

Standing and shooting the Cimarron 1873 Deluxe provided excellent results. Perfect for white tails in the woods. 

When I did my part, the Cimarron could really shoot!

In the state of Iowa, we can hunt deer with a .45 Colt rifle or revolver (with a barrel of at least 4”). For the woods hunting I do, this Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle would make a handy and light companion for stalking deer. I have somehow managed to grow old and I now prefer optics as typically my shots are in the last few minutes of legal shooting hours and making out black sights is difficult, without snow on the ground to provide contrast. I did not have our review sample of the Cimarron 1873 Deluxe Short Rifle during deer season so I can’t say I shot a deer with it, but again, I have no doubt this rifle can take care of business. In the words of an old friend who inspected this rifle when it first arrived, “This is a rifle a man wants to own.”  Yes sir, it sure is.

Out in the fresh air with the Cimarron 1873 Deluxe

Ammunition	Avg Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Best 3-shot Group from bench at 100yards
Black Hills Cowboy 250 Gr Round Flat Nose	1120	<3”
Hornady Cowboy 255 Gr Round Flat Nose	920	<3”
Reload, 255gr SWC, hard cast, 9.0gr Unique, Winchester Large Pistol Standard Primers	1182	<3”
Reload, 250gr RNFP, hard cast, 9.0gr Unique, Winchester Large Pistol Standard Magnum Primers	1210	<3”

*given it was me shooting buckhorn iron sights, I think under 3” groups is sufficient resolution for this.