Forums.NitroExpress.com

Hello fellow members. I just purchased an interesting rifle. How I happen to purchase this rifle is an interesting story.

I am a fan of vintage/ antique sporting rifles. I frequently watch videos and surf the auction sites just educate myself and to see what's out there. I watched a couple videos about the 1883 Winchester Hotchkiss and thought that it would be in interesting project to find a cut down military rifle and turn it into a sporting rifle. I knew that the 1883 was made in military rifle and carbine variations. I didn't know if Winchester ever made a sporting variation.

In the evenings (usually with a pour of gin in my hand), I would surf the net checking out the various online auction houses for a suitable candidate. One night, I found a listing for an 1883 rifle without pictures. The description said that it had checkered wood and a good bore. A military rifle with checkering? My interest was piqued. I sent an email requesting photos of the rifle. I've attached them to this post.

When I opened the pictures, I was shocked! The rifle was beautiful. I contacted the Hotchkiss "expert" on the Winchester Arms Collectors Association and asked me to forward the photos. Original records from Winchester confirmed that this rifle shipped from the factory in "Fancy Sporting Rifle" configuration. Winchester made a little over 1200 sporting rifles total in 1883. They made 28 Fancy Sporters! I was shocked.

I contacted the dealer (this was October of 2024) and asked questions about the rifle. The salesman stated that there seemed to be a functional issue because a 45-70 dummy round wouldn't fully chamber. They told me that they were going to send the rifle out for inspection by their gunsmith. He also mentioned that they may not sell the rifle if it doesn't function correctly. I told him that I would still be interested in the rifle even if it didn't function 100% and that I would sign a release.

I regularly kept in contact with the dealer about the rifle and they had no updates. Five months later, the head salesman contacted me on the phone. I don't believe that they ever sent this rifle out to be inspected. He said that it has been sitting around and that I've been patient. He offered it to me for $850.

The Hotchkiss arrived Monday. The pictures represented the rifle well and I saw no issues that I didn't already knew existed. Everything functions correctly. The chamber is tight but needs a thorough cleaning. It was rebarreled to 24" length as opposed to the original 28". The barrel is without any original Winchester markings. The receiver and trigger guard have been blued. They would have originally been color case hardened. The wood is in amazing condition for being 142 years old.

My plan moving forward is to have a correct length barrel installed with proper markings. I will also have the receiver and trigger guard CCH. I hope to be able to take this old girl out into the PA woods and bag a deer with her.

Sorry for the winded story but I thought that you all might enjoy the journey. I will keep you posted on my progress.