Favorite Firearms: Sleeper Of A Star 1873 Winchester

You may wonder why a Model 1873 Winchester in .44-40 Win., with all of its bluing gone, a shortened barrel and magazine tube, a scrap metal front sight silver-soldered to the barrel, the fore-end tip welded to the barrel, the tubular magazine welded to the end tip, a badly cracked wooden fore-end, a missing lever latch, a missing rear sight elevator, two holes drilled through the trigger, the wrong buttplate, and the original buttstock replaced with a fabricated one could possibly be anyone’s favorite firearm.

The answer is simple. This is the same rifle Paul Newman used in the 1967 Western film, “Hombre.” Surprisingly, it was exactly in this condition in the film, as confirmed through careful examination of a high-resolution DVD of the film.

I obtained this rifle in 2017 from Peter Sherayko, who played “Texas Jack” Vermillion in the 1993 film, “Tombstone,” and have displayed it at numerous gun shows and related events across the country. Peter bought the rifle at auction from 20th Century Fox in the late 1980s along with a group of other firearms. The rifle was not listed or advertised as being in any specific film. To them, it was just another prop. Only when he got it home did Peter recognize it as the “Hombre” Winchester.

“20TH FOX” is stamped on the bottom of the receiver, and “5 IN 1” has been scratched on top of the receiver to indicate that the rifle is compatible with the 5-in-1 blank cartridge used interchangeably in three popular revolver chamberings and two popular rifle chamberings commonly seen in earlier Hollywood Western films. The rifle is fully functional and shoots great.