Winchester Repeating Arms 1873 User Manual

Page 14

the riFle is now ready to Fire by holding
the lever tight to the FraMe and Pulling
the trigger.

3. Take aim, and when on target, squeeze the

trigger. After firing, release the trigger to the

fully forward position.

4. Swing the finger lever fully down, extracting and

ejecting the fired cartridge case from the chamber.

always KeeP your riFle shouldered when
ejecting an eMPty cartridge case. ejection
is uP and slightly to the right. iF you eject
a cartridge case with the riFle lowered and
the action directly in Front oF your Face, it
is Possible that the ejected cartridge case
could striKe you in the Face, or striKe a
bystander. Failure to Follow this warning
could result in serious injury.

When an empty cartridge case is correctly ejected

it will fall to the ground in an area behind and to

the right of the shooter.

5. Close the action by returning the finger lever

upward. The closing of the action will transfer

a new cartridge from the magazine to the

chamber, leaving the hammer in the full-cock,

ready-to-fire position.

To continue shooting, repeat steps 3-4. If you are

finished shooting go immediately to step 6.

You may continue shooting until the magazine

is empty, at which time you will need to either

reload the magazine with cartridges (if shooting

is imminent), or completely unload your rifle

(if shooting is no longer imminent).

6. When firing is completed or when shooting is no

longer imminent, immediately place the hammer

in the half-cock position. Under no circumstances

should you move on or continue to hunt with the

hammer in the dropped position.

aFter Firing, or when shooting is no longer
iMMinent, iMMediately Move the haMMer to
the halF-cocK Position. Failure to Follow
these warnings could result in serious
injury or death.

nloaDing

when unloading your riFle always KeeP
the MuZZle Pointed in a saFe direction and
your Fingers away FroM the trigger. Failure
to Follow these warnings could result in
serious injury or death.
always insPect the chaMber, barrel, Feed
MechanisM and MagaZine careFully aFter
unloading to be sure all live cartridges
are cleared FroM the FirearM. Failure to
Follow this warning could result in serious
injury or death.

Completely unloading your rifle for storage and other

appropriate situations is essential to safe gun handling.
1. Swing the finger lever completely downward. This

will extract any cartridge from the chamber and

eject it. Capture the cartridge and return the

finger lever fully upward.

2. Continue to operate the finger lever in the same

manner transferring all the remaining cartridges

from the magazine to the chamber and then

ejecting them out.

3. When cartridges no longer eject when you cycle

the action, further assure that no cartridges remain

by opening the action and visually checking the

chamber, feed mechanism and magazine follower

to be certain that the rifle is completely unloaded

(Figure 16, page 26). After the last live cartridge

is moved out of the magazine and ejected,