Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Winchester 43

What can you lads tell me about the 43 in 25-20. Looks like a good little small game gun but the one I see for sale seems pricey.

Looks almost like a rim-fire action. What is the rep of these?

All Model 43 Winchesters are expensive as long as the condition is there. I had one in 22 Hornet and found it very accurate. If another became available I would find something to trade for it. The only thing "bad" about these firearms is that the magazines are getting hard to find. You will not be sorry if you acquire one that has a good bore. RJSnow

Basically a scaled up Model 69.

Nostalgia, my first c-fire was a W-43 in .218 Bee, an almost obsolete .22 on a necked down 25-20 case. That was 48 yrs back.

The Winchester admirers are collecting them, so the prices are already inflated. There were a couple last week on gunsamerica.com for comparing prices.

Vigillinus nailed it. An enlarged M69. Made in plain and delux (checkered)versions.

Read Frank deHaas' book, he says that the rifle is under-engineered for the hornet and bee cartridges if the
rifle is shot a lot. I don't know what his idea of "a lot" is.

I think there is some concern about the rear locking lugs "setting back" and causing a headspace problem with the 22 Hornet and 218 Bee. Winchester 43s in 25-20 and 32-20 are pretty low volume units, so they are usually priced accordingly. I never cared for the triggers on the Winchester 43s, but maybe it was just me being picky.

Jeff