THIS 'TRAPPER' IS A KEEPER

Used super-short-barreled carbine in .44-40 proves to be long on historical connection, shooting fun.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

In Mike Venturino’s book

Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West (available from wolfeoutdoorsports.com), there is a vintage photo of “a young cowboy with a ‘trapper’ or ‘baby’ Winchester Model 1873 saddle ring carbine.” The old photograph has earmarks of being a studio shot and it is quite likely that the short Winchester carbine was a studio prop and not owned or used by the cowboy at all. Even so, it is a rather striking picture and one of the things that makes it so revealing is how well the rifle is shown. And it might not be an original trapper because it has a nonstandard dovetail front sight. But the gun is shown well enough in the photo that I wanted one.

What are often called the “trapper models,” with several types of guns, are carbines with barrels shorter than standard. The term “baby carbine” might also be applied, but not specifically unless that’s what the maker called the gun. One example is the Marlin Model 1894 Baby Carbine, which had a lighter-