Cimmaron/Uberti 1873 44 WCF rifle - experience?

[oscarflytyer]

Cimmaron/Uberti 1873 44 WCF rifle

Looking at picking up one of these. Have a Uberti SA revolver in 44 WCF. Want a rifle. This would be a perfect companion! ~$1K. New is about $1.6K. It is charcoal hardened reciever/24" octagon bbl, pistol grip and checkered stock.

Anyone have any experience with one of these? I know the revolver has a .430 (vs (.427-.428) bore. Assume the rifle would be the same.

 

[Ian]

Dad has an 1860 Henry repro, it's nice but I restocked it in a nice coffee-colored piece of feathercrotch black walnut for him because he hated the red stain and plain grain. Uberti case color is nice and their guns are at least as good as the originals regarding fit and finish, mostly better IMO.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Ian - this one has some very nice wood! I have been doing some ugly grunt work helping my wife with some things and have the freebie funds to pick this one up that I would not normally have. Think I am going to treat myself. And if I end up with it, it will be the purtiest I have in my safe! And I really enjoy the 44 WCF!

 

[Ian]

Go for it, I predict you'll be very happy with it. Do take the side plates off with a properly-fittng screwdriver and clean the crust out of it if it's new. Like Chinese stuff, the Italians don't bother to clean the manufacturing shmoo out of their mechanicals before shipping.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Thanx for the feedback, Ian!

 

[RicinYakima]

What Ian said! You will have to clean it well, even if someone owned it first.

 

[462]

Oscar,
The 1860 Henry, 1866 and 1873 Winchesters all have the same internals.
Not an 1873 nor .44-40, but I have a lightly used Uberti/Cimarron 1866 with a 24 1/4" octagon barrel chambered in .357 Magnum.
They come drilled and tapped for a tang sight, and I quickly installed a Marbles, removed the barrel mounted rear sight and replaced it with a Brownells dovetail blank.
Evidently, the previous owner hadn't heard of hollow ground screwdrivers/bits and a couple screws and the magazine plug required touching up and re-bluing. I had read that Uberti's screws are soft, and it's true. Taylor's and Co. or Cimarron, one, sell hardened screws.
Like Ian mentioned, take it down and give it a thorough cleaning, and you might want to look for and stone any rough edges. Upon re-assembly, by tweaking the lifter arm spring screws you can get an amazingly light and smoothly moving action. Also, if you are so inclined, placing a wee shim under the trigger spring with reduce the trigger pull.
It's my third most hoot-to-shoot rifle.
If the finances are right, I'll wager you will have a hoot-to-shoot rifle too.

P. S. Mine has a tight chamber and grooves are a very tight .357". Semi-wadcutter noses require lever fiddling to chamber. Round flat types chamber much easier and are scads more accurate than SWCs.

 

[oscarflytyer]

You guys are THE BEST! I won't have any hesitation getting this one of it falls into my easter egg budget! And I have really fallen into the old bottle neck rounds - so far 32-20 (pair of revolvers - want a rifle!) and 44-40 (revolver and looking at rifle mate!) This one, or one like it, will most likely be in the safe.

462: Did not realize it might be d&t'd for tang sight! If so, might be a big kool plus! Thanx!

 

[CZ93X62]

You'll hate me for this......but Cimarron also lists '73s in 32/20. You're welcome.

 

[StrawHat]

I don’t own one but have handled several at the shoots and ranges. They are heavy, especially in the smaller calibers. (Compared to the 1892). However the action is much smoother. When you get yours, clean it as has been indicated, if for no other reason to get familiar with the internals. Firing and dryfiring will smooth things up quite a bit. You could ship it off to one of the Cowboy Gunsmiths but that is not really necessary.

They are well built and a lot of fun.

What barrel are you looking at getting?

Kevin

 

[L Ross]

My friends accuse me of being a gun sl.....ah, purchaser of low moral character. So I confess I have had 4 different 1866's, and 3 1873's. I have had carbines, standard rifles, and one deluxe with 30" bbl and checkering. I only have one standard 1873 in .44 w.c.f. now as I consider that to be one of the classic deer rifles of Northern Wisconsin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and just had to keep one around.
Everyone one of these was a joy to own and shoot. They were accurate, smooth and dependable. With the standard 73 and a Cimarron SAA with the "blackpowder frame", I feel I have a classic combo. My wife and I no longer shoot organized Cowboy matches, but once in a while we have a little shoot here and everyone drags out their old cowboy stuff and smokes the place up.
You will not be sorry if you get one.

 

[Cherokee]

My 1866 Uberti in 45 Colt has been trouble free for 15 years of use in SASS matches. Smoothed and accurate.

 

[CZ93X62]

I have an original '73 carbine (made 1897) in 44/40 WCF. It is heavy for its size, despite its 19" round carbine barrel profile. It is something of a chunk.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Kevin - this one is a 24" Octagon bbl (a plus for me), pistol grip and the curved buttplate.

CZ: "You'll hate me for this......but Cimarron also lists '73s in 32/20. You're welcome." I know! rarely seen! One day! lol

And I realize this thing is going to be somewhat heavy. But I'm ok with that. I like a heavy target gun too...

 

[uncle jimbo]

I own a 73 Uberti just as you described except in 357 mag. I have had zero problems with it. Bought it about a year and a half ago. They are heavy but they are fun to shoot.

 

[462]

My 1866 sporting rifle feels like about 9 pounds. Makes one respect those who carried and used the 1860, 1866 and the 1873 all the more.

 

[StrawHat]

The comment about them being heavy is not a slight nor a complaint. They are very much a replica of the originals, with some additional chamberings. The reason the 1892 was a big seller was it shaved nearly two pounds off the weight of the earlier rifle. A big deal? To some sure. But the 1873 did not roll over and die because John Browning invented something different. It remained in the line up until 1924 or there abouts. Not bad for an archaic design!

Kevin

 

[462]

I find it interesting that Mr. Henry's toggle-link system, which seems to be much maligned by today's gun writers, endured a 64 year life span, and is currently being produced in .357 and .44 Magnum.

 

[CZ93X62]

It is a testament to metallurgy advances that a knee-action locking system can be adapted to the backthrust of 357 and 44 Magnum cartridges. The SAAMI re-evaluation and modernizing of magnum revolver pressure standards c. 1990 (moderating them to some degree) played a role in this as well--allowing the knee-action Winchesters and J-frame S&Ws to tread roads they hadn't ventured upon previously.

I am not certain that I would try "extending" the ballistics of the 32/20 or 44/40 into the Win 92 realms in these modern '73 repros. They may indeed have sufficient strength to enable such ventures, but I don't see the point of it--not when I have modern Win 92 and Marlin 94 rifles in the safe that are perfectly capable of doing so. I don't try 38/44 loads in my Colt OMT or in my S&W M&P, either.

My '73 Winchester was a ranch and farm rifle for 30+ years, and during that time it put more deer on the ground than the rest of my gun collection has harvested in its entirety. It also dispatched at least 2 marauding black bears that my Grandmother saw first-hand. The black-powder era 44/40 WCF is no wonder cartridge--a 200 grain/43 caliber flatnose bullet running at most 1300 FPS. But those ballistics worked, and the late Frank Barnes remarked in his Cartridges Of The World historical notes for the cartridge that "It probably killed more game--large and small--and killed more men--good and bad--than any other cartridge in our Old West". I suspect Mr. Barnes was correct.

Running SAECO #446 at 1275-1300 FPS ahead of 24.0 grains of RL-7 in the heavy '73 carbine--recoil is very docile, about like a 410 shotgun. It doesn't take long to burn through 100-150 rounds, that's for sure. A 32/20 must feel like a rimfire rifle.

 

[StrawHat]

The 1873 was chambered in the 22RF. Not sure which variety but that certainly was a heavy for caliber rifle!

Kevin