Tell me about the 1873 rifle.

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
One note about 45 Colt not sealing the chamber (even with std level smokeless). My Henry rifle gave sooty cases. I was using new Starline brass. Was told (internet) that it was harder brass and wouldn't seal as well with lighter loads. Recommended I go with Remington or Winchester brass. Did, but parted with the rifle before I gave them any real test.
 

Walks

Well-Known Member
That's a true thing about starline brass being harder. They don't anneal it as the last step. Why it's cheaper. Remington is softest or was. Both Rem and Winchester will seal a chamber better with light somkelesss loads or Black Powder. But then I haven't shot Cowboy or BP in a dozen years.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
45 colt starline has less case capacity than winchester.
rem is about in the middle [ish] but closer to starline, and federal is real close to win.
they all soot down the side with 7.5grs. of unique and a 255.

most of the 73's i've dealt with will not take anything longer than the 610 saami length.
not sayin nuthin much since browning 92's won't either.
just something to look out for since most bullet molds do not adhere to that length
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Anybody but me have trouble with RP brass in 92's ? It will not feed in either the 1986ish nor the 2013 M92 Rossi .
No that it really matters the Ruger BlackHawk whines about it too so most of it ends up gifted or sold cheap .......

I've begged for the short Hornady from everyone that complained about it . I guess it doesn't make them that unhappy.

I think I have another bag of RP maybe I'll make a few 45 S&W dummies and see if they will feed . The 1917 won't care about the rim and the correct S&W rim won't go over 3 deep in the 92' magazine , the extractor doesn't like them much either .
 

Walks

Well-Known Member
Anybody but me have trouble with RP brass in 92's ? It will not feed in either the 1986ish nor the 2013 M92 Rossi .
No that it really matters the Ruger BlackHawk whines about it too so most of it ends up gifted or sold cheap .......

I've begged for the short Hornady from everyone that complained about it . I guess it doesn't make them that unhappy.

I think I have another bag of RP maybe I'll make a few 45 S&W dummies and see if they will feed . The 1917 won't care about the rim and the correct S&W rim won't go over 3 deep in the 92' magazine , the extractor doesn't like them much either .

You're asking about .45Colt in the Rossi M92.
I had one in that cartridge about same age as yours. Feeding either Starline .45Scofield brass or cut down Colt brass, both will double feed. Never tried the .45Special brass.

I have never had any problem as regards to headstamp. Never tried the Hornady short brass. That load came out after I sold the ,45cal M92.
 

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
If I wanted a 45 Colt lever gun, which brand would be the best?
Which would be better, 45 Colt or 44 Remington Magnum?
 
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L Ross

Well-Known Member
To coax a little more horse power out of the .44-40 I used the Lyman 429215. That bullet has always worked for me in the .44 mag in Model 29's and Ruger SBH. And I have killed 3 or 4 deer with that bullet in a Rossi 92 carbine.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
in a 92 you can run the 40 up to mid-44 mag levels without even trying very hard.

i've never had any issues with any brass i've tried in any of my 92's.
i did have to pull and clean up [file the back/under side] then tweak [bend] the extractor from one of my 94's to get it to work with some brass that had a little bit different rim measurements.

i also had to slightly re-shape the nose section of one of my model 92 extractors to allow the bolt to go forward enough to chamber sumthin.
it's been a while since i done that though and it might have been on the taurus pump rifle i had in 45 colt.

anyway i'd start measuring some rim thickness and width, then looking at how it interfaces with the extractor/bolt face/notch in the barrel.
 

Ian

Notorious member
it's been a while since i done that though and it might have been on the taurus pump rifle i had in 45 colt.

You had one of those tomato stakes? I thought they just made one prototype, gave up on making it work, sold it to a cowboy gamer with a Dremel and one size of Taiwanese screwdriver who in turn sold it to me on Gunbroker. The extractor is on the top of the bolt on the TB. That's the rifle I had to convert to .45 ACP to make work right. To function with .45 Colt the back third of the chamber has to be ramped and then it glocks the brass.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
In my case......cases..... They hang in a rail slots coming up .
Ive run Fio , RP ,Win , PMC , FC , Starline , Blazer , Speer and I think one other in nickle , brass and even a few Blazer Aluminum cases . The RP is the only one that hangs and it does it in both carbines . I polished on them some . One not quite though the blue on one and got it to about 3% function. I decided it was easier to just not use the RP .
 

Walks

Well-Known Member
Geez !
You poor Dudes. I guess the trick was to buy rifles made in the 1980's.
Only problem I ever had was My first '73 right out the box. Needed a different extractor. That's it. Had 2 rifles and 2 carbines. Down to 1st rifle and 1st Carbine, both .44WCF. Never had any issues with any brass, not even starline.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Everything you need to know about it, 1960's TV series starring Chuck Connors and the Winchester 1873 in 44-40. :p
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Hornady brass is indeed short. I don't like to reset my seating dies, just for a few pieces. In the case of 44 Magnum, I rather just cut them down to 44 Special length. YMMV.
 

Ian

Notorious member
:headscratch: Don't know what that means. I've used Starline brass in many calibers and never had any problem with any of it.

Did you miss the posts about Starline being harder and not obturating the chambers as well as other brands? I thing that's what the "not even Starline" comment was about. Is it a "problem", well, prolly not. Is it caused by carbide dies and/or other handloader errors? Could be.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Did you miss the posts about Starline being harder and not obturating the chambers as well as other brands? I thing that's what the "not even Starline" comment was about. Is it a "problem", well, prolly not. Is it caused by carbide dies and/or other handloader errors? Could be.
confused-face-smiley-emoticon.gifNot an issue if you don't shoot mouse fart loads.