Uberti 1873 357mag?

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Can the Uberti 1873s reliably feed 38sp or is this a 357mag only? I would like a lever gun in 357mag/38sp but don’t want any stupid safeties.

[ReloaderFred]

Most SASS shooters use .38 Special brass in their Uberti 1873 rifles. With the toggle link system, you don't want to run a whole bunch of hot loads through them, though. I have a friend who makes a living working on the '73's, and he's had several come in with bent toggle assemblies from shooting full blown .357 Magnums through them. You might want to look his website over: www.pioneergunworks.com.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[EDK]

Can the Uberti 1873s reliably feed 38sp or is this a 357mag only? I would like a lever gun in 357mag/38sp but don’t want any stupid safeties.

The HENRY/1866/1873 are weak actions compared to an 1892 WINCHESTER or 1894 MARLIN. Kinda limits the utility of your rifle. It looks like those are your choices...if you can find a pre-safety MARLIN.

Personally, I have MARLINs....and O-rings which lock the safety out. Go to marlinowners.com or sassnet and see how others address the cross bolt safety in the MARLINs.


:Fire::cbpour::redneck:

[2ndAmendmentNut]

The HENRY/1866/1873 are weak actions compared to an 1892 WINCHESTER or 1894 MARLIN.

Then what was Uberti thinking when they started making the 73s in 44mag!?

[ReloaderFred]

"Then what was Uberti thinking when they started making the 73s in 44mag!? "

That's what my friend asked when he saw that Uberti was making it in .44 Magnum. He's shown me parts he's taken out of .357 Magnum 73's that were bent from shooting full loads, and they were obviously bent. I wouldn't care to shoot a full load .44 Magnum through a 73 myself.

I personally shoot Marlins, lots of them. If you take the buttstock off, there is a tension screw that will lock the safety in the off position. Then it becomes a non-issue.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[NickSS]

Due to the action of the cartridge lifter in the 73 winchester overall length of the cartridges is critical. if they are short or too long the gun will hang up so its not so much the length of the case thats critical but overall length. I also had a uberty 357 mag but never fired full power mags through it and had no problems with the rifle.

[9.3X62AL]

Having an original '73 in 44-40, and knowing its mechanical make-up......I thought Uberti was reckless in offering their repros in 357 Magnum. Putting them up in 44 Magnum proves those Italians are NUTS.

NO WAY ON EARTH I would run any load in any '73 that exceeded 1873-level ballistics. That equates to standard-weight bullets at 950 FPS in a revolver/1200 FPS in a rifle. In a 44 Magnum, I would limit the rounds to 200 grain bullets, and at the velocities specified above.

I might give the 115 grainers in a 32-20 1300 FPS, but that is IT.

[Jbar4Ranch]

The '73 will handle .357's just fine. 158 grain .38's will probably work, but the problem with these actions is there is no cartridge stop to prevent the next round in the magazine from feeding - the carrier itself is the cartridge stop. When the carrier is lowered, a round springs back into it, and the front of the carrier is beveled to push the second round back into the magazine tube as the carrier rises. If the second round projects beyond this bevel, the carrier hangs up on it and can't rise into battery. These actions will function with slightly shorter rounds, but the closer you can match the overall length of the cartridge to the length of the carrier, the better it will cycle and there will be less stress and wear on the carrier.

[GS1458]

I have a real slick 73 built by Jimmy Spurs: Jimmy recommends 147 grain TC 9MM bullet sized to .358 in a 38 Special Case. For us Cowboy Shooters.

Like others have said try to keep the AOL close to .357 length and they should feed well.

[ironhead7544]

I heard the 44 mag 1873 was very different inside. Its been beefed up a lot. Also heard that only 1 was built so far. Havent seen any for sale or any reports on them.
The OAL is critical on the 1873 design. Might have to handload to get the 38 special to feed. There are some long nosed bullets designed just for that. I had two Rossi M92s and the long nosed bullets in 38 Special cases made them work slicker than owl snot.