1871 Uberti Rolling Block Carbine

[MtGun44]

So this is a .45-70?

Bill

[Dave Bulla]

Yup, 45-70.

[Swampman]

The recoil from the .45-70 will only be what you make it.

[singleshot]

I have to bump this thread to see if anybody else had experience with this rolling block...especially the 38-55.

Anybody?

[Suo Gan]

I have had several. I currently have a Uberti in 30-30 and a Navy Arms in 357 mag. The sights are terrible. The 30-30 has a slim recoil pad, but with normal hunting loads it kicks about like a hot loaded 338 WM. They are about the size of a Stevens Favorite boys 22. They are fairly accurate. I am going to have a gunsmith lighten the trigger pulls on them both as they are ridiculously heavy, and D/T them for scout scopes. I don't necessarily like scout scopes but they do help me hit what I am aiming at. The 357 will be a small game rifle, and the 30-30 will be a backpack deer rig for the mountains.

If one came up in 38-55 for a reasonable price I would probably buy it. The wood on the rifles is alright, it is some kind of jungle hardwood. On the Uberti it has a plastic red sheen to it that I will take off. The case colors are done very well. For their price you would think they would have better sights, the sights are absolutely junk. But as far a portability, there is really nothing like them. You have to watch it when a rifle gets this light. When you are hunting in the mountains and you are winded, it can be extremely hard to hold on target with such a wispy rifle. Trailside the 30-30 weighs about half of my Remington 700 sporter!

I don't know if this helps you. I will probably do a range report for these guns later in 2014 when I have them back and have the time to develop loads and put them through their paces a little.

A little more opinion: If I was looking for the ideal single shot deer rig, I would probably go with a customized Ruger #1. I had a fine Marini Cadet in 357 that the Navy Arms roller replaced, and the roller is not half the gun as the old Cadet was. If you have an accurate rifle...don't sell it like a dummy! I have had to learn that lesson many times, and it still holds true. Shoulda, coulda, woulda! But the little rollers are interesting enough for me to like them.

I paid $400 for the 30-30 secondhand but never shot, and I paid $450 for the 357 secondhand almost new. FYI. A fourth of the price of a new high wall!

[nanuk]

I have a 357 Baby RB and it is sweet.... I haven't shot it yet. perhaps this spring

but Wow.. is it ever light.

if it shoots well, it would make an excellent bush gun for deer with the 180-190 class rounds out to 50 yds or so.

[Reverend Al]

I bought one of the Uberti "baby" RB's in .357 for Laurie a few years back for her to use in the pistol calibre rifle side matches at CAS events and it shoots very well. Never tried it yet with full house .357's, just been playing around with moderate target loads loading boolits in .357 cases. This one has a beautiful piece of wood which is one of the reasons that I bought it for her. Never seen one in the bigger calibres yet, but we sold a couple of them in .22 Hornet and .22 LR and they shot well too ...
(I also left a back order with our Uberti distributor for an 1885 Low Wall Schuetzen in .32-40 WCF for myself, but they could never get one for me ...)

[nanuk]

yup, mine has a nice forearm

[Bob007]

Just looked at one of these at my local Cabella's and was SHOCKED at the weight! Well, more like the LACK of weight. Beautiful little rifle but my gosh, it feels like a bb gun in your hands. I got looking on line and found this thread but also found the published weight is.... 4.5 lbs! They are also claiming that they are making the rifles 1/3 the original size but "able to handle modern loads".

Frankly, I'm intrigued but a little gunshy. Recoil doesn't normally bother me much but the exception is very light guns. They just have very sharp recoil most of the time.

I see this has not had any action since Halloween so I'm posting mainly to get it back up top in the hopes that someone has actually shot this little monster.

Just took mine to the range, kicks like a mule, but a lot of fun. Hold on to the forearm
tight, has a tendency to jump out of your hand.

[BCRider]

Welcome aboard James "Bob", 007....

Before I got my own long distance singles I got to try a couple of Sharps belonging to my fellow long distance cowboy action folks. I found that for ME that smokeless loads in .45-70 would mean a fairly short day. I managed to find a .38-55 rolling block and figured that it would be the way to go. Oh BOY! Was I right on that. I really like that round and have no troubles with even long sessions of sighting in or load testing. A .45-70 with smokeless would have me packing up after a dozen or so rounds of the stuff. At least it would if I wasn't standing so the recoil can move me around more easily.