How good is the Uberti 1873 in 45 colt?

[PatMarlin]

I'm interested in how decent the quality and performance is with these good looking rifles with the 24" barrel?

I've got so many 45 cal molds to choose from, and was thinking the Uberti may be a pretty decent long range shooter.

.............

[JudgeBAC]

These are excellent rifles in my opinion. Mine is a 30" .44-40 that I use for cowboy action shooting. It is accurate and a pleasure to shoot. That long barrel hanging out there balances extremely well and I would not hesitate to hunt with it either. Price is the only drawback at this point. I was very fortunate and paid $660.00 for mine new in 2003.

[w30wcf]

Pat,
A friend of mine has owned that rifle for at least the last 6 years and really likes it. He shoots SASS competition with it and has told me that if he misses, it's not the guns fault. To my knowledge, he has never grouped it on paper though.

One thing to take into consideration........these rifles are to be used with factory equivalent loads only, which means that about 1,250 f.p.s. is about tops with a 250 gr. bullet using the slower burning powders ....2400, 4227, etc. On that note, I will say that out to 300 yards, that can be an effective / accurate load for a fixed target at a fixed distance.

If you want better accuracy / power, the 300 + gr bullets would be better performers, BUT in a stronger action ....Marlin '94 or the '92 Winchester clones.

I've owned a '94 Marlin Cowboy Rifle in .45 Colt for about 10 years now. It is one FUN gun. For long distance shooting, I really like the 457122 (.45-70 330 gr. hollow point) and the 340 gr. Lee. 20 grs of either 296 or H110 will give 1,380 f.p.s. which duplicates the old .45-70-330 b.p. cartridge ballistics and has been a good performer all the way out to the 500 meter steel Ram (NRA High Power Rifle Rifle Silhouette target).

w30wcf

[9.3X62AL]

No real experience with the Uberti examples, but the 1873 action is not one I would try to run with very high pressures. Its "knee action" principles make it fast and smooth, but not as strong as the Win 92 or Marlin 94 with their "falling block" locking lugs. The examples in 357 Magnum are not something I would buy.

My thoughts are that standard 45 Colt loads from 1873--255 grain boolits at 950 FPS from 7.5" revolver barrels--might get close to 1200 FPS from a 24" barrel. I wouldn't run the caliber much harder than that in the '73. Those are very good ballistics, capable of making venison quite readily. I looked pretty closely at a Cimarron '73 repro (Uberti makes them) to fill the 32-20 WCF hole in my collection--after filling it with a Marlin 94 CCL, I think I made a better all-around choice.

[PatMarlin]

Starting to salivate... bring me more..

How are the triggers, and can they be worked on?

[PatMarlin]

I've got a Winchester 94 in 45 colt that's a stronger action for sure, and a 16" carbine for a great handy hunter, but I'm looking at the 1873 Uberti 45 as more of a long range, cast boolit bench rest shooter. Wouldn't hunt with it. Just step back an ooh and ahh off the bench and show it off..

[PatMarlin]

My range up here is 200. That's pretty much the paper punching range I'm interested in, and it would be fun to work on inexpensive 45 loads for long range. I wonder if it will cycle the Catshooter's Keiths I have?

I do have unlimited range for way up to 1000 yards even up here under some power line clearings. THat I can't wait to get into with my Trapdoor..

[Jon K]

Pat,

I had a Uberti 73 45LC, it does well for CAS/SASS, but in my opinion, you're better off wth the 94 for longer range shooting. i spent oer 6 months working on ttrying to find an acceptable load to shoot Lever Action Silhouette Rifle Ctg (200m). The gun & chronograph and I went to the range 2-3 times a week. The best loads that shot one -ragged hole @ 100m wouldn't get out to 200 w/Marbles tang. The load that shot best @200m shot a group twice as large @100m.
So needless to say I sold the gun, bought a 94 OFW commemorative 38-55, and now have a Marlin1895 CB. These 2 guns shoot the longer distances better than the Uberti 73.
Others may disagree, but thats my experience with the gun.

Have Fun Shooting,
Jon

[PatMarlin]

Oh I hate to show off...

[45r]

w30wcf what diameter do you size your 457122HP to.I like my 357CB and would like to get a 24 inch 45colt cowboy and put a tang sight on it.Really like the classic look of these rifles.

[KCSO]

The Uberti will clock 1200 easy with a 255 and with 36 grains of FFg it will go an even 1100 from the 26" tube. The ONLY drawback it the 45 Colt, some of the old cases with the shallow extractor groove will bobble once in a while. No problems with the newer stuff though.

[Poohgyrr]

Oh I hate to show off...

Yeah uh huh, sure....

Green grass and blue sky. That's why I moved back from down south.

[PatMarlin]

Shhhhhhhh... don't tell everybody John. We want to keep up the thought that Califrony is all LA, Queers, SanFran and smog...

[NickSS]

I do not have an 1873 in 45 colt but I do have a Henry in that caliber made by Uberti and it is slick and works very smoothly. It is a weak action so I do not load it over what factory ammo is loaded to or with black powder. The only problem you can run into is over all length of the cartridge. Due to the way the action works you have to hold cartridge length to a very close tollerance or the gun will jam.

[August]

Started CAS with a Rossi '92. That lasted about a year. Switched to Marlin. Lots of tuning and tweeking and after a couple of years, I consistently overran the rifle. Got a '73 and have never looked back. You couldn't give me any of the others today. Those toggle-link actions are slick and can be made smooth as glass.

Uberti chambers the '73 in 357 magnum. Some say the '66s stretch in time with high pressure loads (they don't chamber the '66 in 357, but rather .38), but nobody has ever said that about the '73. Uberti's metalurgy is better in 2007 than Winchester's was in 1873.

The '73 is not a magnum rifle, but there is no reason not to use SAMMI spec loads in it.

Oh, by the way, I LOVE my '73!!!!!!!!!! My times dropped dramatically after getting it. I have not even begun to approach it's limits after a couple of years and I haven't even short stroked it yet.

[PatMarlin]

I wonder what Uberti reccomends as far as 45 spec loads in their 73's?

I'm dreamin' anyway. There's one available that's an absolute gem, but I really can't afford to buy it right now. The case hardening figure is superb, and so is the wood. Finer than their website pictured models.

I'll look at several rifles and then thee one turns up that is just outstanding.

Rifles like that really get my blood pumpin'. Who knows I may do a real dumb shouldn't have and buy it...

[bowhunter]

my 1873 uberti rifle is the love of my life. it came with a 30 in. barrel, i cut it to 19 in. it is easy to handel. yes you can do a trigger job as i did, they also make roller springs for the action. i installed those two. my load is 20 gr. h4227 or 20 gr imr 4227 with a 255 nei bullet and mag primer. this load has plenty of power and is very safe.

[Cannoneer]

I've owned two Uberti 1873's in .45 Colt. The first one was one I purchased in 1981 as a .44-40 and had it rebarreled with a 20 inch Douglas barrel and chambered to .45 Colt. The hottest load I ever fired out of it was 17 grains of 2400 and a 255 grain LRNFP sized to .454. The other 1873 was a Musket varient with a 30 inch barrel that I used a few times for long range shooting and a few times as my main match gun in SASS.

Both were as accurate as any other gun I had at the time. The carbine shot better than the Musket because I insisted that it have a 1:16 twist rifling.

I still have the carbine even though I don't use it as much anymore.

[NickSS]

I have shot up to 200 yards with several pistol caliber lever guns and know several other people who did the same. I can and have gotten good results at 100 yards and fair results at 200 but I never could get results that I can with either a 20-20 or 38-55 at either range. One good friend of mine used a 44 mag for club matches and another a 44-40 1866 clone. Neither were competitive with them. Both gave up and bought a rifle caliber rifle for this type of shooting. This is the same reason the Army got rid of Spencer Repeating rifles and went to single shot Springfields. The Spencers though sighted to 800 yards were almost impossible to hit anything beyond a couple hundred yards. The indians knowing this stayed over 200 yards away and sniped at the soldiers with 50-70 carbines the government gave them for hunting.

[muleequestrian]

OK I'll add my .02 about 73 Ubertis. I have had a deluxe model with the long barrel and pistol grip stock for a few years. I cast my boolits from a 200 grain Lee mold from wheel weights. I use 5.5 grains of Bullseye powder. Same load in my Uberti break top revolvers. Yes, I know it burns dirty, but I have large amounts of it.

I went to the local range last month during one of our military rifle shoots. After putting my M - 14 ( M1a ) back in the case I got out the levergun Uberti. With the above mentioned load I was ringing a steel gong at 200 yards on a regular basis with it. The other guys were amazed at the accuracy I got from a pistol cartridge rifle.

I love this gun and it's design so much I plunked down the cash to buy a Uberti 1876 with the 28 " barrel. Buffalo Arms supplied some Jamison brass at a reasonable price ( compared to other sources ) and I cast up some 350 grain boolits. I'll be taking it to the range next time we have a shooting match. I live in Maine where we have 100 yard shots at deer, and I will not hesitate to use the 73 to pop a buck this season. The 76 Uberti in .50-95 will be reserved for a bear hunting trip this Fall.

Yes I do agree that the toggle link action ain't as strong as others, but the 1866 and 1873 guns accounted for a lot of game animals and Indians back in the day. With a good quality load and lots of practice ( along with a dose of reality as to what you can actually do with one within reason ) I don't need some superdupermagnumloudenshootsenboomer rifle. I got a Marlin guide gun in .45-70 for that. I sling 545 grain cast boolits from it if I feel the need to punish my shoulders on occasion. I'm currently shopping for a Uberti 1866 in .32-20 for a light plinker / small game rifle. These are great guns !