1873 won't load...

[HunterFL772]

Hello everyone!

As an update to the last thread I posted, I have received my Uberti 1873 special sporting rifle in 45colt with a 20inch barrel.

I finally found some ammo today 45colt SWC (semi-wadcutter) at the store. I went home, eager to load the rifle but was greatly disappointed when I did. The rounds will slide in the door, easily be moved up the elevator, but wont slide into the chamber. The only way to get the round into the chamber is to hold the rifle straight up and down (barrel down) and "shake" the rifle to get the cartridge into the chamber.

I have read some places that swc's wont fire through a lever action, but most people say they do. Should I try to find some regular ball ammo before contacting the importer for repair? I dont see why the swc would be a problem, but it appears that it gets hung up at the top of the casing.

Again, any input is helpful!

Thanks all,
Hunter

[btroj]

Every gun is an individual. My Marlins all feed wad cutters, semi wad cutters, and everything else just fine.
Yours isn't a Marlin so that means little.

Look to see where it hangs up. May be a simple fix.

Best bet is to feed it ammo like it was designed to feed, a nice rnfp.

Importer isn't likely to do anything, it isn't broken. It just won't feed ammo with a bullet style that it wasn't really designed for.

You do reload, don't you? Cast some rnfp bullets and it will be happy.

[Pb2au]

Some lever guns simply will not cooperate with semi wad cutter projectiles. Mr. Btroj as usual is correct. Your 73 will most likely digest RNFP boolits all day long with gusto.
My brother and I fought the good fight with his Uberti Henry trying to get it to feed semi wad cutters (45 colt as well) and ultimately switched to a RNFP design and all was well.
Good luck to you sir!

[btroj]

Don't fight the gun, you rarely will win.

[ColColt]

My Winchester Legendary Lawman 38-55 will feed the Lee RNFP 250 grainer with ease. Try that shape as recommended.

[ReloaderFred]

As stated, it's not a gun problem. It's an ammunition problem. It needs to be fed RNFP bullets, or something similar, which it was designed for.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[ironhead7544]

Ammo for the 1873 is a bit tricky. It had to be the right overall length. The 1873 does not have a cartridge stop and relies on OAL to stop the next cartridge. It is really no problem as long as you use the right ammo. Some rifles will feed the SWC but you will have to test each one. I recommend you get into reloading as ammo is a bit hard to get right now. Any of the 45 cal cowboy bullets should be OK for this rifle as they are generally made to fit the 45 Colt rifles made today. I am sure someone here knows what the correct OAL is for the 45 Colt 1873.

[HunterFL772]

Thank you guys, I appreciate the help. I am just now getting into reload, that is why I joined this forum-- to get a base of knowledge. I will try the rnfp shape and I suspect that those will load fine.

[hightime]

It might be a gun problem. I had to send mine back for some touching up. It was gouging the bullets.

[fouronesix]

Given the nature and design of the 73- seems like you could slowly push the bolt forward and "see" how the cartridge is aligned between the carrier block and the chamber. It should be going into the chamber pretty close to right on center of bore axis so it should chamber a SWC. But I assume the 45 cal Uberti 73 frame is about the size of an original, which was only chambered up to 44. It could be that the larger dia 45 is just enough fatter that even the slightest mis-alignment could cause interference.