Question about the 1873 Actiom

[Roland]

Howdy! I hope I put this in the right forum.

I am interested in an 1873 Winchester rifle in .45 colt sometime in the future (got some shotgun purchases first), probably an Uberti. However I've heard lots of talk about the weak toggle-link action in the '73s. So I am wondering how safe it is to shoot factory smokeless .45 rounds with this rifle? Or should I only fire black powder?

That also made me wonder about the 1876 winchester replica. The '76 is the same as the '73 except it's action is stronger and beefier(according to what I've heard), would it not then be possible to make an 1876 for .45colt? Wouldn't this solve any potential problems with firing modern ammunition? Or is this just a bad idea?

[Chance]

Uberti recommend that their rifles are used only with factory loaded ammunition so there should be no problem. If you want a stronger action in a pistol calibre you might look at the reproduction Winchester 1892 rifles and carbines that are available.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Or 1894 Marlin. 

The Uberti made 1873 Winchesters will handle any factory .45 Colt loads that are within SAAMI specs (14,000 PSI Max.). I would not try any .45 Colt +P loads in them.

Slim

[Roland]

Yep I've looked at the Marlin 1894 and the Winchester 1894 Trails End models. The 1873 beats them all in pure looks though, and I hear its the one that feels the best to use.

[Doc Shapiro]

As long as you use it for CAS and don't shoot any high powered hunting type ammo, you'll be fine.  No worries.

The '76 is way too big an action to scale down to 45 Colt.