Information on Uberti .45-75 W.C.F.

[larryo_1]

I have one of the early rifles from Uberti.  It presents the fire-formed cases as shown by you folks.   It gives me about 5 to 6 or 7 grains more capacity.  I am very satisfied with these cases.  When I get new ones, the first thing that I do is fire-form them.  I have never had any of the problems that I am reading about so maybe I got a "Special" rifle I don't know but am very happy with what I got.  I refinished the wood to a hand rubbed oil finish and did some work in the sights and the trigger pull.  My suggestion is to be happy with what you got!

[Martini450]

I just got off the phone with Suzanne Webb at Uberti in Italy, and she assures me that they have corrected the chamber dimensions for current production '76s in 45-75 caliber.  My replacement barrel has been on order for some time now, which she was aware of, so she is going to try to speed up the process.  Sounds like the folks who have loaded for them have gotten decent performance out of the guns with the Uberti dimensions; I'd just like to have mine in the original WCF caliber if I can.

One question I have for the folks here that have been loading for 45-75 rifles with the Uberti dimensions (as opposed to the original WCF dimensions): with the shorter neck of the case, have you had issues with base of the bullet protruding below the bottom of the case neck?  I pulled a bullet from one of my Ten-X cartridges and held it next to the neck of one of the cases fired in my rifle, and it looks like the case neck is not long enough to completely seat the bullet to it's crimping groove without the base of the bullet ending up about have way down the shoulder area of the case. 

[larryo_1]

Martini450:
I have no such problems with what I use.  I use a Hoch custom mold that is a copy of one that is pictured in an old Lyman cast bullet book.  The lube grooves are probably different than what you are talking about.  I seat to the top of the last groove and then do a factory crimp using the Lee factory crimp die.  With this setup, I have none of what you are talking about.

[Roscoe Coles]

I just got off the phone with Suzanne Webb at Uberti in Italy, and she assures me that they have corrected the chamber dimensions for current production '76s in 45-75 caliber.  My replacement barrel has been on order for some time now, which she was aware of, so she is going to try to speed up the process. 

Martini:
   That sounds interesting.  Which importer is doing the barrel swap for you?  My gun is back at Uberti USA and I would much rather have the new dimensioned chamber.

[Cimarron]

Well, after contacting Uberti Italy and Chris Ballard at Cimarron Firearms I feel confident that the chamber dimension problem has been corrected.  I had my FFL guy contact Cimarron on Friday and unless catastrophe strikes I will be ordering a .45-75 WCF model 1876 on Monday.  I am so glad that I found CASCITY and read about the chamber problem before I bought one.  I already bought a set of RCBS Legacy dies (RCBS has a $10 rebate program going on right now).  I will be rounding up brass and a bullet mould shortly.  Thanks to everyone here at CASCITY for the input.   

[Martini450]

Roscoe:

Sorry for the delay in response; just got back from being out of town for the weekend.  I bought my 45-75 from Taylor's, and they'll be swapping the barrel out for me.  I'd have the folks at Uberti USA that you've been talking with contact Suzanne with Uberti in Italy.  She's a very friendly, helpful lady, and she seems fully aware of all the details concerning this issue. 

Cimarron:

Congrats on your upcoming purchase.  Let us know how everything turns out!

[Roscoe Coles]

I had a long conversation with the Uberti customer service folks today about my 76 in 45-75.  According to their gunsmith, they think (?) they have the chamber issue fixed.  They have not had any complaints about it for "about a year," though to be truthful, the customer service rep I talked to said she had never heard of the problem.  I know the 45-75 is not the top seller in the 76, its just us odd balls who want the historic caliber I guess.  The conversation was kind of funny.  When I was describing the chambering issue I told her that the oversize Uberti chamber was a problem for reloading as it would lead to very shot case life, and she said "well Uberti does not recommend using reloads" to which I said "well the Uberti chamber is wrong for the factory loads too and at close on $80 a box, not many people will be shooting factory ammo." 

It all turned out fine in the end and it remains to be seen what they are going to do with it, fix the problem I have or just send me a new gun.  I am holding off on making a decision on new dies until I get it back.  I might not need them.

[larryo_1]

FWIW:
I have had my 45-75 for about 3 years now with no complaints other than the trigger pull which I took care of.  As far as the chamber is concerned, I cannot figure out what all the hoopla is all about.  I have fired some of my brass at least 20 times and have NEVER lost a case!  If folks do not like the chamber of the ones that Uberti came out with that is their problem.  I have no complaints and do like the 5 to 6 grains of extra case capacity.  If Uberti wants to change the chamber size that is fine but as far as I am concerned I am happy with what I got.  Let it lay!

[Roscoe Coles]

FWIW:
I have had my 45-75 for about 3 years now with no complaints other than the trigger pull which I took care of.  As far as the chamber is concerned, I cannot figure out what all the hoopla is all about.  I have fired some of my brass at least 20 times and have NEVER lost a case!  If folks do not like the chamber of the ones that Uberti came out with that is their problem.  I have no complaints and do like the 5 to 6 grains of extra case capacity.  If Uberti wants to change the chamber size that is fine but as far as I am concerned I am happy with what I got.  Let it lay!

Well, I have to say that I agree and disagree.  I got my Uberti going on two years ago and its one of my favorite rifles.  Like you, I had to do a little work on the trigger but that was about it.  The only reason it went back is it developed a burr in the chamber due to a manufacturing flaw.  So, all in all. I like the gun, its light years better than the two Chaparrals I owned (one of them shattered its forward toggle link pin after 25 rounds!)

Having said that, the problems I have with the over sized Uberti chambering are these.  I was told about the issue before I ordered the gun and was assured it would be fixed before my gun was delivered (I got mine straight from Uberti as part of their employee sales program), it requires a special set of dies to make the proper sized ammo (so you can take advantage of the extra case volume), and the ammo can't be used in other guns. 

I wouldn't have cared all that much (though I kind of resented the extra $100 for the Uberti dies when I already had a set for 45-75) and had no plans to send it back until I developed this problem with the chamber.  But now that its back?  I would rather have the SAMI spec chamber of its available.  I won't cry either way and we will see what comes back from Uberti.  It looks like they will be getting to it pretty quick. 

[larryo_1]

Roscoe:
All I did was send a fired case to RCBS and they made a Trim and File Die for that case.  The FL die that I use is a Lee and I set it to neck size only.  I have never had any problems going this route and am happy as a bear in a honey tree with my rifle.  Oh by the way, I scraped off that varnish or whatever finish and put on a hand-rubbed linseed oil finish after staining the stock to look more original.  And am much happier now.

[Cimarron]

I guess everyone is having a dandy summer.  It's already in the upper 90's here in Oklahoma.  The wheat harvest is going great guns and yealds are up.  Oh yeah, my Cimarron 1876 Centennial rifle came in.  It's a 28" standard rifle in .45-75 WCF (of course).  Thanks to Dannys .45-75 UCF case not chambering I am pretty sure it is a .45-75 WCF.  I hope to have it out to the range soon to detemine this for myself.     

[Cimarron]

Yesterday was my first opportunity to take the rifle out and shoot.  I had loaded up 20 rounds with 350g BACO bullets and was really just trying to sort out the sights and shoot over the chronograph.  Velocity was in the low 1100's but acuracy left something to be desired.  I think this was more the result of my old eyes more than the rifle.  I do think that a tang peep site might be in order.  Needless to say I will be returning to do some more sorting out at a later date.   

[larryo_1]

Cimmeron:
Congrats on your rifle.  I don't know if this will help you or not but what I did was put a dab of white paint on the rear of the fron site.  That helped me as my old (73 year old) eyes are not what they used to be either.

[Cimarron]

I have abandoned the Trail Boss in this caliber.  I just couldn't get any accuracy out of it.  I have started working with IMR 4198 today.  Again, with the 350g BACO bullet.  I will report about velocity and accuracy with the work-up loads in the very near future.  Weather here in north centeral Oklahoma has finally dropped below 100 degrees!  I actually feel like shooting again.   

[john boy]

I bought my 45-75 from Taylor's, and they'll be swapping the barrel out for me.  I'd have the folks at Uberti USA that you've been talking with contact Suzanne with Uberti in Italy.  She's a very friendly, helpful lady, and she seems fully aware of all the details concerning this issue.

Sounds like a Factory Recall is in order.  And I'm laying money that very few Uberti 45-75 owners know about this issue!

[Cimarron]

I got out to the range today (great weather, 82 degrees and a little lite wind) and shot some of the smokeless loads for my .45-75 today.  I used IMR 4198 and the BACO 350g bullet with Jamison brass.  I did two 5 shot strings at 50 yards.  The bullets were going through the Oehler chronograph at an average of 1234 fps.  Extreme spread was 44 fps and standard deviation was 17 fps.  Accuracy was ok at 3" and 4" respectively.  The gun put 4 of the 5 shots in each string in 1 1/2" and 1 5/8" groups respectively with fliers opening up the groups in each case.  I will work with the 4198 a little more before moving on to a couple of other smokeless powders.  I want to finish up with some Swiss 1 1/2 f black.  I will post more when I can.  I also had my 1886 Winchester out today, 26" barrel rifle in .45-70 govt..  All in all, it was a very pleasant day at the range!   

[john boy]

Sights:  Globe insert foresight and Vernier Rear
50yds

100 yds

200yds - no X ... windy  300yds - X's , wind died down ... same XMP 5744 recipe

[Cimarron]

I bought a pound of Acurate 5744 today.  I want to try a couple of more things with the 4198 but look forward to the 5744.  Hope to be able to post some pictures in the not too distant future as well.  The more I shoot this rifle the more I like it!  It has garnered all kinds of interest whenever I take it out of the case at the range.  Hope everyone had a good summer but I'm glad the 100+ temperature is seemingly over.  I am planning to squeeze as much shooting as I can in this fall.   

[Dirty Brass]

I have had great success with 22.0 gr 5744 under a 325gr LFP bullet. Accuracy is more than adequate for deer hunting at ranges of 150 yards or less....I can't see any farther than that with iron sight anyhow