Finger Lever Identification.

[JustinGr]

Can anyone identify the rifle this belongs to? I am thinking a 1866, but not sure how to tell if it is an Uberti or Winchester. It is color case hardened, its rear lock pad is to short to fit in an Uberti 1873, the locking tab wont reach the finger lever. It cycles an Uberti 1873, just no way to engage the safety bar.
It has a replaceable cam. Just not sure if it is new or old. It came on my basket case Uberti and I put a proper lever on it. I will sell it, but what to be honest in my assessment of which rifle and brand it belongs to. Do not want to misrepresent it as something it is not.





Thank you.

Justin

[Coffinmaker]

   Whew, an easy one!!   

It's a Uberti part.  It is for either an 1866 (an older one) or a Henry (an older one).  I say "older" because of the way Uberti introduces changes.  Uberti has dropped the replaceable cam.  Now if you screw up the cam, you buy an entire new lever.

And NO!!  It should not fit the Uberti 1873.

[JustinGr]

Thank you sir!

[wildman1]

How's the progress on that 73?
wM1

[JustinGr]

Just getting ready to send you a message. If I remove the hammer, it will load a round, if the hammer is installed, it won?t allow the breach block to retract far enough because the FPE jams on the hammer. I am still out of luck on headspace and working on that solution. Initially thought about cutting barrel and recutting the chamber. However, have a meeting with a machine shop about making a set of links.

I need to ship yours back. I picked up a set to let the machine shop chop up.

So I need to adjust the links to get the lever to lock closed, then cut the FPE, if needed. It cocks the hammer just fine now, but you need to use your thumb to hyper extend the hammer a little further for the FPE to go back far enough to allow the breech block to go into the receiver channel enough So the round will clear. So, more money to spend, but I?m learning.

I?m also building an original 1873 in 32-20 and the Uberti lessons are coming in handy!

Thanks.

[wildman1]

Make sure that someone hasn't installed a hammer stop to prevent the hammer from being pushed back far enough to function properly. You can tell pretty easy if you take it apart and watch the hammer as it goes back, (stock off)
f you get the headspace corrected it will take care of most if not ALL of bolt retraction problems. So, HEADSPACE first then see where you are.
wM1
PS the primary headspace correction device is links. Before you do much else put a standard set of links back in and check to see if that takes care of the problem of the bolt not coming back far enough for the clearance to be proper.

[JustinGr]

The links I bought are stock links, and allow the round to load, absent the hammer. Just like yours. The links are still to long for proper headspace. About .041-.045, let us just round to 050 for ease of math. The hammer has nothing behind it, only the spring attached to the spur. You can see from the first picture, the hammer and FPE interface when the lever is at full extension, Then you can see when I pull back on the hammer a little more, to hyper-extend it, the gap represented in the photo is the distance I need to get the breach bolt lower tab to retract into the channel so the round in the carrier block will pass. Absent this manual extension of the hammer, the round will not clear. When looking at the links, at this jammed stage, you can take your fingers and close the "V" gap that remains in the contracted links, this is accomplished because the breach block will move still, taking the slack out and then allowing the round to clear.

My toughs are, and very uneducated, is that I can shorten the long front portion of the link and leave the short, rear portion alone. I need to model this to ensure the behavior is the same when the geometry is changed. My elementary thinking is that this should be sufficient. To test, we may take a link, figure out where the new pin hole should be in the link, and insert a bushing with an offset pinhole. We are talking less than a 1/16 of an inch, or .045-050 of an inch. But the machine shop will help with this. I hope!

[Coffinmaker]

You can take a little off the Bevel Flat to clearance the hammer.  You must insure the hammer goes to full cock before it hits the current beveled flat.

[wildman1]

The rear part of the links are the ones that very in length, at least in the dozen or so that I own, by the way the links I sent you were standard length links.
wM1

[JustinGr]

Thank you. Is there a mechanical reason the short link is usually modified? I?m sure it?s a mechanical leverage thing, just looking to better understand. Not doubting, just trying to learn.

Thanks

[Coffinmaker]

Absolutely NO CLUE.  Never took the time to study or even think about it.  When I was still building comp rifles, if I needed shorter or longer links, I just called my supplier and they made 'em up how I needed 'em.  Interesting question though.  I probably won't pursue an answer though.  Since I'm not hanging out a shingle anymore .... I actually don't care