1873 winchester loading problem

[monte walsh]

To All;
      I sometimes have problems loading my 1873 Winchester clone. When putting cartridges through the loading gate, I sometimes have trouble getting them to pass into the tube. This happens when I put the 2 or 3rd round in. Does anyone have any ideas what could be the problem?, and may be theway to solve this problem?
                                                                                                        Thanks in advance
                                                                                                                   

[Old Top]

Monty,

There may be a burr or rust in the mag tube, take it off and clean it like you would the barrel of the rifle.  Should help in loading.

Old Top

[Long Johns Wolf]

Your right lever screw might not be tightened properly and the lever spring got in the way of the loading gate?
Bootsie

[Pettifogger]

What caliber are you talking about?  Some loading problems are caliber related.

[Ole Man Dan]

Monte;
Late entry...
I have a Yellow Boy that was hard to load.  An old 'Cow hand' suggest I load it fully and let it set a couple of days.  It loaded easier, but still had a small rough place.  A friend took care of the rough place, and now it's a pleasure to load & shoot.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

One other thing to consider: When a round is fed into the loading gate it has to 'turn the corner' from the angle you load it at, to feed straight down the tube. Bullet shape and cartridge Over All Length can have an effect on this. Very generally speaking, a longer round will have less trouble making the turn than a shorter round, and a round nosed bullet will be about the best shape to make the turn.