Uberti 45-75 chambers

[hhughh]

Hearing lots on here about the Uberti chambers being larger, different dies needed, etc.  There's also indication this has been worked out.  Does anyone have something concrete, one way or the other, that if i order one made from now into the future it will have the proper 45-75 "WCF" chambering?

Thanks,
Hugh

[Martini450]

As a matter of fact, I was going to post a message in the next couple of days about this exact subject.  I purchased an Uberti 1876 in 45-75 a while back, and it turned out to be one of the guns with the oversize chamber.  I took the rifle back to Taylor & Company, and they ordered a replacement barrel from Uberti in Italy.  I also spoke directly with the folks at Uberti in Italy, and they acknowledged the issue.  The barrel arrived last week, Taylor's 'smith installed it, and I picked it up last Friday.  The same day, I fired a round of factory Ten-X ammo as a test, and the fired brass confirms that Uberti HAS corrected the issue with oversize chambers on their current 45-75 rifles.  The brass that was fired in my rifle before the barrel change will not even fully chamber in the new barrel.

That being said, there could still be some rifles out there in dealers racks with the oversize chambers.  Only way to really check is try to chamber a piece of brass fired in one of the oversize chambers; if it doesn't seat all the way, the chamber is correct. 

Hope this helps.

[CavSoldier3ACR]

I have been using factory ammo in my Uberti with the oversized chamber and it works just fine.  I just shot my first reloads using the Lee dies, and they shot just fine.  Is there any significant reason to have the rifle re-barreled if the standard ammo works?  is it simply a case where the brass gets worked more since it expands more and must be resized more?

[Martini450]

My rifle also fed and fired Ten-X factory ammo without a hitch when it had the oversize chamber, but with the case shoulder jumping that far forward, it will definitely overwork the brass running it through standard dies.  With the cost of the brass for these guns, I would have invested in the Uberti 45-75 dies had I kept the out of spec barrel/chamber on my rifle.  It also stands to reason that if the gun is shooting fairly accurately with undersized brass, correctly sized brass should be even more accurate, regardless of which chamber the rifle has.

There are a couple of reasons I held out for the SAAMI spec barrel.  First, it is historically correct, and a big reason I've wanted one of these guns for so long is the historic nature of them.  For me, it's nice to be shooting what T.R. had.  Second, after measuring the much shortened case neck of the oversize fired brass, I couldn't see how a 325 to 350 grain bullet could be seated without the base protruding noticeably below the neck and into the shoulder area of the case.  All else being equal, I believe a bottleneck round with the bullet held within the neck of the case will have an accuracy edge over one with the base protruding below the neck. 

All that said, I know lots of the guys on the forum have been getting good performance with the oversize chambers.  I figure it's a question of personal preference.

[Cimarron]

I bought a new Cimarron/Uberti in June.  They are aware of the chamber dimension differences between the first production run guns and the current production rifles.  I also contacted Uberti in Italy and they confirmed the chamber dimensions on current production guns are to SAAMI specifications.  It's like the previous poster said, I bought the rifle because of the historical aspect of the .45-75 WCF cartridge.  To some guys it doesn't make a difference.  To me it did, so I did a lot of checking before I bought one.  So far I have really enjoyed shooting my rifle.