What caliber?

[The Trinity Kid]

Hi y'all.  I am pondering buying a Cimarron Winchester '76 with my summer money (I have a few months to wait ...) But was wonderin' what caliber y'all suggest.  It would be used for target shooting, hunting animals from rabbits (for the heck of it.) to bears out to ranges of 300 yards, and looking real cool next to my '94 in the gun rack.  I am not afraid of recoil, only price of ammo.  I don't do any reloading right now, though likely will be soon.  What do y'all suggest?  I was kinda leaning towards the 45-75, but I've heard that it is hard to reload.  Anything is appreciated.

--TK

[Whiskey Banjo]

Summer money eh? Up there in Trinity eh? Hehehehe j/k

I have been looking at this same gun, so i too would like to know what caliber folks prefer..

[pinto beans]

Trinity Kid,

As a new Uberti 1876 owner I can give my $.02 as to why I went with what I did.  My rifle was purchased new back in February from Dixie Gun Works here in TN.  The rifle is chambered to .45-75WCF and is the full 28" barrel version.  Why this version/configuration and chambering?  Strictly historical and personal preference, in that many years ago I had the privilege of examining an original exactly like it.  The thought of a good reloading challenge plus a nifty shape cartridge sealed the choice.  What I have found in the couple months tooling up to load for it and developing the first loads, is that it reminds me very much of the procedures used for loading my .22 Hornets.  Both cases share the bottle neck shape and the same care must be taken to avoid wrinkles in the neck area and along that long throat.  Does that mean it is hard to load for?  So far no, it has been pretty straight forward.  Now, this is all my personal preference and in the end that is the most important points on any gun - getting what you prefer.  It is your money and time, so get what appeals to you.  Still lots to do and learn myself, but I can attest that these rifles are the most fun I have had in a long while and the good folks on this site are invaluable in their knowledge.  Good luck with your project!!!

[larryo_1]

Trinity Kid:
I got to add my two bits also here.  I got my 45-75 about 5 or 6 years ago.  It has what some call the Uberti chamber that is laarger than the original chamber that is what is--apparently what is being sold now.  Anyway, mine has more case capacity than the original chamber and I like it!  One of my favorite loads is 76 grains of Swiss 11/2 BP although I play around with smokeless also.  I almost got a 45-60 but changed my mind and am glad I did.  I did refinish the stock and now it has an oil finish instead of that factory finish and it looks better.  Since my eyes are no longer less than 75 years old, I put on a fibre optic front sight--SHAME ON ME!  But it does the job.  For a rear sight it has both a copy of the original ladder style and also a Marbles tang sight.  Back when you could, I got gobs of brass and started out fire forming 348 cases.  Have had good luck with them.  Now most of it is Jamison and fire-formed 50-90 Sharps cases.  Now I don't know if any of this BS helps you make up your mind or not but this is what I have.  As far as range is concerned,  the best I have to play with is my 205 yard range and it handles that quite well.

[The Trinity Kid]

Quite useful indeed!  Though I am curious, does the 50-95 have greater range/power/accuracy?  I don't really need Creedmore accuracy, but deer-chest at 200-300 yards.  I'm just really looking for something that is a classic looking repeater with a little more oomph than my 30-30.  I was leaning towards the 45-75 though, just because it is 1876-correct.   Next question.  What configuration would be best?  I like the look and possible accuracy/power enhancement of the 28" inch barrel, but the 24" barrel would be easier to handle in the brush.  The 22" barrel would be even better in brush, but I don't really like the full musket stock on the shorter ones.  Basically, I'm trying to talk myself into getting the 28" in 45-75, but am worried about reloading and handling.   I am new to reloading (so new in fact, that I haven't even bought the equipment yet )  and don't want the cartridge to be too difficult.   HELP!!

--TK

BTW: the longest shot ever made in the place I will be hunting in was a 425 yard shot at a deer made with a 7mm Rem Mag.  The terrain we have here is incredibly mountainous.  So bumpy that the longest official shooting range is 100yds.  But I hunt from the top of mountains and will be shooting (hopefully) across the valleys to around 300yds.  Info doesn't have much value, but I thought it might be of some help.

[Roosterman]

I have had a 45-60 for years and it's a very good shooter. I like the gun but I wished almost immediately that I would have gotten a 50-95. I'll be getting one one day......

[larryo_1]

Trinity Kid:
First off--these 76's were/are Saddle Rifles.  If you want to pack a 10-12pound rifle all day long--be my guest as your knuckles will drag on the ground--I know from experience.   I have the one with the 28 inch barrel and I like it.  I thought about the 50-95 but when I got my 45-75 the 50-'s were not yet really available.  They are/were designed to use a 300 grain bullet I think.  The 45-75 used a 350 grain bullet.  I have a custom mold that casts a 350 grain bullet and I make my own alloy which is a 16:1 ratio which was listed on the old original cartridge boxes as the one that the factories had recommended.  My rifle likes that alloy but there are other folks who will probably want to argue as the 20:1 alloy is another one that these rifles like.  As far as a shorter barrel is concerned--I think that the 26 inch one would be the way to go if that would help.  My '86's all have 26 inch barrels and that has never slowed them down any so that would be your choice.  As far as dies go--I use RCBS dies but there are alot of folks that like Lee dies that are less expensive and do the job just fine.  I have read where RCBS makes a set of dies that are not out of reason in cost but I don't know but what they would have to be checked out if that would be the way to go.  Alot of this stuff can be gotten from Buffalo Arms in Sandpoint, Idaho.  They are good folks to deal with.  That was where I got my rifle and they were very prompt in my order.  Hope this all helps for you.

[The Trinity Kid]

Well, I have more info than I started with....   But I didn't see a 26" barrel on the Cimarron site, only 28" and 22".  I don't like the musket stock on the shorter models, just doesn't take my fancy. 

--TK

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

I went with the 45-60.. why... because that was what my ALIAS, Steve Mcqueen said he used in the movie Tom Horn... laugh... not really, I chose the 45-60 because of the brass.  Tis easier to load straight brass as opposed to the bottle neck brass and 45-60 brass can be made from 45-70 brass, to me the 45-60 is less of a hassel than the 45-75, I am not into this "fire forming" the brass, but that is me.  As far as shooting at 200 or 300 yards or even 500 yards.  If you have the "right" sight and the "right" loads, the 45-60 will perform just as good as the 45-75.  The 45-75 may have a little more of a  flatter trajectory than the 45-60, I do not know.  I use three types of bullets for the 45-60 ... a 292 grain RNFP (which was the bullet sold back in 1879 when the rifle was marketed) I use that bullet when I WANT TO BE PERIOD CORRECT. I prefer the 300 grain RNFP (cheaper to buy) and I use a 405 grain RNFP or a 405 RNHB bullet.  For 200 to 300 yard range I have found using the 300 grain bullet on top of 25 grains of 5744 to be my best load. When I shoot the 405 grainer in HB or FB I use 12.5 grains of Trail Boss and get very good results.  I have two 45-60's, the Uberti and the Chaparrel (both have 28" barrels). my opinion... I think the Uberti is made better than the Chaparrel... but I am sure some folks out there will take issue with that.

[The Trinity Kid]

Interesting....So why, with 60 grainslity of capacity are you only using 25?  Or is that smokeless?  I am worried about bear stopping ability too.  Here, you get one shot, IF you are lucky, at a bear.  Another problem is, which is easier to find brass for?  Under normal conditions, that is.

--TK

[Abilene]

As for configuration, as you know the round-barreled long-stocked carbines are 22", but I believe the octagon-barreled rifle is only available in 28" length.  They all come from Uberti that length.  For a few years, Cimarron had a gunsmith cut down some of those 28" rifles to make them 22", but I believe that has been discontinued.  Their website lists only 28" at this time for the octagon barrel. 

I know of one 50-95 rifle that got antiqued and cut to a 16" trapper length barrel.  Not positive, but I expect it had gotten damaged in some way.  Looked very cool.  Probably be a great hog gun.

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

TK-
The loads I quoted in my post were for shooting Long Range steel targets (CAS) not what I would use IF HUNTING. If I was going after bear and other creatures I would use a much hotter load and I probably would not use RNFP bullets... I think I would use Sierra 300 grain HP jacketed bullets on top of 4198 somewhere in the range of 40 grains... I think that would be a stopper. LOL... most of my shooting with the 45-60 and 45-70 is Long Range CAS... and the data I quoted does very well for banging the steel at 200 yards or further.

[The Trinity Kid]

Okay, that makes more sense.  Hey, do you think I could get away with buying a Henry .22 Golden Boy rifle and trading it for a Winchester '76?    Probably not......

--TK

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

TK- You could ifn the person who had the '76 did not know what he/she had and he/she thought the .22 Henry Golden Boy was better than what he/she had in the '76... other than that... I don't think so...laughing.

[The Trinity Kid]

I didn't think so......

--TK