Let's Start a List: Chaparral and Uberti Production Problems

[matt45]

Did you ever try the gas checks?

[Gabriel Law]

No one makes a gas check bullet in 300 grain.  So no, I haven't used them.  Are you suggesting that I gas check my BACo459300 bullets?

[Gabriel Law]

Belay that last post...found a nice RCBS double cavity 300 gr. gas-check bullet mound through Precision Reloading, and will order it ASAP.  Now, regarding gas checks themselves...Lyman or Hornady?  One better than the other.?  Hornady is cheaper by a lot.

I've cleaned my rifle after fire lapping this morning.  After 90 rounds without cleaning during the process, I had a very small amount of leading.  But the bore is noticeably improved.  Prior, the bottoms of the grooves were quite rough with longitudinal machining marks, and those are all but gone.  Too, the edges of the rifling are far more polished than before.  I can still feel the 'loose' spot but it feels less than before.

Now to load some more real ammo and try it again...

Oh, by the way, I re-crowned the muzzle while I was at it, using a ball bearing SS to a 1/4" rod in an electric drill turned slowly, and the lapping compounds.

[dusty texian]

Hello Gabriel! I have been following your post about your difficulties with your barrel leading and most interesting the loose spot ! May I ask ,how many of each grit compound did you fire ? Was it more  of the 220- 320 or the 600? Or equal amount of each I have no experience  in fire lapping ,but have in the past had very good luck lapping rough bore rifles with valve grinding compound and a poured lead bore plug. Each time that a rifle bore was lapped in such a manner ,I saw great improvement in accuracy and the ease of clean-up .I hope you the best and look forward to see if the fire lapping has helped .,,,,,DT

[matt45]

Hey Gabe,
     I've never noticed a difference between the Hornady or the Lyman gas checks. 

[Gabriel Law]

Thanks for your thoughts guys.  This is a process that is going to require the expenditure of some time, and a lot of patience.  I will test the results of today's exercise with some of my best loads, and report on the outcome.

I know very well the benefits of actual lead lapping a rifle barrel, having been around muzzle loading rifles for a lifetime.  I am not above disassembling my rifle and lapping the bore to remove the 'loose spot'.  It actually feels like three little bumps when I run a tight patch down the bore.

I'm also going to run some jacketed bullets through the rifle, and some gas-checked bullets too, just to see what potential the rifle has.  I have arguably the best sights one can acquire, and a stock that fits me wonderfully, so I have high hopes.  My goal is to achieve 2 MOA accuracy with reliability.

I actually enjoyed the fire lapping shooting this morning...I needed something to shoot at just to make it interesting, so I picked a steel hanger (about the size of a robin) at 200 meteres, and blazed away at it offhand.  I made an interesting mess in the snow all around the 'bird'.  The weather here has been crazy warm...right at the freezing point, so I've been able to continue this exercise throughout the winter, when we usually have -35 C at this time of year, and obviously, no shooting.  I understand the rest of the continent is not so fortunate.

And to answer the question (better late than not at all), I fired 30 rounds of each grit, letting the barrel cool often, but never cleaning throughout the process.  I was amazed at how little lead fouling I had.

[Silver_Rings]

A couple of people have had the barrels on their Uberti 1876s rupture.  I think the rupture occurred about 8" from the receiver, but not positive about the location.  Both shooter said there were no obstructions and the loads were mild.  If you have the means to bore scope the barrel it may show a weak spot in the barrel.  Just a thought.

Silver Rings

[Gabriel Law]

The thought has occurred to me as well.  I don't have access to a bore scope.  But I checked out the serial numbers of the disaster rifles and compared it to mine, and mine is a much newer rifle with a far greater serial number.  You'd think that for $1800 CDN, you'd get a rifle with a decent barrel, wouldn't you?

I have tested the rifle again, after fire lapping the bore yesterday morning.  I loaded 50 rounds with 14 gr. Trail Boss and BACo's 459300 bullet:  15 rounds in pure lead, left over from the lapping exercise, and 35 bullets in B 12.1 alloy, about wheel weight hardness.  After the first est with pure lead, I ran a dry patch through, and got no lead, then a patch wet with lead removing solution, and got the finest little dust of lead, but nothing like I had got previously.  I then fired 15 more rounds at a new target, using the harder lead, and got a pretty decent target at 50 meters...less than 2" and in the black.  So I continued to fire the rifle with these loads at 100 meters until I had shot off the entire 50 rounds without cleaning thoroughly.  when I got home, I cleaned the bore, and again came up with some very fine lead dust, but nothing to write home about.  The fire lapping certainly did polish the bore, and made a profound difference in both the accuracy, and the ease of cleaning.

More testing to follow...

[Baltimore Ed]

Ive finally gotten around to making brass and shooting my .45-70 1876 RCMP Chappy src. My problem is the headspace is too tight. Using a feeler gauge i get .059, the head thickness on a 45-60 is supposed to be .063. Ive trimmed the bases of a few RP cases down to .058 which eliminates the headstamp with the primer still below flush. I would need to go to .056 to have no resistance when i close the lever. Other than that and some stiffness when cycling the rifle is fine. The wood to metal fit is good and the finish is ok. I think i will enjoy shooting it when it breaks in.

[wildman1]

The thought has occurred to me as well.  I don't have access to a bore scope.  But I checked out the serial numbers of the disaster rifles and compared it to mine, and mine is a much newer rifle with a far greater serial number.  You'd think that for $1800 CDN, you'd get a rifle with a decent barrel, wouldn't you?

I have tested the rifle again, after fire lapping the bore yesterday morning.  I loaded 50 rounds with 14 gr. Trail Boss and BACo's 459300 bullet:  15 rounds in pure lead, left over from the lapping exercise, and 35 bullets in B 12.1 alloy, about wheel weight hardness.  After the first est with pure lead, I ran a dry patch through, and got no lead, then a patch wet with lead removing solution, and got the finest little dust of lead, but nothing like I had got previously.  I then fired 15 more rounds at a new target, using the harder lead, and got a pretty decent target at 50 meters...less than 2" and in the black.  So I continued to fire the rifle with these loads at 100 meters until I had shot off the entire 50 rounds without cleaning thoroughly.  when I got home, I cleaned the bore, and again came up with some very fine lead dust, but nothing to write home about.  The fire lapping certainly did polish the bore, and made a profound difference in both the accuracy, and the ease of cleaning.

More testing to follow...

Normally firelapping is done with 200, 400, 800 and finally 1200 grit commercial grade lapping compound. Four rounds are fired with each grit starting with the most coarse and cleaning after every shot. To combat gas cutting use some wads cut from 100% cork gasket material, slightly oversized. NECO Industies is where I got my firelapping kit from. You can do many guns with one kit.  wM1

[Irascible]

Uberti 1876 loading problems..... Cartridge OAL is correct. Single feeds from elevator just fine. Rounds from the magazine are cocked upon entering the elevator, with the rear to the right so that the left side of the rim gets caught under a tab on the bottom of the action on the left side looking toward the muzzle. Cimarron had me send it to their gunsmith, Tejas Long Guns. They have had it two weeks now, haven't heard anything. Other than that the rifle is fine. It does need proper sights though.

[Abilene]

That was a common problem on '73 rifles several years back, when Uberti stopped putting a bevel on the corner of the carrier mortice in the frame where the rim catches.  They added the bevel back, but the rifles that had the problem needed the bevel to be added (I used a file).  Never heard of '76's having the problem.  Tejas Long Rifles is Lonnie Ammann, and he is top notch.

[Cliff Fendley]

I have an older 73 that has that problem. I noticed it doesn't have the bevel on it and been meaning to do it next time I have it down for a thorough cleaning. It's only a problem on the first round though, just have to make sure it's all the way in and straight.

[Irascible]

Well, It's now 6 weeks and no word about my 1876 Uberti. At least they emailed that it got there. I'm thinking about calling Cimarron, maybe they will just send another. HA

[larryo1]

Back a few years ago when my rifle came it was a mess and not only that but the UPS folks drove over it while it was still the box.  And besides that, the damn thing did not have a ny engraving what so lever on it so it got sent back.  UPS paid for their mess and we got another rifle that then and now is still a great shooter and after I reworked the stock and trigger it don't even look like a store bought rifle.  It took lots of messing around until I found the loads that it likes the best but it was fun and well worth the time.  I wound up with only two loads that it likes the best: one is 2400 and the other is Swiss 1½.  The bullets I make my own alloy and that is 16:1 as was found on the back of an original factory ammo.  Now--about the only thing that I can offer in the way of info is to make damn sureof what you are getting and if at all possible, try for an original.

[Irascible]

Well it took 2 months, but the rifle is back today. I couldn't wait and cycled 3 rounds through it with no problem. After I finished my chores I loaded up 7 rounds and fired them off my back porch and into a swinger at 50 yds. Rifle worked flawless and every round hit the swinger. Now to re-install my tang sight, folding leaf replacement and Marbles front bead, then back to finding the right loads for both smokeless and BP.

[Major 2]

Well it took 2 months, but the rifle is back today. I couldn't wait and cycled 3 rounds through it with no problem. After I finished my chores I loaded up 7 rounds and fired them off my back porch and into a swinger at 50 yds. Rifle worked flawless and every round hit the swinger. Now to re-install my tang sight, folding leaf replacement and Marbles front bead, then back to finding the right loads for both smokeless and BP.

someone you knew ?

Swinger  
a. A person who actively seeks excitement and moves with the latest trends.
b. A person who engages freely in promiscuous sex.
c. A member of a couple, especially a married couple, who exchanges sexual partners.


Seriously, glad it worked out...

[charlielima]

Voted "other"
New 1876 cal 40-60 WCF. purchased May 2017. Cleaning barrel for first time, first patch had lead. hour or so later, ptches started coming reasonably clean. Decided I ought to check inside receiver to see what it looked like. Side plate screw would not come loose. tried soaking with WD40, KROIL, Ballistol, or combinations thereof. even tried heating both ends of screw with soldering iron (oil soaking was over night. Screwdriver I was using was from a set of gunsmith quality screwdrivers from Midway. After all this I was attempting to loosen the screw, felt like it was starting to move, actually the screw head slot was getting damaged & the screwdriver tip broke one corner off. Ended upsending it to Texas to get fixed. I had to pay shipping myself. Information was that the problem was probably due to the bluing on the screw was not completely cured when installed & therefore rusted the screw in place. Rifle was inrepair shop for a month or so. Apparently designated facility is a one person operation & he must be busy as a 1 legged cat in a 5 acre sand box. I was told that the person had found a quick & easy way to get the screw loose. If that is case problem must be common. Screw had to be replaced. Shipping back to me & new screw was paid by  Cimmarron.

[Baltimore Ed]

My leading problem is in my AR.45 acp Olympic Arms SBR and not a '76 so I don't know if my solution could be something helpful to you. But I use coated bullets in it and have no leading issues. Prior to using poly, accuracy would gradually deteriorate and bullets would keyhole. Obviously the baked on polycoating protects the bore from the lead. Just a suggestion. Another forum member was going to experiment with poly bullets and black but the consensus was that without bullet's lube to keep things loose he would have action problems.

[Slamfire]

Hey ,, charlielima,, I know this is a older thread ,, but you say you bought a "40/60 " WCF from Cimmarron  ,,is ( was ) it a Uberti ,, I didn't know that Uberti made a "40/60 " WCF ,,hope it is working out for y'a .

  coffee's ready ,, Hootmix .