Uberti '73 Safety

Five Bullets · December 22, 2008, 02:08:39 PM

I have a question or two about the safety of the Uberti '73 Winchester replica. It seems that a few years ago there was a lot of discussion about the safety of the Winchester replicas, something about the firing pin coming back and hitting a cowboy action shooter in the eye or something like that. Back in 2004/2005 I was assembling my CAS gear and it seems like there was some issues concerning the firing pin setup on the Ubertis. Is this a non-issue?

I am asking because I am once again attempting to assemble my CAS gear, last time it was interrupted by divorce. I wasn't on the net for the last few years and have just been able to get back on the forums the last three months or so. The last three or four months I have been buying some more "old west" style guns and do wish to get a '73. I have yet to get to the range to shoot my new shootin irons. I have a couple of new Colts and a new Spencer that keep calling my name

Thanks,

Hedley Lamarr · December 22, 2008, 02:50:35 PM

The 1866 is the same design (more or less) internally as the 1873. It does not have a lever safety, thus it can fire out of battery.
The lever safety on the 1873 does not allow the trigger to fire until the gun is pretty darn close to full lock-up. It IS possible to fire it this way, I have seen some folks who ride the trigger as they close the lever, but so far, given the low pressure light loads commonly used in the game, no damage to person or equipment has happened.
Any toggle-action type of firearm is inherently weak, so one should never use any heavy, high pressure smokeless load in one.
As to the firing pin extension, in the older Italian rifles, it was held with a 1/16th pin, and a full house load could in theory shear it off, thus allowing the extension to be forced backwards. The newer (12-18 months previous) Italian imports use a new design with a thick wedge instead of the pin.

I have used the same 1873 for 11+years, with excess of 100,000 rounds shot. If you take care of your loads, it is indeed a non-issue.

Welcome back!

Five Bullets · December 22, 2008, 03:39:21 PM

Hedley,

Thank you for your response and for the welcome back and for refreshing my memory about the safety concerns. I will be primarily shooting black powder and/or Unique or Trailboss smokeless loads. I had a 1860 Henry, a '66 and a '73 before and sure liked them, but just as I was getting the hang of them my spouse decided to split the sheets:( and they had to go along with most of the rest of my small gun collection.

Pettifogger · December 23, 2008, 12:22:57 AM

Seems like your post is more concerned with general "safety" of the 73 rather than the little trigger safety on the 73. Figure it this way. The 73 is the most popular and has been used by more top shooters than any other rifle in CAS shooting. If it was inherently unsafe, do you think everyone would be using it?

Professor Honeyfuggler · August 29, 2009, 04:30:53 PM

Responding to an ancient post, I agree that more SASS champions shoot '73s than anything else. It's an easy fact to check.

But I was just browsing Mike Venturino's book "Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West" earlier today, and he says the '92 is the most widely used model in Cowboy Action Shooting.

I suspect both are correct.

This may just be due to the fact that the '92 was manufactured for so long and produced in such large quantities that there are a lot of them around. But I also notice there is a lot of affection for the '92 action expressed by owners on this board whenever the subject comes up. '73's are easier for the shooter to work on themselves, while '92s have a reputation for having stronger actions. Which is better? I suspect the debate will never die.

Camille Eonich · August 31, 2009, 12:48:55 PM

That book was published in 1999 and I'm sure that at the time that the '92 was one of the more popular guns. I'm not sure if, at that time, Uberti was even exporting the '66s and '73s.

Arcey · August 31, 2009, 01:51:38 PM

From memory. Prior to 1999 it was mostly '92s and Marlins. A pard loaned me a tape of EoT, either 1992 or 3. Dennis Ming won with a '92. Made me happy because I was plinkin' with my Rossi before I knew what CAS was.

The '66 'n '73s started showin' up when I was workin' to get Pungo up 'n runnin'. Thinkin' mid 1998. I was a l'il too busy to notice. Snuck up on me.

Back to lurkin'.

Camille Eonich · August 31, 2009, 04:21:24 PM

Quote from: Arcey on August 31, 2009, 01:51:38 PM
From memory. Prior to 1999 it was mostly '92s and Marlins. A pard loaned me a tape of EoT, either 1992 or 3. Dennis Ming won with a '92. Made me happy because I was plinkin' with my Rossi before I knew what CAS was.

Yep, when I bought my '92 many people kept telling me what a mistake that I was making. I said the "China Camp won EoT with a '92." I finally sold that thing this year, got almost as much as I had in it back out of it.