Codymatic to .45 Schofield

[WaddWatsonEllis]

When I recieved my Codymatic, I expected it to be indexed for .45 Schofield as requested.

So now I have a brand new unfired gun that cycles .45 Colt just fine (in fact, almost magically), but any attempt at firing Scofield jams the gun, with bullets under the 'lifting mechanism' and behind the 'recieving plate'.

I had ordered through this gunsmith so that my warranty would cover all work on the weapon, and now I find myself having to send the weapon to another gunsmith so that I can fire Schofield in both my pistols and rifle.

So I am back to two gunsmith warranties ... and I fear if I ever have a problem , the two gunsmiths will just point at each other and say, 'It's under his warranty!'

Any suggestions (Besides sending it back to the original gunsmith, waiting for months and getting the same level of concern that I presently am recieving)?

Thanks for your interest ...

[Pettifogger]

Part of your problem might be nomenclature.  No rifle is "indexed" for a particular round.  That term simply doesn't apply.  Also you reference the "lifting mechanism" and the "receiving plate."  You didn't identify what kind of rifle you have so I assume (since it is a Cody) that it is a Winchester 66 or 73 toggle link.  A 73 has a carrier (lifting mechanism) but there is no such thing as a receiving plate.  Sounds like your ammo is simply to short.  A rifle might work fine with a 250 grain bullet in a Schofield and not feed at all with a 180 because it is to short.  Before you get to excited and spend a bunch of money you don't have to, go here and read this article.  Then come back and describe more accurately what is happening.  You may just need to change bullets or push the ramp on the carrier back a tad.

http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=5274.0

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hello Pettifogger,

Yes, indeed a large part of my problem is nomenclature.

And yes indeed, the crux of the problem is that the Schofield is too short to be cycled through a gun that was set up for .45 Schofield.

In another thread there were several replies from knowedgeable members who told me that it was not a problem to have the Model 73 'set up' to use Schofield ... just to let my gunsmith know and he could prepare the gun for .45 Schofield.

Which I did.

Now I have a Model 94 and Model 73 that both fire .45 Colt, which kinda makes the brand new Model 73 superfluous.

So now I have an unneeded $1400 rifle that I will have to spend more money to send throught a CAFL to have the gun set up to do what was originally requested for it to do.  That is, once I find a gunsmith that will do the job for me (and again, unnecessary gunsmith fees are going to have to be paid for what should have been done in the first place).

Once again I apologise for my lack of nomenclature in the weapon.  It is an entirely new weapon and I was sent no instruction manual with the weapon, nor do I have a parts breakdown on hardcopy in front of me. I cannot seem to find a parts breakdown on the internet, and on Sunday at 1700 there is a paucity of gunshops open to discuss the proper nomenclature with.

You are right in that what I referred to is a 'lifing mechanism' is actually the carrier. The other nomenclature travesty is that the 'recieving plate' is the 'gate' (I am guessing) where the bullets are loaded into the rifle. 

When one puts Schofield ammunition into the 'loading gate' (again my bad, but without a parts breakdown or user's manual I am again just guessing here), the ammunition gets jammed aft and at the same level as said 'loading gate'. Since it is just below the carrier at this time, the carrier cannot move down in the gun to recieve the next bullet (since the next bullet is already below the carrier). The gun can be turned upside down and the Schofield ammo will rattle out.

Using .45 Colt snap caps, the weapon cycles fine. It is a really fine rifle ... for .45 Colt.

My question is, how do I get it to cycle .45 Schofield ammo?

Thank you for reading this post from a FNG. I hope I have been accurate enough to be understood.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Pettifogger,

I  just downloaded (and printed) your article, and am about to go read it now ..... and will reply when I get more 'eddicated'

*S*

[Pettifogger]

Here's an exploded view.

http://www.vtigunparts.com/store/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=42&cat=Uberti+1873+Rifle

It's hard to visualize what you are doing.  The carrier is DOWN when you load the gun.  As each round is inserted they go through the carrier into the mag tube.  A round can't be shaken out of the carrier as they are totally contained in the carrier and the receiver.  Hopefully, the pictures in the article will help explain how a 73 is supposed to work.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I printed the exploded view and parts numbers so that I will have the actual name to refer to, as well as a source of parts....

And, emboldened by your post, I ran my .45 Schofied snap caps through, making sure that the carrier was down ... and guess what? The snap caps ran through like buttah!  I couldn't believe the difference, so I ran them through twice more... Great!

Thank you so much for helping this rank beginner ... what was so basic (I.e. the carrier has to be down before loading), was beyond me ... the only experience I ever had was with my Model 94, and the carrier in it was the problem in loading Schofield ammo .... and the reason for buying the Model 73!

So, Pettifogger thanks for straightening me out and showing me what a wonderful rifle I have (if I know how to treat it!).

The pics did help to sort the mechanism's action out. I feel like the next time I go to the range, I will be so much more knowledgeable!


Gonna read it a few more times .....

[Old Top]

Wadd,

Just to mess with your mind I have an original model 73 in 44-40 and the lever has to be open, with the carrier down, to have the gate open to load.  As you can understand this caused me a lot of befuddlement before I figured it out.

Old Top

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi Old Top,

Thanks for the back up on having problems ... I have to admit that this was only my second lever action and this carrier thing was brand new to me. The first was a Model 94, handled .45 Colt with aplomb but in no way would cycle .45 Schofield. I bought the Taylors through Codymatic with the express desire to use just the .45 Schofield rounds alone.

And now it seems to.

My background was military; MIs, M-16s, .50 cal, Mini-Guns. And if we had a real problem, there was always an armourer available.....

So the moral of the story is to open up the dust cover on a 1873 clone and insure the carrier is in the 'down' position before loading ... okay, I can do that .... *S*

I got to worrying about live ammo vs snap caps. So I took some live ammo (fearing the difference in length might cause problems) and cycled it ... works fine.

I should mention that this is reloaded ammo with 165 gr bullets .... and the snap caps were made by the same guy who reloads my stuff.  So the 'snap caps' were the same length and bullet size.

But I am getting off focus here.

These reason for this post is to thank Pettifogger, and Old Top for all their help and support for this new guy and his brand new rifle. It was quickly becoming a wall hanger, and now I know enough to begin to shoot this thing ...Thank you again!

[Old Top]

Wadd,

We all started somewhere and do not know all of the ins and outs so we have to learn this wire is an excellent place.  Hope to shoot with you one of these days, I see that you are out of Sacramento I get up to Bakersfield every now and again so I will give you a holler.  If you get down to souhern Cal to shoot give me a yell.

Top Old one of

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Old Top,

My last active duty assignment was almost at Edwards just outside of Bakersfield. Instead at the last moment I got McClellan in Sacramento.

I have always wondered how my life would have changed had I been stationed in the desert in a somewhat-to-the-right desert town where cowboy boots and jeans are the norm ....

Maybe I would have become a SASS member decades ago?

But back to Bakersfield ... that would be fun, but after purchasing all the pistols, rifles, shotguns and clothing, I rather see me just shooting at my local club once a month for the next year ...... but should you ever want to shoot NorCal, mi casa es su casa .... and thanks again!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

BTW,

Here is the website for all the NorCal SASS Clubs ...

californiagunslingers.com

Enjoy!