Main Match rifles and why...

[Dr. Bob]

I decided before I started in CAS [NOCWS] about 2 year ago that I wanted to arm myself with a Colt SAA and a 1873 Winchester!   A good friend let me shoot one of each of his 'till I could buy mine.  I am quite pleased with my 73.  Handles well and shoots better than I do.   I am satisfied with my choice.  I'm never going to be fast enough to be really competitive,  that would take way too much practice!   I've become a lazy ole fart and am happy to make as much smoke and noise as the best of them!  Style points are much more important to me that fastest time anyway!

[Long Johns Wolf]

I got this beautiful ASM Winchester 92 rifle in .45 Colt for X-mas a couple of years back from my wife. Had to pay a gunsmith deerly to get it into a reliable working condition (which it never was). Shot it during my first 2 CAS seasons until it broke down once too often. Next was a ASP Winchester 73 carbine converted from .44-40 to .44 Colt. Very reliable shooter and never let me down. After promising long-range experience 2004 with a brass framed Henry converted from .44-40 to .44 Colt (again) I am in the process of getting my new steel Henry in .44 Colt/Special battle ready.
Bootsie

[Mustang Gregg]

Dad & I have always  Win M-1892 fans.  We have a Win, 2 Brownies, 1 Hartford, 1 Rossi.  All are slick & pretty competetive.
But Calamity likes the Marlin M-1894's.

[boot strap jack]

right now emf 92 short rifle in 45 colt. price was right due to a big dent in mag tube by fore end cap. a little massaging dent is gone and the gun shots good. Did handle a 73 and 66 today and I think I will probaly end up with one or both, in 45. It did surprize the little lady that I did not buy one on the spot. the problem is which one?

[Ransom Gaer]

I started with an Improved Henry('66) in .45 Colt.  Great rifle and I still have it as a backup gun.  I now use an 1860 Henry.  Many more style points than the '66 or '73, but still has the same smooth toggle link action.  The Henry also fits the time I portray: 1863 perfectly.

Ransom Gaer

[JL McGillicuddy]

I opted for the 20" 1873 pistol grip rifle from Cimarron.  The pistol grip feels better to me than straight stock rifles do, though I have handled some nice straight stocks.  I like the 20" length as not being too long or too short for what we do around here.  Goes in and out of windows well and is just heavy enough to balance nicely for my hand.  I considered a round barreled carbine, but like the extra weight of the octagon barrel. 

I opted for the 1873 model based on reliability and style.  It looks better to my eye than most of the other rifles.  I like the 1866 models, also, but was hesitant to try the "more difficult" break down for cleaning.  Now that I have handled a '66 and gotten to see how little difference there is in the takedown, that will likely be my next rifle. 

For caliber I went with .45 Colt.  Number one reason was to match ammo with my pistols.  I got into this game to begin with because I wanted .45 Colt single action pistols.  It does require a bit more cleaning than some other calibers, but I don't mind.  I prefer to clean my guns following each match, anyway.  Keeps the house smelling nice.

Jack Lee

[Dalton Masterson]

Depending on if I am shooting Black powder or not, I shoot a Pedersoli Lightning, or a Win 73.

I used to shoot the lightning with black, but dont want to take it apart more than necessary anymore. I now shoot black in the 73 only, as its easier to clean up afterward.

Both of them have straight grips, as they just feel better to me.

The lightning feels better with a longer barrel as it doesnt bounce the sight picture around near as much as with a short barrel. I think its a 26". Maybe 24".  Cant remember now. 

My 73 also has a long barrel on it, but my wife has a 18" barrel on hers, and it feels fine.

Both of them are in 45 Colt, but work fine with my Schofield loads too.

A heavier bullet seems to make my Lightning run a little smoother.

DM

[Marshal J.D.Lightning]

Started out about 5 years ago with a new S/S 24" Rossi 92 in 45 Colt. This rifle has served me well with no problems & will eat anything I feed it  This is a standard rifle & is very smooooooth right out of the box 

My darling wife just got me a new Uberti 66 19' carbine in 45 Colt to use for my B/P loads. Shot it last week & love it 

Use the 92 with the Schofields or the 66 with the Dragoons, too many decisions to be made, just have to use them all 

Take care, shoot straight & have fun with them leverguns.

Lightning

[Fingers McGee]

Main Match Rifle is a Uberti 1866 Carbine in 44-40.  For back-ups, I have a '73 short rifle, '60 Henry, and Colt Lightning - all in 44-40.

Reason for these is same as for my pistols.  They are correct for the period and the persona I portray - Ex Civil War Confederate Cavalry Sgt that is serving as Justice of the Peace in an East Texas town around 1880. 

Fingers (Show Me MO smoke) McGee

[Curly Red Ryder]

Use two Chapparal 1873 replicas, one rifle and one short rifle, both magazine limited to 10 rounds according to French laws.
Thinking to play to in B western categ (Red Ryder is for sure a B western character) and so will use my older 1892 Rossi rifle. 1873 are both .44/40 to match woith my handguns caliber abd the Rossi is .44mag.

[Stillwater]

I have more Cowboy style rifles, than the two Cimarron 1873's, I mentioned in the other thread.

I have Marlin 1894 CB rifles in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt. I have two of each. They are one of each, in the 20" Octagonal barrel, and one of each in the 24" barrel.

I have a new Marlin 1894 in .44-40 with a 24" barrel also. This one was a little pricy at the time.

I wish Marlin would put out the 1894 in .38-40.

I'm looking for a Marlin 336 CB in .30-30 also.

Bill

[Daniel Nighteyes]

I shoot an Uberti 1866 Winchester carbine in 45 Colt, because (1) It fits my timeframe - the early 1870's; (2) It fits my persona's stomping grounds - northeastern New Mexico/Texas panhandle/Cimmaron Strip; and (3) It fits who I am.

It has had no tuning or smoothing out, other than the ongoing "Piru Action Job" with every match I shoot! 

[Shotgun Franklin]

I used to shoot a WW '94 in .45 Colt. It was super strong and, at least mine, was reliable. I walked into a gunshop I frequent and the clerk working that day told me that he just had to have a new motorcycle. He had a mint ' 73 rifle clone .45 Colt with a super slick action job. He paid $1300 for it but because he had to have that motorcycle he sold me the rifle for $600 total. It is a super shooter and it took me a year to get where I could shoot fast enough to keep up with the gun. I have a SS '92 also in .45 Colt I use as my 'truck gun'. It could be used as a match gun in a pinch.
Oh, BTW, that '73 came with a lifetime warranty against breakage.

[King Medallion]

I started with a Winchester 94 in 45 Colt, then got a Rossi 92 in 44-40 to match my pistols, now last month I bought a Uberti 66 in 44-40.

[boot strap jack]

I now have added a 73 to my cart, still like to shoot the 92.

[cpt dan blodgett]

bought a 1892 Rossi Puma 20 in rb carbine in 44 Mag prolly back in 96 or 7 to match my 44Mag Vaquero at the time was shooting 44 special 247 grain semi wad cutters (only needed 1 pistol back then.)  Gun shot fine at SASS ranges but would not shoot 50 yards without key holing.  Slugged bore was .434 or .435 depending on how measured.  In stead of drilling a .421 hole and rifling out to .429 rossi drilled a .427 of .429 hole and rifled out to .434 or 5.  

They have since fixed that.  I bought a second Hartford Model from Steve Kiowa Jones octo barrel 24 in blued and case hardened.  Nice gun really slick, but the stock is a little long for fast cycling with my short arms.

Why the 1892,
1.  The Duke used them from shortly after the Civil war until he Died in VA City or Carson City in the Shootist.
2.  The 44 Mag matched the Vaquero
3.   44 Mag would hunt pigs and deer (refused to use the over bored carbine for anything but SASS, could not shoot well enough to guarantee a quick killing shot at more than 25 yards.  I owed it to the animal to kill them quickly and humanely.  Update started using desparado soft flatbassed bullets get round holes and 6-8 inch groups at 100 yards now could hunt with it now.  )

If I were going strictly for speed would probably go with a 73 win.

[ogreshooter]

1866 Yellowboy

Main reason was price. I really like the 66 and the 73, but for $500 for a barely shot model, I could not pass it up.

I like most of the options in the poll, but the 66 and 73 are by far my favorite (I like the looks and feel of them).

73's are particular to ammo length, and I can shoot one load between my pistols and rifle now without finicky ammo.

[Griff]

73's are particular to ammo length, and I can shoot one load between my pistols and rifle now without finicky ammo.

Actually, the '66 is just as finicky as the '73 as to ammo length.  As are the 1860 Henry, the 1894 Marlin and '92 Winchester (& its clones).  The '94 Winnie is less so than the others, but that's mainly because of the great length of the action.

The Henry, '66 & '73 are all toggle link actions, with an enclosed "box" (actual nomenclature is "mortise"), that the cartridge MUST fit inside to work thru the transistion from magazine to chamber.  All three have basically the same size mortise.  The only difference that bears on the ability to feed different lengths of ammo is the "leade" or ramp on the front of the lifter.  They seem (from my very unscientific study), that the earlier examples generally have a longer leade or shallower angle, making it easier for the lifter to PUSH rounds back inside the magazine.  Thus, one can feed much shorter cartridges into the magazine, and while more of the following cartridge is allowed on the lifter, it can be pushed back into the magazine and the cartridge fully on the lifter will feed into the chamber.  Later guns seem to have a steeper lead onto the carrier, making it more difficult to allow shorter rounds than those that "just fit" in the lifter mortise.  Too short a cartridge, and it'll feel more of the second cartridge on the lifter than the angle can push back into the magazine.  It may actually jam.

Hope I explained that well enough... couldn't find pics of the difference in the angles among my pic library.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here's the pics, in Pettifogger's article;

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/togglelink.pdf

[LoneRider]

Started with a Puma '92 in 45, got another one, got tired of the stovepipes. Then a Marlin Cowboy, shot B-Western alot then. Now have a Uberti '73...love it, it's fast and the 24" barrel is perfect for me, no bouncing when going fast!