New rifle coming!

Tuolumne Lawman · June 26, 2020, 11:57:02 PM

Just got notified by my local gunshop that Cimarron shipped me an 1866 Carbine in .44-40. Starting Commiefornia 10 day jail on it. When asked a couple months ago what I would like to do my next Cowboy Chronicle article on, I said "How about an 1866 saddle ring carbine in .44 WCF. Low and behold, it has arrived!

In the last 25 years, I have had a couple 1866 24" rifles in a couple calibers, and a 20" short rifle or two. A light, handy 1866 carbine, however, has eluded me until now. Unfortunately, I wish it was going to be the price they were 20 years ago, rather than the inflated north of $1,000 price they get now! It will be interesting to compare it against my HRA 1860 Henry 44-40. It is dead accurate, and I always shoot clean, including clay pigeons on the 25 yard berm....

mtmarfield · June 27, 2020, 01:34:32 AM

Greetings!

Keep us posted on that!

M.T.Marfield

Coffinmaker · June 27, 2020, 09:20:13 AM

Hey TL

Really really curious if you actually get one with Saddle Ring. Some recent production may prevent installing the Staple.

Abilene · June 27, 2020, 01:21:57 PM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on June 27, 2020, 09:20:13 AM
Hey TL

Really really curious if you actually get one with Saddle Ring. Some recent production may prevent installing the Staple.

Looking at a Cimarron inventory list, every caliber of 19" '66 is supposed to have the saddle ring. Guess we'll find out.

Tuolumne Lawman · June 28, 2020, 11:48:26 AM

I think I really got interested in an 1866 Carbine when I found an 1866 receiver in an antique shop in a ghost town south of Bodie, CA. It had rusted remains of barrel on it. Charley Gullet, who use to be on this forum back in the day had me pick it up for him, and hew actually restored it to .44 Henry centerfire over the period of a couple years. Then when I saw the nephew in Broken Trail handing out justice to the bad guys with his 66 carbine, it made me put a 66 carbine on my short list...

Realistically, if I had been a Henry toting lawman in the 1860s and 1870s, at some point I would have switched to a 1866 carbine for horseback use. For a static position, the Henry 16 shooter would rock, but a horseman needs a handier rifle.

Tuolumne Lawman · July 15, 2020, 02:55:50 PM

Oh My!

Picked it up today. It does have the staple and saddle ring, BTW.

Compared to my 1860 Henry, it is so light and handy, I can see why they were still made even after the 1873 was introduced. Action is smooth for a Uberti, BUT has a fairly heavy trigger. I really need to work on that after I do the "factory stock" condition review for the article.

Really glad I waited and got it in 44 WCF, instead of .45 Colt. It will handle Trple Seven loads that replicate the original .44 WCF round (1350 fps for 200 grain bullet...) which killed its share of game.

Working on installing a door and building a wall today, so will take some picks tomorrow. I'll even get a chance to use it at the local CAS match on Saturday!

rayman1 · July 15, 2020, 03:31:57 PM

Will await photos!

Tuolumne Lawman · July 16, 2020, 03:09:56 PM

Here she is with my engraved Kirst 1860 Saber River conversion.

This thing is so much lighter, handier, and shorter than the venerable 1860 Henry. I can see why it was so wildly popular with cowboys, lawman, bandits, ranchers, and Native Americans on the Frontier. Either use a leather thong around the saddle horn, or quickly remove from a saddle scabbard, it would be much easier to deploy than the Henry. Maybe the Henry would have an edge for defending the farm or homestead, but if you had to tote it or use it on horseback, the 1866 Carbine would be the king.

Coffinmaker · July 17, 2020, 03:51:35 PM

SWEET!!

Brass rifles ROCK

Tuolumne Lawman · July 19, 2020, 10:16:41 AM

Had a chance to use it at the local SASS match yesterday. Two minor issues: The trigger pull was over 9 pounds, and it printed a little low at 25 yards, and three inches right.

The sight is an easy fix: I drifted the rear sight left and got it centered between stages, and used a high dead on hold until I can file the sight. That got it on target.

While 9 pounds would not matter at traditional, modern day SASS matches with 24"x24" targets at 10 yards, but our club shoots clay pigeons and pop bottles on the 25 yard berm for rifle targets! (a local anti-gun bunny but kisser group got a court order to stop us from shooting steel targets. because we were poisoning the world!). The 9+ pound trigger made it difficult to make clean hits on small targets at range.

After the match, I took it home and fixed the heavy trigger pull. Fortunately the Uberti 1866 and 1860 Henry rifles are very easy to lighten the trigger pull. With the weapon empty and action open, turn the rifle upside down and remove the exterior trigger spring screw and spring. The trigger moves freely, so push out the trigger retaining pin, and remove the trigger. On this sample, the top "sear" end of the trigger was very pointed, causing it to engage the sear notch in the hammer too deeply, making the trigger pull heavier than necessary, IMHO. I stoned the sear end of the trigger with a fine knife sharpening wet stone, and ever so slightly flattened the deep point. After several tries, the trigger pull was reduced to about 4 pounds and much smoother. DO NOT HURRY and do not take off too much.

I started a draft of the CC article, and included the info about the heavy trigger pull and how to fix it in the draft.

Next I need to see how it does on paper sand trim the front sight to bring POI up to 2" above POA at 25 yards.

Major 2 · July 19, 2020, 10:29:23 AM

I have to asked then, having altered the gun ( to the betterment none the less ) you can't return it can You ?

Would you keeping it ? or selling it down the line....

Tuolumne Lawman · July 19, 2020, 11:05:03 AM

My wife ceremoniously told me this is a keeper. (She thinks it is almost as pre pretty as the 1860 HRA Henry!) We have had a lot of positive changes in our life in the last 6 months, and she has given me an injunction that the only reason I can sell a gun is to buy a better one... Love my Wife!!!!

Major 2 · July 19, 2020, 01:22:44 PM

Quote from: Tuolumne Lawman on July 19, 2020, 11:05:03 AM
My wife ceremoniously told me this is a keeper. (She thinks it is almost as pre pretty as the 1860 HRA Henry!) We have had a lot of positive changes in our life in the last 6 months, and she has given me an injunction that the only reason I can sell a gun is to buy a better one... Love my Wife!!!!

BOTH are keepers !

Tuolumne Lawman · July 22, 2020, 04:20:09 PM

Took the 1866 to the range to shoot paper, to see where it was shooting. Like the other member posted on this forum, it is shooting 8" low at 25 yards. The big problem was that it is shooting almost the same amount to the right! I checked and found the front barrel band/sight was loose. The screw is either stripped or snapped, and spins freely. I contacted Chip at Cimarron about a warranty return.

In over 20 years of evaluations for the Chronicle, I have never gotten a bad gun from Cimarron. I'll give them a Mulligan on this one, as long as they replace it.

Tuolumne Lawman · July 23, 2020, 02:38:24 PM

Chip at Cimarron. is sending me a new band/sight and screw. That should fix it. Now I need to trim the front sight 1/10" to 1/8" to bring it up. Actually only 6 inches below POA at 25 yards.

Speedballalice · July 23, 2020, 06:21:16 PM

I'm curious how you made the calculations for how much material to take off the front sight. If I only need to remove 1/10 to 1/8" of material that would be awesome. I thought it would be considerably more. My rifle is shooting about 7" low at 25yds. Although I'm taking multiple loads to the range soon to verify before doing any mods.

Btw. It could just be the picture but your front sight looks like it may be a tad bit shorter than mine.

Tuolumne Lawman · July 24, 2020, 12:53:47 AM

25 yards is 900 inches. Say 16" between front sight and rear sight, so divide 900 by 16, so 56. 56 times 1/8 is 7". 1/8" off the sight will raise POI 7 inches at 25 yards. I'll start with about 2/3 that, and work up. I was aiming at the bottom of the bullseye, and hitting about 6 inches low (I said 8, but it was 8 from the center of the bull, not the bottom where I was aiming.

Speedballalice · July 24, 2020, 08:09:23 AM

What I'm hearing is that you are using a 6 o'clock hold whereas I am using dead on aim. I will use the formula and see what I come up with. Thank you.

Tuolumne Lawman · July 24, 2020, 09:22:07 AM

Start with half, and bring the file to the range.

Tuolumne Lawman · July 31, 2020, 06:44:00 PM

Got the new sight and mounted it (it was the old sight that was stripped, not the screw). It is 16.5" from front sight to rear sight. Lopped off about 1/10" the top of the front of the front sight. Even though it widened the front sight some, the rear notch is still plenty wide for a good sight picture. That much should bring it up between 5.5" and 6.0" at 25 yards about 6 inches. We will see when I go to the range again. I'll take a flat file with me, and trim it down some more if I need to.