1873 Uberti repair/tune up

[theothermike]

Hey everyone, I stumbled across an 1873 Uberti levergun chambered in 357. It was a great price being an ex range rental. Being such it is pretty dinged up and well wore in with what i presume to be a high round count. This doesn't concern me as I bought it planning to short stroke/slick up for my recent headlong plunge into the rabbit hole that is cowboy action.

So far I've found one problem with this rifle, the lever screw was bent. This seemed to mess up the geometry for the carrier lifter enough that the carrier will not drop past the bolt when slowly lifting the lever. I've already bought a new set of hardened screws. My question is what else should I look for? I presume that being a range rifle many different types of ammo had been through it including high power defence rounds. Do you guys think i found problem and I'm heading the right direction? Thanks in advance.

 

[Malamute]

If the lever screw was bent, Id check headspace and the pins on the frame, bolt and lever that interact with the links, and see that the links are snug in their hinges.

 

[theothermike]

All holes are round, the links are good, the lever seems fine.

The short pin is fine, the two longer ones are ever so slightly bent. I could only tell by holding them against a true surface and shining light under them. They might be fine to use?

The bolt has some marring one the bottom of the face, not sure what could have caused this but it scratched up the channel inside the carrier a little.

I dont have headspace gauge but I dont see any abnormal wear in the chamber or the mouth.

 

[Malamute]

Will catch up later.

Sending a note to Steve at Steves Gunz may be worthwhile, hes worked on tons of levers used in cowboy action stuff, including I believe tightening up 73s.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

I know some folks who can do their own action work on a '73 but I'm not one of them. I would have an experienced smith check everything as part of an action job and short stroke installation.

 

[Malamute]

Any of those pins and screws being bent may increase headspace, the bolt is held shut by the links and their pins. I believe excessive headspace can be corrected with new oversize pins, new links, or new oversize pins and new links.

Again, Id send a note to Steve as mentioned previously to get his take on the potential for problems with bent screws and pins as a symptom. Hes posted elsewhere about 357 cal 73s being stretched/headspace issues from being shot a lot and rebuilding them.

One aspect not always considered in this type of situation, a little wear you may be OK for a while, a little more wear isnt always "just a little worse", it allows the parts to get more of a run at each other increasing the slam effect as clearances open up, and damage increases at a faster rate. Somewhat like ball joints or tie rod ends on a vehicle.