I gotta stop this obcession... or maybe not

[NorthBorder]

Uberti Winchester 1866 with 18" octagonal barrel, color case hardened hammer and lever, and that beautiful brass butt plate and receiver.
I picked up this bad girl yesterday at a LGS in Kalispell after having pondered it for a few weeks. On the way home I stopped at the range to give her whirl. Immediately, I learned that she doesn't tolerate one cintella over proper COAL or she will freeze up, and she did. OK, I was still able to shoot it like a single shot rifle so I only succeeded it getting her a bit dirty.
Lesson learned. Today I miked about 25 rounds to be sure they were all 1.560" or smaller COAL. I took her out to the National Forest and put a target on a stump. Loaded 10 rounds into the gate and put it on a rest over my hood. At about 25-30 yards my groups were centered with a few outliers a little high and right. All was good until the 9th round.

(Ibuggered up the case mouth trying to extract it). Somehow it must have missed the crimp stage. The 10th round showed no set back at all. The ejector was holding the round in the chamber and would not let me eject it. So that ended my 2nd shooting session. 2 sessions and 10 rounds. Not what I had hoped but at least she levered the other rounds. I hope she isn't full of gremlins. And she gives me a real appreciation for Henrys with the tube loading method.
She sure is a bad girl... BAD GIRL.BAD! BAD GIRL!

 

[LightninST]

Nine looking 66 ! It may just what you are feeding her. You may be the bad boy
Or as they say don’t go off half crimped

 

[Riomouse911]

Beautiful rifle indeed, I woulda pulled out the card upon seeing her as well .

Hopefully you’ll figure out the issue, let us know if there was a fix or if it was self-correcting.

I had a Rossi 92 .38-.357 that wouldn’t feed anything I fed it and no one could exorcise it’s demons. I guess some guns are just a bit picky.

Stay safe.

 

[Tommygunn]

The extractor may have held the round, the 1866 has no ejector. The cartridge elevator performs that function. If the round telescoped, the next round forward was pushed back, and that will jam the elevator. Trying to shove it forward from above with a thin screwdriver might work.

But the cartridge ought not have collapsed like that anyway. What caliber is the rifle anyway?

I really like Uberti rifles and own three , two 1873 Winchester types and a Colt Burgess. I have a Miroku 1866 which looks much like your really nice looking Uberti except mine has a 24" barrel.

I would try using it with some good brand-name rounds to be sure. The design of the 1866, 1873 & 1876 rifles usually allows for some leeway in cartridge length. Shorter rounds allow the round in front of the one in the elevator to protrude some; the front end is chamfered to allow the elevator to push that round forward as it rises.

If it is really that tight of a fit, a gunsmith can - - -assuming he will work on that model - - - mill a rounded groove into the frame of the rifle in front of the elevator. The rifle has to be disassembled for this and unless you're really good with gunsmithing you probably don't want to undertake this by yourself.

I'm thinking with a Uberti, if you get good factory ammo, you'll be fine though.

 

[Armored farmer]

That is a puuuurty rifle, even if she has a few flaws to work on.

 

[NorthBorder]

Its a 45LC. The first round I put into it, and after I attempted to lever a round in the chamber, had its nose up against the wall and the elevator would not rise. Rounds at or below 1.560" COAL seem to work fine. As far as that one round that got stuck under the extractor, I guess that was set back due to repeated shooting . It was the 9th round in the magazine. I use 8.5 gr Unique behind a 250 gr. lead. I'm just glad that round didn't chamber.

 

[Ks5shooter]

That is a puuuurty rifle, even if she has a few flaws to work on.

I agree! Half the fun of a new to you gun is working up loads and tinkering with it. Enjoy!

 

[jmorris]

I liked the aesthetics of the one I had but just couldn’t get it to run to my liking. Went with a Marlin 1894 after than, not as unique but runs well.

 

[J-Bar]

Toggle action lever rifles can run very fast. Winchester 1866s and 1873s are used by the fastest shooters in cowboy action competitions because the straight-into-the-chamber mechanism eliminates most feeding jams. Truncated cone bullets help guide the cartridge into the chamber; wadcutters, semi-wadcutters, Keith-style bullets with a sharp shoulder all jam too frequently to be tolerated by competitors. The 1873 has a lever safety which gives it an advantage over the 1866 by reducing the possibility of an out-of-battery discharge, so the 1873 is used a bit more frequently than the '66. Most use the .38 special cartridge with light loads, but Classic Cowboy category requires cartridges to be .40 or above, so the .45 Colt does show up in competition. I looked for videos of Classic Cowboy shooters online but was not able to find a good demonstration.

Your rifle may have some other issues besides OAL sensitivity, time will tell. I'm posting the following link of a championship level cowboy action shooter demonstrating just how fast a toggle action rifle can operate when the rifle is tuned. Good luck with your adventure!!

 

[Tommygunn]

Geeesh, J-Bar.... I've never seen the likes of that!!! I think that must have been one of them slicked-up 73's that have a shorter lever-throw than normal.
*SIGH* Sorta makes a Tommygun seem pointless .... don't it?

 

[J-Bar]

Geeesh, J-Bar.... I've never seen the likes of that!!! I think that must have been one of them slicked-up 73's that have a shorter lever-throw than normal.
*SIGH* Sorta makes a Tommygun seem pointless .... don't it?

It's the darn reloading that takes time!

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Lovely rifle!