Leaky Waders
Member
Hi,
So after looking at lots of different models and actions in 45 long colt - I finally pulled the trigger and got an 1873 from Beretta/Uberti.
This is a preliminary review of the Beretta Renegade 20" Carbine.
The carbine is blued with oak stocks. The hammer has a half cock and full cock. The only additional safety is the natural squeeze required on the lever prior to pulling the trigger.
The top of the receiver tang has "Model 1873". A beretta trident logo adorns both sides of the stock left and right of the tang. The lower tang (below the lever has "A.Uberti-Italy" and the serial number "W29629" (wow those number should've been on a S&W 44 mag revolver...) are on the lower tang nearest the butt of the stock.
The lever is locked in place when not in use by a lever locking latch. Even though the carbine is brand new the action is very easy to cycle. The lever does have ca. 1/8" side to side play. I'm not familiar enough with lever guns to know if this is normal.
The trigger breaks without creep and neither it or the hammer has any obvious casting marks.
The Renegade's action is what really interests me, as well as its great looks. It has a brass elevator that moves the cartridges up from the magazine tube into the chamber. The previous round is pushed upwards and cleared from the action based upon one's force at cycling the lever. The whole contraption is covered by a sliding dust cover that moves out of the way when cycling the action. The dust cover can be moved forward to ward off the elements once emptied or loaded.
The carbine is "controlled feed" I guess. I worked the action upside down and at 90 degrees and the 45 long colt rounds loaded flawlessly. The only jamming that resulted when cycling the action was when I initially stuffed ten rounds in the magazine (it's supposed to hold 8). The first two rounds were easily worked through the action by adjusting their cantiness (I make up words) with my fingers. Once 8 were left, the action performed as stated above.
The octagon barrel is tipped off with a golden bead front sight and rear adjustable buckhorn site. The front sight is in a dovetail slot and secured with a machined screw, so i guess you could use it to adjust for windage as needed if there wasn't enough adjustment from the rear sight. The barrel has "Renegade Cal. 45 Colt" and "Beretta USA Corps., Ackk.,Md"
There doesn't appear to be any plastic on the carbine - just steel, brass and walnut with a rubber butt pad.
The carbine came packaged in a simple brown box with a one sheet of printed and folded instructions.
So...why did I decide upon 137 year old technology? Well, to start with, the 1873 seems to be a very neat design as compared to todays levers. Couple that with no ridiculous safety devices and I was nearly sold. The final push was the loading in 45 long Colt. Even if I were to purchase an original 1873 in perfect condition, it wouldn't be chambered in 45 Long Colt - this chambering is from our century although the round was created in the last century.
Also, with all of the CAS (I don't CAS) I feel comfortable being able to find a smith who can fix this carbine if needed.
Lastly, I figured Winchester hasn't made any more of them since they stopped in the first 1/3rd of the century. And, if they did it would probably be all lawyered up...so I went with this and like my choice. Hopefully she shoots as fun as she looks.
Now I'll try to upload some pictures of the 1873 to show what i described. I've also placed the 1873 between a 9422 and an 1895 so people familiar with those actions can compare sizes and operation (I don't own a 30-30 to throw a 336 or model 94 against it for pics.)
Enjoy.
L.W.
So after looking at lots of different models and actions in 45 long colt - I finally pulled the trigger and got an 1873 from Beretta/Uberti.
This is a preliminary review of the Beretta Renegade 20" Carbine.
The carbine is blued with oak stocks. The hammer has a half cock and full cock. The only additional safety is the natural squeeze required on the lever prior to pulling the trigger.
The top of the receiver tang has "Model 1873". A beretta trident logo adorns both sides of the stock left and right of the tang. The lower tang (below the lever has "A.Uberti-Italy" and the serial number "W29629" (wow those number should've been on a S&W 44 mag revolver...) are on the lower tang nearest the butt of the stock.
The lever is locked in place when not in use by a lever locking latch. Even though the carbine is brand new the action is very easy to cycle. The lever does have ca. 1/8" side to side play. I'm not familiar enough with lever guns to know if this is normal.
The trigger breaks without creep and neither it or the hammer has any obvious casting marks.
The Renegade's action is what really interests me, as well as its great looks. It has a brass elevator that moves the cartridges up from the magazine tube into the chamber. The previous round is pushed upwards and cleared from the action based upon one's force at cycling the lever. The whole contraption is covered by a sliding dust cover that moves out of the way when cycling the action. The dust cover can be moved forward to ward off the elements once emptied or loaded.
The carbine is "controlled feed" I guess. I worked the action upside down and at 90 degrees and the 45 long colt rounds loaded flawlessly. The only jamming that resulted when cycling the action was when I initially stuffed ten rounds in the magazine (it's supposed to hold 8). The first two rounds were easily worked through the action by adjusting their cantiness (I make up words) with my fingers. Once 8 were left, the action performed as stated above.
The octagon barrel is tipped off with a golden bead front sight and rear adjustable buckhorn site. The front sight is in a dovetail slot and secured with a machined screw, so i guess you could use it to adjust for windage as needed if there wasn't enough adjustment from the rear sight. The barrel has "Renegade Cal. 45 Colt" and "Beretta USA Corps., Ackk.,Md"
There doesn't appear to be any plastic on the carbine - just steel, brass and walnut with a rubber butt pad.
The carbine came packaged in a simple brown box with a one sheet of printed and folded instructions.
So...why did I decide upon 137 year old technology? Well, to start with, the 1873 seems to be a very neat design as compared to todays levers. Couple that with no ridiculous safety devices and I was nearly sold. The final push was the loading in 45 long Colt. Even if I were to purchase an original 1873 in perfect condition, it wouldn't be chambered in 45 Long Colt - this chambering is from our century although the round was created in the last century.
Also, with all of the CAS (I don't CAS) I feel comfortable being able to find a smith who can fix this carbine if needed.
Lastly, I figured Winchester hasn't made any more of them since they stopped in the first 1/3rd of the century. And, if they did it would probably be all lawyered up...so I went with this and like my choice. Hopefully she shoots as fun as she looks.
Now I'll try to upload some pictures of the 1873 to show what i described. I've also placed the 1873 between a 9422 and an 1895 so people familiar with those actions can compare sizes and operation (I don't own a 30-30 to throw a 336 or model 94 against it for pics.)
Enjoy.
L.W.
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