Uberti 1860 Henry or 1866 Yellowboy?

[NHSHTR]

Hi,

I am looking to buy either the 1860 or 1866 and would like to hear some pros and cons (beside price) on these two. I'm thinking of 45LC (I reload 45LC for low pressure) and I'm not too fussy about 24" or 20" bbl. They both have a great old west look, and I'm torn between them.

I've read that the linkages can't take pressures higher than say cowboy loads. But don't know if that applies to both models or just the 1860.

I've also read that reloading the 44-40 is tricky due to thin case lip or else I'd be open to that caliber if 45LC is too tough on the rifle.

I'm looking to use it at the range mostly. Perhaps load it up to 950 fps with a 250 gr. LSWC and deer hunt with a limitation out to 50-60 yards.

So any recommendations, warnings, things I need to watch for? Thanks for any info.

 

[DPris]

Guts are essentially the same on both models, adjusting for caliber differences.
They can handle hotter loads than the "cowboy" stuff, but shouldn't be hot-rodded too much.

As far as the .44-40 being "tricky" goes, I load for my '66 carbine in the caliber & a short Mare's Leg '92, I may possibly have lost two brass in reloads over several years.

The '60 has no wood fore-end, can burn a hand if you fire enough to heat up the mag tube. Mag tube is also slotted its full length, can get gunk inside to interfere with feeding.

Otherwise, both are fun guns.
Denis

 

[eastbank]

here are four 44-40,s i shoot, a marlin 94 cb a original win 53 a CD little sharps and a rem 14 1/2.and the 44-40 is not hard to reload. as the 44-40 is a tapered case it feeds like greased lighting, i can,t say the same for the 45lc or the 357, i have owned them both and have had to play with them to get them to feed properly. get the 73 repo over the 60 or the 66,even better get a 92 clone. eastbank.

 

[sappyg]

i could be wrong but the 60, 66, and 73 repros probably share the same guts. JMO but i would steer away from the 44-40. not because it's a pain to reload but because ammo availability and or cost of components would be more an issue than say a 45 colt. i would also pick the 66 for the reasons DPris mentioned. better magazine tube and a fore end is an improvement over the henry.

 

[Onmilo]

I have Uberti rifles, 1860 Henry, 1873 Carbine, and 1876 Carbine.
All mine are .45 Colt or .45/60 for the 1876

Between the 1860 and 1866 you must decide two things, do you want a Kings side loading gate with a wood forearm protected barrel, the big differences between the 1860 and the 1866 and a game changer as far as the development of lever action rifles is concerned.

Plus will you be satisfied with a bronze frame gun that will not stand up to very heavy shooting verses a steel frame rifle.

Uberti only offers the 1866 with a bronze frame. Chapparal Firearms offers the 1866 with a steel/iron frame though the overall quality of their guns can be spotty at best.

Uberti does offer the 1860 as a bronze frame or a steel frame rifle.

I have had three 1860s over the years and now own a steel frame gun.
It will certainly stand up to heavy use such as Cowboy Action Shooting, I know because I have used it for such but all the things mentioned in above posts are true.
Exposed follower tab slot in bottom of magazine allows all kinds of junk to get in there and it can tie up the magazine and even get into the guts of the rifle causing problems there.
There is no dust cover up top either and all kinds of stuff can get into the action from that angle too.
Removing the sideplates regularly for cleaning the action inside is a gimme with these guns.
Ubertis are well fitted and easy to remove and replace, a plus to them.
The follower tab can hang up on your hand as you lever cartridges in unless you remember to move your hand with five to six shots remaining as you work the lever.
Don't do this and the gun will short cycle and not pick up and feed a round into the chamber.

The Barrel gets HOT in rapid fire.
Plinking at the range not so big a deal, lever off fifteen rounds fast and the barrel gets hot enough you won't be able to grasp it with a bare hand, it requires the use of a "Michael Jackson Glove" and you will likely burn yourself when you grasp the muzzle area to open the magazine for loading.

Accuracy wise, I think you will get better results from the steel frame guns just because the barrel mounting area is more rigid than can be achieved with bronze.
Neither of my bronze frame guns shot as well as any of my steel frame guns.
Bronze frame guns will wear quicker with these heavier calibers and get out of time and/or develop headspace issues.
I takes A LOT of shooting to do so with the steel frame guns.

If you are prepared to deal with the little issues, the Henry 1860 is a great gun to play around with, I love shooting mine.
Would it be my first choice as a combat arm today? No, absolutely not, but as a plinker/hunting rifle they are pretty excellent and unique among forearm offerings today.

Ammo choices; I am not going to get into the .44/40 and .45 Colt debate suffice to say I have owned both and stick with the Colt cartridge now.
I would personally like Uberti to produce the 1860 and 1866 in .44 Russian caliber which for all practical puposes a centerfire duplicate of the original .44 Henry rimfire round without the pesky rimfire and heel mounted bullet.
Someday they may actually take my suggestion seriously and when they do, I will buy one of their Henry rifles and one of their 1866s in this caliber. Bronze frames of course!
I always get folks who want to admire and fire off a few rounds when I bring it out!

 

[BrocLuno]

Ah, but the 92 is a sweet little action

 

[ironhead7544]

Of the two, the 1866 is a little more practical with the front stock and loading gate. If you just want a range gun either would be good for someone who wants to shoot an antique type. Im going to get a Yellowboy in 44 Special as its the closest to the 44 Henry Cartridge in rifles made right now. I have a Colt Open Top Uberti and want the matching rifle. I have searched the net for problems and can find few complaints except for the use of heavy reloads. The brass frame seems to hold up under normal use. If you want to shoot cowboy then Id get the 1873. For a rifle used with black powder, the 44 WCF would be best as the 45 Colt doesnt seal the breach which allows a lot of fouling into the action. The thinner 44 WCF brass keeps the action clean. There are ways of dealing with the 45 Colt problem but it requires more steps in the reloading process. For short range deer hunting the you can probably get 1100 fps or so safely from the 45 Colt 1866 with a proper 250gr cast bullet. Just my .02.

 

[eastbank]

graf@sons sells 44-40 remington brass for 32.38 a hundred,starline brass 24.99 a hundred. 45 colt remington brass for 34.59 for a hundred. bullets are just about the same in cost for 44-40 and 45colt, powder and primer would also be about the same. so the cost factor is even. i shoot a 200gr hard cast bullet with 9-10grs unique for about 1400fps. i also shoot a original 76 win in 45-60,plus all the pistol size shells in the winchester line and remington pump line(25-20,32-20 and 38-40 along with the 44-40,s. from the 60 win to the end of the line 92 win,s were all improvments so feel free to stop any where along the line and enjoy the history. eastbank.

 

[Onmilo]

Yeah and we are not even touching on the Marlins here,,,

 

[DPris]

Additional note- I have the '66 carbine in .44-40, and a '73 in .32-20. Both calibers were chosen for those actions entirely because they're bottlenecks, the type the original guns were built around.
The rounds feed very reliably, I've reloaded a bundle between the two calibers (my wife also has a pair of Marlins in .32-20 that she loves & used to use for CAS) and they're just nowhere near as hard to load or as hard on brass as they're cracked up to be. The bottlenecks, as mentioned above, do seal the chambers better than the straightwalls do even with smokeless powder, which reduces blowby & keeps the internals cleaner longer.

Denis

 

[NHSHTR]

Lots of good information. Thanks to all.

Seems like the 44-40 isn't too tough to tackle. I would be reloading smokeless only. I've looked at the ballistics and there's not too wide a variety to load though - but does give me an option I didn't think I had before. Since I load 45 LC below 14,000 CUP for my New Vaquero, I figured I'd be all set using the same loads in the Henry (and get a couple hundred more fps to boot.)

From the feedback, I think I'm leaning toward the 1866 Yellowboy over the 1860. I like the loading gate and fore end, and it still has the old west color and charm (I admit I like the brass look).

I may be loading light (cowboy) for the range, but I don't plan to shoot CAS, so no quick shooting or heavy use is planned.

Ironhead - I've been to the Uberti site and they don't list the 1866 in 44 Spl. they have 38 Spl, 44-40, 45LC. Did the make earlier models in 44 Spl?

 

[DPris]

.44 Specials are sporadic limited runs contracted for by various importers. Kinda hit & miss.
Try the other companies that bring them in, and you may have to call direct on availability to see who might be getting a shipment in & when.

On the .44-40, any load that pushes 200 grains of lead or jacketed bullet around 900-1000FPS through the rifle is perfectly do-able, and nothing to sneeze at from the wrong end. Range or field use.

Denis

 

[sappyg]

just curious about the bore diameter of the uberti in 44-40. are they .427 or .429 and does it really make that much of a difference?
i was under the impression that the 44-40 has an odd diameter.

 

[DPris]

Could be either, bore diameters have varied on Ubertis.
Only way to be sure is to slug one.
Denis

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I went through the same decisions.

I bought a 44/40 1860 Henry several years back. I love it.

44/40 is actually easy to reload. I did not change a thing about my standard procedures.

 

[CraigC]

I love and prefer the `73 would would like to have a `66 and `60 too. The `66 would be my first choice between those two. I'm still lusting after a Cimarron 20" short rifle in .44Spl.

 

[Bill B.]

The 73 is the better choice than the 66. If you do go with the 66 get the short rifle as it has the same sights as the 73. I had both in 44-40 and as far as loading goes look at a Dillon Square Deal B in 44/40 and One Shot case lube and you will have no issues loading.

 

[Jim Watson]

King's Improvement - gate loading, which permits a foreend - is a true improvement for actually shooting the gun. I'd go '73 for most purposes, '66 for style points. I don't need the movie bling of the Henry.