Where are the Uberti 1873's?

[KentuckyBlue]

A few months ago there were a number of Uberti's in local shops. Can't find one anywhere now. Are they still producing them or are folks just jumping on them that fast? Looking for an 1873 Winchester in .357.

 

[Tommygunn]

I am pretty sure that Uberti is still making them; it may be that just some distributors are low on stock.
On a side note it's a little amazing to me that Uberti bothers to make them in .357mag. The Winchester toggle link action is not the strongest in the lever action world.
They must have improved the metallurgy a good bit.
The 1876 Winchester lengthened the same toggle link action receiver to handle stronger loads, and that really became the epitome of what the toggle link could do. Winchester employed Browning designed actions for its more powerful guns.

 

[MAKster]

I rarely see the Uberti 1873s in shops. They are expensive for a lever gun. More than double the price of a Marlin lever action or one of the 1892s.

 

[Red Cent]

Their availabilty was scarce a few years ago when the cowboy boom was going. Especially ones that would shoot the the 38 Spl.There should be plenty of them. You probably will not see a bunch on shelves or racks. A 24" Uberti 1873 "Sporting Rifle" (or the Border Deluxe) with pistol grip, checkered stock and fore end will run about $1200.00 msrp.
Most of the cowboys order them and have them shipped to their favorite gunsmith. They are out there.

Tommygun, the Uberti 1873 will easily handle the 357 mag. The factory 45 Colt is easily handled also. The +Ps will begin to wear the main toggle pin.

 

[Tommygunn]

Tommygun, the Uberti 1873 will easily handle the 357 mag. The factory 45 Colt is easily handled also. The +Ps will begin to wear the main toggle pin.

I'm sure that they will handle .45 Colt; that round is not really all that different than the .44-40 round. In fact, the only real reason why Winchester never chambered any of its lever guns for the .45 Colt round way back then was it was a balloon head cartridge, and had a thin rim. It was believed that the extractor would be too prone to ripping through such a thin unsubstantial rim on a hot dirty rifle, therefor they didn't make them in 45. Today's cartridges are solid head and the problem is long gone.
As for .357, I am sure that Uberti knows what it's doing, and would never release to the public any rifle it believed would fail if used with commonly available commercial ammo --- we live in a litiginous world and no one want to make lawyers any richer than possible. I was simply commenting on my surprise that that the toggle link mechanism could handle such a potent round. The .44-40 was a good round in its day, but it's a bit anemic by magnum standards. I own a .44 magnum levergun as well as the Uberti 73 in .44-40, and believe me the difference is recoil between the two is not negligible!

 

[Kernel]

Hasn’t the Uberti 1873 always been a nitch/special order kind of gun? I’ve never seen them stocked in great numbers. You see one here and there, in the largest big-box super stores, like a Cabela’s or a Bass Pro. Not so often in the typical main-street gun shop. An the ones you do see are inevitably chambered in .45 Colt.