Chaparral Arms 1873

[Irish Billy Jordan]

I was looking for a 1873 to replace the puma I have been using and had settled on a Uberti but was having a problem finding anyone who had one in stock.

 

I came across a web site for Chaparral Arms advertising a 1873 at half the price of an Uberti. After doing some research I could only find a few reviews on Chaparral Arms and those were several years ago.

 

Now this made me think that if this rifle was a decent weapon that there would be more out there urging people to use them. I'm a bit of a mavrick and tend to go my own way so I called my FFL and asked him to check around for me. Well my FFL was able to find them in stock and at a really good price, $618.00 shipped, so I decided I would take a chance and buy one. I figured that even if I had to put 2 or 3 hundred dollars worth of smith work into it I would still be ahead a couple of hundred dollars if I waited for an Uberti.

 

The rifle came in on Wednesday and I will have to say I am pretty impressed with it. The fit and finish is much better than I was expecting for a lower end rifle and the action is as smooth as butter. I’m heading to the range in about a ½ hour so hope to have a range report for the wire later this eveining.

 

I’ll say this, first impressions are extremely favorable.

 

“Irish” Billy Jordan

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Good luck with, and hope it works well.

 

Several folks here have taken a blood oath to have nothing to do with them, after trying to make them work. Others have made them work, but them find that replacement parts are hard to get and often need a lot of fitting. Round up a gunsmith and put him on retainer, is the general consensus.

 

Anyway, let us know!

 

Good luck, really, GJ

[Frontier Lone Rider]

I have a friend that owns a fairly large sporting store and is a SASS shooter. When I was interested in replacing my Puma this summer, as it was stove piping once or twice a stage, I asked him about the Chapparels as compared to the Uberti 66 and 73.

 

He said he could get me as many Chapparels as I wanted as a supplier, who buys out overstocks and discontinued items, had a bunch in stock that he was trying to get rid of. And, he would still be there to sell me the Uberti 66 or 73 after I shot the Chapparel part of a season.

 

I know a couple of young shooters that bought these two years ago. They became so frustrated that I have not seen them at our shoots lately.

 

Just my two cents worth.

 

 

Lone Rider

[Possum Skinner, SASS#60697]

I saw one the other day that was beautiful!!! They say some even work. This one seemed to and I hope it continues to work good.

 

I would buy one, but I'd have to have a beer first, so I could tell my friends I was drinking...

 

Possum

[Possum Skinner, SASS#60697]

DDT

[Frontier Lone Rider]

[Deadeye Dallas, SASS #60249]

I have worked on them, and I can tell you I would rather work on a Taurus!

 

Dallas

[Irish Billy Jordan]

Well, I just got back from the range and put 200 rounds of my CAS 38 loads through the Chaparral Arms 1873 I bought. I had no problems at all except the loading gate was stiff and the magazine spring was very heavy. The rifle shot true to point at 25 yards and consistently hit a 12 X 12 steel target at 100 meters.. I’ll be honest and say I like the feel of the gun and hope it continues to shoot like it did today. I understand and appreciate the comments, observations and suggestions from other members of the wire that have had problems with these guns. I haven’t read any reviews lately on these weapons other than a couple of years old so maybe the company has corrected the problems, I don’t know. All I do know is that mine seems to operate well and I hope will continue to.

 

Irish Billy Jordan

[Doc Fill 'Em 67797]

Good luck with the gun, hope it continues to work well for you.

 

Let us know in 6 months or so if everything still works as well. Honestly, I hope it does because those that can't afford an Uberti will have another option besides a Marlin or a '92.

[Bart Solo]

Good luck with the gun, hope it continues to work well for you.

 

Let us know in 6 months or so if everything still works as well. Honestly, I hope it does because those that can't afford an Uberti will have another option besides a Marlin or a '92.

 

Even those who can afford Uberti are having trouble finding them.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

I bought a Chaparral '66 last spring and it shoots great. It is my main match gun over my Marlin 94 CB and Rossi 92. Used it all summer and I love it. Shot next to a guy that has the same '66 plus his '73 Chaparral six shooters and he is pleased with all of them. In Canada the guns come straight from the factory rather than having the parts out sourced then put together in the U.S.

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

Well, I just got back from the range and put 200 rounds of my CAS 38 loads through the Chaparral Arms 1873 I bought. I had no problems at all except the loading gate was stiff and the magazine spring was very heavy. The rifle shot true to point at 25 yards and consistently hit a 12 X 12 steel target at 100 meters.. I’ll be honest and say I like the feel of the gun and hope it continues to shoot like it did today. I understand and appreciate the comments, observations and suggestions from other members of the wire that have had problems with these guns. I haven’t read any reviews lately on these weapons other than a couple of years old so maybe the company has corrected the problems, I don’t know. All I do know is that mine seems to operate well and I hope will continue to.

 

Irish Billy Jordan

 

 

Here's the deal, the company doesn't exist anymore. No one imports them anymore. The ones available are liquidation guns. That said, you may have a good one. They can't all be bad or the company never would have got off the ground from the get-go. What I can tell you is the maker has been in and out of the gun making business several times. (under different names). Back in the late 90's they were in a joint venture with an american company that finally went down with them. I know the CEO of that company and he told me at one point they were getting 25% reject from the folks in Italy. What that means is 75% were good enough to sell. But, I don't care how good the 75% were a company is not going to last very long if their reject rate is 25%.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

Here's the deal, the company doesn't exist anymore. No one imports them anymore. The ones available are liquidation guns. That said, you may have a good one. They can't all be bad or the company never would have got off the ground from the get-go. What I can tell you is the maker has been in and out of the gun making business several times. (under different names). Back in the late 90's they were in a joint venture with an american company that finally went down with them. I know the CEO of that company and he told me at one point they were getting 25% reject from the folks in Italy. What that means is 75% were good enough to sell. But, I don't care how good the 75% were a company is not going to last very long if their reject rate is 25%.

 

Not sure where your info is from but, Marstar in Canada imports them directly from the factory and is still bringing them in. Maybe in the U.S. Chaparral is defunct but, not up here.

[Grizzly Adams 3674]

Well, I just got back from the range and put 200 rounds of my CAS 38 loads through the Chaparral Arms 1873 I bought. I had no problems at all except the loading gate was stiff and the magazine spring was very heavy. The rifle shot true to point at 25 yards and consistently hit a 12 X 12 steel target at 100 meters.. I’ll be honest and say I like the feel of the gun and hope it continues to shoot like it did today. I understand and appreciate the comments, observations and suggestions from other members of the wire that have had problems with these guns. I haven’t read any reviews lately on these weapons other than a couple of years old so maybe the company has corrected the problems, I don’t know. All I do know is that mine seems to operate well and I hope will continue to.

 

Irish Billy Jordan

 

Good luck, Amigo. Miracles do happen!

[Howdy Doody]

Not sure where your info is from but, Marstar in Canada imports them directly from the factory and is still bringing them in. Maybe in the U.S. Chaparral is defunct but, not up here.

 

 

This is correct. Marstar. They have the parts too even though it takes a bit of time to get them across the border. There are many parts that can be used from original Winnies too.

 

I am glad everyone bad mouthed them and got the price down to my size. The only problem I have had is blowby into the carrier with .45 lc. You fight that in Uberti's too because of the straight walled case. Full house loads help a lot with a tight rolled crimp and I guess that is what was meant to be. Fit an finish is real nice on mine. The innards are blued and not painted. I'll admit the wood is fake but it really looks nice.

 

And if it fails for some reason it is going to look absolutely great on my wall.

[Guest diablo slim shootist]

a $600 wall hanger -ill pass if you don't mind

money better spent on a Marlin.

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

This is correct. Marstar. They have the parts too even though it takes a bit of time to get them across the border. There are many parts that can be used from original Winnies too.

 

I am glad everyone bad mouthed them and got the price down to my size. The only problem I have had is blowby into the carrier with .45 lc. You fight that in Uberti's too because of the straight walled case. Full house loads help a lot with a tight rolled crimp and I guess that is what was meant to be. Fit an finish is real nice on mine. The innards are blued and not painted. I'll admit the wood is fake but it really looks nice.

 

And if it fails for some reason it is going to look absolutely great on my wall.

 

 

You pays yo money and you takes yo chances. Good luck with that.

[Kid Shane, SASS #40660]

I have an early 76 and it works fine. I am like HD said, glad they were bad mouthed so they are cheaper.

[M.T Chambers, SASS#76185]

Anyone know if a Uberti barrel will thread into a Chapparral receiver? Maybe one way I could put together a second 44 Spl '73 on the cheap!

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

Anyone know if a Uberti barrel will thread into a Chapparral receiver? Maybe one way I could put together a second 44 Spl '73 on the cheap!

 

Not even close. The best thing I can say about the Chaparrel's is most of the parts are dead on Win including OD's and thread pitch. They are probably worth more parted out. The Uberti on the other hand has very few parts that will work in an original Win. Their barrel stub is slightly bigger with finer threads.

[Howdy Doody]

Good point NKJ, the winchester parts are real close, especially the carrier, bolt and firing pin set up.

 

However, there are aftermarket extractors available that really work well in the Chaparrals. They have to be fitted to each bolt, but really make an improvement if you are handy with that kind of stuff. If not, then I don't know what to tell you, because most cowboy gunsmiths will not work on the rifle. Not because it is junky, but because nothing Uberti sells works. Well, at least not without a lot of work. I took a chance on a couple items I got from Long Hunter and he was nice enough to do a little measuring for me, but I still had to fit them. Forget short stroking and all that race gun stuff, get a Uberti if that is what you want for a rifle.

 

My Chappy stands out from the run of the mill Ubertis in the looks department. I have a nice butt cover on it and changed the sights around. I have had a number of comments on how good the wood looks and the bluing. Basically, what I am saying is that it is basically more like shooting an original Winchester and not much like shooting a Uberti. If that makes any sense.

[pony racer # 39210]

MY Chappie NWMP carbine in 45-60 has been a welcome addition and i settled on it just as the Ubertis were just coming out and not available at the time in the carbine version.

 

It shoots great and fit and finish are great.

 

My gunsmith in Surry, VA will be able to smooth it out to where it will be an awesome mid range SASS side match gun.

 

Since it is not being used as a main match gun i took the 800 savings - not sure I would have for a main match rifle.

 

PR

[Guest diablo slim shootist]

My Chappy stands out from the run of the mill Ubertis in the looks department.

you know what they say"You can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig"

[Howdy Doody]

My Chappy stands out from the run of the mill Ubertis in the looks department.

you know what they say"You can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig"

 

 

Pard, you went to all the trouble to log in to a slow website just to say that? I guess cabin fever set in for you. It is going to be a long time until spring.

[Manatee]

It's not a pig. It's a POS.

 

I've got the same opinion of Chiappas.

 

Uberti has had issues from time to time, but they do have spare parts and generally can be made to run reliably.

 

If I never saw another Italian cowboy gun, it would be too soon.