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Anyone ever made a 73 rifle in 45 Schofield?


Diamond Curly SASS#57086

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I was just wondering if anyone has heard of a 73 in 45 Schofield. I like to shoot my 45 S&W Open tops and a rifle in the same caliber sure would be nice. Just wondering. Thanks, DC

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Yes. It's called a .45 Colt. About like shooting .38 Specials in a .357 73. As long as your OAL is long enough, the Schofield will cycle through a 73. Read this and it will explain what to look for to make sure the rounds will work in your gun.

 

http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=5274.0

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I was told that my 73 in 45LC would not cycle 45 S&W and thank you for telling me different. Going to head to the range tomorrow, if over 40 degrees that is, and see how my rifle cycles the 45 S&W. Thanks for the good information that I downloaded to read again. DC

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DC, if you believe the weather guessers, it's supposed to be about 34 when the match starts and above your magic 40 by the time we get done. If I can wake up out of hibernation in time, I'll be there.

 

Grizz

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omly problem with sorter brass is if you shoot alot of it you will get a brass deposit in the chamber and its really hard to srub out if you dont do after every match

 

gabby

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Another question from another angle, how do the short carriers work? With one installed would it allow everything from the Cowboy Special up to the 45Colt to work or is it a 45Special only deal?

Bob I asked AJ about this and they are set up for the .45 CS and .44 Russian, longer cartridges would encounter the cartridge stop in the carrier and hang in the tube.

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Another question from another angle, how do the short carriers work? With one installed would it allow everything from the Cowboy Special up to the 45Colt to work or is it a 45Special only deal?
Bob No the C45S carrier won't allow for 45 S&W,too short. What has to be done to or at least for me to get 45 S&W to feed in my 73,was to adjust the bevel on my 45 colt carrier and I also loaded a 200 gr. J/P 200 out as far as I could and not have exposed lube grove. YMMV but it allowed them to feed in my 73,of course when AJ came out with his carrier for me it was a moot point. Good Luck Sgt. Jake
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I was told that my 73 in 45LC would not cycle 45 S&W and thank you for telling me different. Going to head to the range tomorrow, if over 40 degrees that is, and see how my rifle cycles the 45 S&W. Thanks for the good information that I downloaded to read again. DC

Curly, one + for the .45 S&W is that it has a larger rim for the extractor to grab, the - would be as gabby pointed out they will lead up quickly which doesn''t seem to effect the .45 S&W, but you won't be able to chamber a .45 Colt until you clean it. A flared and sharpened .45 Colt case works good for this.

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Pettifogger's article with Photos is absolutely ......... Wonderful. I usually just try to explain it.

Most .45 Toggle Link Rifles will cycle .45 Schofield without modification so long as the minimum bullet is a 200gr cast RNFP, crimped into the crimp groove. Depending on the Carrier Block, a few will need a round slightly longer. Crimp into the front drive band.

For those of us who like "really short" cases, Adirondack Jack is marketing a nifty carrier with a spring loaded cartridge stop for the .45 Cowboy Special case. Where there is a will there is a way. I use to recut the cartridge return ramp in Uberti carriers when I was developing the .45 Squirt (Schofield case, cut REAL short). I have quit doing that since AJ's Carrier Block came on the market.

It is really nice to be able to shoot the same cartridge in Rifle and Handgun. With the reduced weight and length of the .45 CS (and .45 Squirt) a .45 rifle will run just as fast as a .38 although you do have to clean it more often (blow by).

 

Coffinmaker

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omly problem with sorter brass is if you shoot alot of it you will get a brass deposit in the chamber and its really hard to srub out if you dont do after every match

 

gabby

 

Must not be universal.

 

I shoot real BP with the Schofields all the time. 5K to 7K rounds a year. Cleaning is not detailed, just Murphy's mix and a few patches. From time to time I shoot some .45LC and never had a problem feeding. Maybe it's the BP?

 

CR

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I have had six .45 Colt Ubertis, three 73's, two 66's and a Henry, and every one of them fed Schofields with no problem as long as the bullet is at least 200gr in the normal configuration. I did learn that the 200gr big lube bullet in the Schofield case will NOT feed since the bullet is especially short and squat with a large meplat. The typical 160gr hard cast bullet is also too short.

 

I have shot quite a few Schofields then switched back to .45 Colt without having to clean the chamber.

 

The Schofield rim is a bit larger diameter and works the extractor a bit more. You may even find it helpful to clean out the extractor notch in the barrel since powder and lube debris can build up in there and a little extra clearance helps and the extractor is flexing out more.

 

I do shoot the same 200gr load in my Colts and '73 when shooting Classic Cowboy, but I use a Trail Boss load slightly above midrange in their data table and load with .45 Colt brass. About the only thing I use Schofields for nowadays is for bp loads for the Colts, I don't think it's necessary to use short brass for manageable smokeless loads. When I shoot bp in the rifle I like to use a 250gr Big Lube bullet with as much bp as I can cram in the .45 Colt case.

 

Not all rifles are alike and if yours won't feed Schofields it's an easy, cheap fix for your local gunsmith-you don't need an expensive new carrier.

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Thank you again for all the good information. Grizz it did not look like it was warm enough to leave the fireplace so I missed todays shoot. I am hoping it warms up so that I can take the 73 to the range and see what she does with the 45 Schofield loads that I use. I shoot 72 open tops in 45 Schofield when I don't shoot the ROA's and am hoping to make the switch to use them in the rifle as well. Not a big problem sorting out the 45LC but you never know what could happen. DC

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