Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

beretta 1873 renegade


boom pop

Recommended Posts

my son bought a 357 renegade, does anyone know if that gun likes 38s

 

My Renegade will run 38s, but i had to find one that it liked. I shot mine at Trailhead and had been shooting factory 158 grain ammo, but sometimes it will not feed those into the carrier without stroking the lever several times. After several stages I switched to a 125 grain bullet and it ran the rest of the match just fine.......so I guess the answer is yes, but you have to find a bullet it likes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My will run 38s, but i had to find one that it liked. I shot mine at Trailhead and had been shooting factory 158 grain ammo, but sometimes it will not feed those into the carrier without stroking the lever several times. After several stages I switched to a 125 grain bullet and it ran the rest of the match just fine.......so I guess the answer is yes, but you have to find a bullet it likes.

 

 

Which 125 grain bullet did you try? There are some different profiles out there and I have access to each type. I don't have a rifle yet but I am expecting one soon. :unsure:

 

KQ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I shot mine at Trailhead and had been shooting factory 158 grain ammo, but sometimes it will not feed those into the carrier without stroking the lever several times.

 

Howdy

 

Be very careful about working the action several times to get a round to feed. A few years ago there were some incidents of out of battery discharges with Uberti '73s that had misfed. It turned out, that if the lever was shoved forward forcefully enough on a missfeed, the firing pin had enough momentum to jump forward, overcome the resistance of the firing pin return spring, and fire a round that had not been completely chambered yet. Some nasty things happened with pieces of cartridges flying out of the partially open action.

 

There may have been lightened firing pin springs involved, and I dunno if the setup on the Beretta firing pin is exactly the same as the Uberti, but they are both made by Uberti. The bottom line is, if the gun ain't working right, never force it, bad things might happen.

 

Ketchum: I don't own a '73 chambered for .357 Mag/38 Sp, but I do load 125 grain Truncated Cone bullets for Mrs Johnson's little Marlin. The Truncated Cone bullet shape feeds very well in it because of the 'pointy' shape. The flat meplat makes it safe to use in a tube magazine. I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to tell you the preferred cartridge length for that bullet in a '73.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy

 

Be very careful about working the action several times to get a round to feed. A few years ago there were some incidents of out of battery discharges with Uberti '73s that had misfed. It turned out, that if the lever was shoved forward forcefully enough on a missfeed, the firing pin had enough momentum to jump forward, overcome the resistance of the firing pin return spring, and fire a round that had not been completely chambered yet. Some nasty things happened with pieces of cartridges flying out of the partially open action.

 

There may have been lightened firing pin springs involved, and I dunno if the setup on the Beretta firing pin is exactly the same as the Uberti, but they are both made by Uberti. The bottom line is, if the gun ain't working right, never force it, bad things might happen.

 

Ketchum: I don't own a '73 chambered for .357 Mag/38 Sp, but I do load 125 grain Truncated Cone bullets for Mrs Johnson's little Marlin. The Truncated Cone bullet shape feeds very well in it because of the 'pointy' shape. The flat meplat makes it safe to use in a tube magazine. I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to tell you the preferred cartridge length for that bullet in a '73.

The rounds were not actually jamming the action, the carrier would just not pick up the rounds......And the bullets that feed well are 125 grain truncated bullets......at least in my rifle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I run the same .38 cartridge in the Beretta that I load for my Marlins. A MasterCraft "160 grain" RNFP bullet designed for the Marlin, loaded to a length of 1.515". Feeds great in the '73 Beretta Renegade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Uberti 73 likes longer bullets (over 1.45 OAL). It never had a hiccup running factory 158gr RN rounds from Magtech (*There is a debate as to the safety of using RN bullets in lever action rifle magazine. Use at your own risk*). When I started reloading for it, I experimented with 122gr TC bullets but I wasn't comfortable with the shorter OAL. It would cycle them, but I could feel the resistance of the bullet having to be shoved back into the magazine. If I went any shorter than the 1.45, they would jam the carrier. I now load the 147gr TC bullets from Moulton Lead. These are made long so that the OAL replicates the .357 round that these guns are designed for. I load these to about 1.53 OAL and they feed great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy,

OAL is the key, load them to 1.50 and should have no problems, some bullets load smoother than others but the problem you had sounds like OAL problem.

 

KK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buck, do you use the "undersized .356 bullets?

 

I use something similar to:

125 TC sized to .358

 

I never notice the shell moving back and fort. The 38 Special does move a light bit more than the 357 Mag cartridge, but not enough that I've ever noticed it. I would recommend that you check the front bevel on the carrier to see that it is smooth. It should be beveled enough for most any 38 Special load. A nice bevel on the bullet does help smooth things out, so a Standard 158 Grain bullet may not be quite as smooth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks all. he is using 125 tc with 2.5 grains of clays in his pistols and i think i will load up some to try at the range this weekend making sure i get 1.5 oal out of them. have a wonderful day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Internally the Renegade is just another Uberti 73 with a factory installed short short stroke kit. (Acquired at a good close out price I assume.) The Uberti 73 has OAL issues at about and below 1.3. I keep mine about 1.44-1.45 and it runs fine.

 

 

I have a question for all of you NCOWS people. Why is the Renegade not NCOWS legal?

 

Hah, short stroke. Answered my own question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I first got my Renegade I borrowed some reloads another shooter was using for his '92. They were 38's and promptly jammed(of course I loaded up all 10 in the tube before checking functioning), way too short OAL. Always had good luck with .357 OAL's, the max I can run in mine is 1.585, any longer and the first round is too hard to chamber(may be the tube spring is too strong) and live rounds won't eject. Reading this forum and other has lead me to believe 1.45 is the min OAL but I haven't personally checked as the longer rounds make for a smoother action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks all. he is using 125 tc with 2.5 grains of clays in his pistols and i think i will load up some to try at the range this weekend making sure i get 1.5 oal out of them. have a wonderful day.

 

You might have a hard time getting the 125gr bullets to 1.5 OAL.

 

If you are not crimping into the crimp groove (or if the bullet doesn't have one) you need to put a heavy crimp into the case so that it bites into the bullet. With a tubular magazine, bullet set-back is a big issue if your crimps aren't adequate. If a bullet gets pushed back into the case, it will jam the carrier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You might have a hard time getting the 125gr bullets to 1.5 OAL.

 

If you are not crimping into the crimp groove (or if the bullet doesn't have one) you need to put a heavy crimp into the case so that it bites into the bullet. With a tubular magazine, bullet set-back is a big issue if your crimps aren't adequate. If a bullet gets pushed back into the case, it will jam the carrier.

 

Amen. A truncated 125 crimped in the groove will work just fine. This is not true of some 125 round nose flat points. I'm going to try to remember to measure mine tonight, but really, it's not complicated. A 73 is NOT as sensitive to length (needing .357 length) as some other rifles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.