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1873 Rifle Jam


Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619

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Hadn't had the Uberti 1873 {Winchester} rifle out for awhile. Took it to the range. Had a jam on about the 5th shot. Never happened before in all my use. The cartridge didn't extract after firing, so the new round is partially raised and jammed against it. Action is jammed fully opened. Poking around a bit gets nothing loose. Reckoned I'd ask here before doing anything else.....45 Colt.

 

These are non-cowboy flat-nosed jacketed rounds.

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Push the carrier back down and close the lever. Then extract the empty with a screwdriver.

 

Forgot to say you have to get the new unfired round loose from the extractor to be able to push it down.

 

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With a small screwdriver carefully lift the extractor off the rim of the live round. You should then be able to push the carrier down with the round in it. You may have to move the next round in the magazine carefully forward with the screwdriver. Then you should be able to extract the spent round with the screwdriver.

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I am reminded of the saying to the EOD Folks: " Cut the blue wire! But first cut the red one."

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It makes the job easier if you can take out the magazine spring and dump the unfired rounds.  Using the method described by Flash and Goody above works well but can be a little difficult with a 45 and loaded rounds in the magazine.

 

Another caution:  Make sure the round stuck in the chamber is a FIRED round, not a loaded round if you need to tap it out with a ramrod.  Tapping on a loaded round with a ramrod will cause a discharge from the inertia of the firing pin if the bolt face is in contact with the case.

 

Unscrewing the magazine cap is a whole ‘nother issue.  Uberti installs them with Gonzo-the-gorilla.  If yours has never been removed, you should loosen it when you get the current problem solved.  There a e other threads on how to do this.

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You will see lots of us carrying a small screwdriver/knife combination on our belts of holster.  This device has been made popular by this type of jam.  As noted, lift(gently) the extractor from the rim of the unfired round, push unfired round and lifter down, extract fired round with screw/knife. Continue shooting.

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So, you have a fired round still in the chamber and a live round in the carrier, which is stuck up against the fired round?  From your description, I would empty the magazine tube and remove the follower as noted above, and you should be able to push the carrier down with the live round and remove it through the mag tube.  When you have the rifle safe, check the bolt for the extractor and the bottom tab to see if anything is broken off.  Jacketed ammo shouldn't be a problem in the rifle. 

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20 hours ago, Flash said:

Push the carrier back down and close the lever. Then extract the empty with a screwdriver.

 

Forgot to say you have to get the new unfired round loose from the extractor to be able to push it down.

 

Here is another jam scenario, a buddy has had this happen a few times, I think it is because he does not crimp his ammo enough. He will have a bullet push back into the case (making it shorter) and that will jam the works because it lets the next round come out too far from the magazine and gets in the way of the carrier not letting the carrier rise. The gun is completely jammed. What a lot of shooters don't realize is that you can unload your rifle from the loading gate. All you have to do is stick your finger in the gate and help the round line up with the opening and the mag spring will push the round out. This can be done in most cases of jams where a lot of shooters would pull the mag spring and follower to unload they could unload through the loading gate if the carrier is down. Hope this info is helpful to some new shooters!

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5 hours ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

So, you have a fired round still in the chamber and a live round in the carrier, which is stuck up against the fired round?  From your description, I would empty the magazine tube and remove the follower as noted above, and you should be able to push the carrier down with the live round and remove it through the mag tube.  When you have the rifle safe, check the bolt for the extractor and the bottom tab to see if anything is broken off.  Jacketed ammo shouldn't be a problem in the rifle. 

If the loaded round is inside the carrier, with the bolt tab under the rim AND the extractor over the rim, you cannot push the carrier down until you remove the extractor from the rim.  If the tab is broken off, it's not a problem, as the cartridge should slide down the bolt face, as it's the tab that holds it up.

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46 minutes ago, Griff said:

If the loaded round is inside the carrier, with the bolt tab under the rim AND the extractor over the rim, you cannot push the carrier down until you remove the extractor from the rim.  If the tab is broken off, it's not a problem, as the cartridge should slide down the bolt face, as it's the tab that holds it up.

He said partially raised.  That might mean that the extractor hasn't clipped on to the rim of the unfired case.

 

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2 hours ago, Flash said:

Here is another jam scenario, a buddy has had this happen a few times, I think it is because he does not crimp his ammo enough. He will have a bullet push back into the case (making it shorter) and that will jam the works because it lets the next round come out too far from the magazine and gets in the way of the carrier not letting the carrier rise. The gun is completely jammed. What a lot of shooters don't realize is that you can unload your rifle from the loading gate. All you have to do is stick your finger in the gate and help the round line up with the opening and the mag spring will push the bullet out. This can be done in most cases of jams where a lot of shooters would pull the mag spring and follower to unload they could unload through the loading gate if the carrier is down. Hope this info is helpful to some new shooters!

Here’s a video I made on clearing a split case jam. 

 

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7 hours ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

So, you have a fired round still in the chamber and a live round in the carrier, which is stuck up against the fired round? 

 

This is it. Thanks for all the good suggestions, pards.

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All good advice. . .

 

And if you can't do any of the above, you can take off the sideplates, then dump the magazine rounds that way, push down the carrier, and remove the shell.

 

Been there, done that!

 

Keep your powder dry,

 

Wild Ben

 

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Another cause/consideration of the problem is a possible build up of debris under the extractor.  You may clean the bolt often but if the extractor is not removed and cleaned the excess debris buildup can cause the extractor to not get a good hold of the rim and cause the jamb.  Happened to me twice at an annual and once it was cleaned I have not had an jamb since (2 years).  I remove the extractor twice a year and clean the area.  

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Another cause/consideration. I had a similar jam.  One of my friends noticed the offending case had the primer backed out slightly.  He told me my loads were too light, although I said they were not.  Later when examining my rifle I found my ss links were bad causing excessive headspace  (0.024 to 0.028 range)   The primer not being flush can push the extractor off of the rim when cycling at a higher rate    GW

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On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 11:13 AM, Wild Ben VanDorn said:

All good advice. . .

 

And if you can't do any of the above, you can take off the sideplates, then dump the magazine rounds that way, push down the carrier, and remove the shell.

 

Been there, done that!

 

Keep your powder dry,

 

Wild Ben

 

 

May have to do that. This jam is with the action fully open, the lever fully forward, and the bar fully back over the cocked hammer. Nothing moves. Except a very tiny wiggle of the new, round. Looking at it from below, the bottom of the lifter is about a third or so of the way up the face of the discharged cartridge. Everything is solidly in place. The loading gate cannot be moved, at least not more than a hair.

 

The jam in the video seems to be a different cat.

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5 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 

May have to do that. This jam is with the action fully open, the lever fully forward, and the bar fully back over the cocked hammer. Nothing moves. Except a very tiny wiggle of the new, round. Looking at it from below, the bottom of the lifter is about a third or so of the way up the face of the discharged cartridge. Everything is solidly in place. The loading gate cannot be moved, at least not more than a hair.

 

The jam in the video seems to be a different cat.

You have to unhook the extractor from the round behind the fired case and push the carrier down as you close the lever. Then you can get the fired case out.

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On 1/5/2019 at 4:08 PM, Smokestack SASS#87384 said:

Here’s a video I made on clearing a split case jam. 

 

Thanks man!!!

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On 1/10/2019 at 12:45 PM, Flash said:

You have to unhook the extractor from the round behind the fired case and push the carrier down as you close the lever. Then you can get the fired case out.

 

A last shout-out...Flash, last night I got around to this with your advice in mind. Worked perfectly, and got the jam fixed in a minute or so! 

Thanks to all who chimed in; much appreciated.

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