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Uberti 45 Colt 1873 Winchester Long Range


Iron Jim Rackham

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2 minutes ago, Iron Jim Rackham said:

30" barrel. I'd like to order some bullets to reload for it, but don't know whether I should buy .452 or .454 diameter, or whether I should order 200 or 250 grain bullets?

 

250 grain for sure

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Go heavy and avoid really large meplat bullets. As for diameter, best to slug your barrel so you aren't guessing any more than you have to. And like Lumpy said, what are you calling long range? A longer barrel doesn't a long range gun make.

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1 hour ago, Iron Jim Rackham said:

Hi. I just picked up a Uberti 1873 Winchester "Long Range" Rifle" with 30" barrel in 45 Colt. What bullet diamter should I shoot? .452 or .454? What bullet weight would you recommend.

 

Thanks,

 

 

What kind of accuracy are you looking for and at what range?  If you are looking for something at CAS ranges, .452 in any of the mentioned bullet weights will work.  If you are looking for very fine accuracy, as Springfield Slim stated, have the barrel slugged, then start playing with different bullet weights in the appropriate diameter.  For CAS distances, I've been really happy with 200 grain RNFP.

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Uberti has been making only "standard" groove diameter barrels for .45 Colt rifles at 0.452" for YEARS.   Won't have to slug this unless it's 20 years or more old.   A 250 grain bullet usually starts to show more stability and accuracy past 100 yards.  Within 100 yards, any weight works well.  I shoot a 200 grain .452 bullet in mine, and can keep a 2" group at 100 yards with good quality reloads, and easily on SASS targets at 200-250 yards.

 

good luck, GJ

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Thank you. Personally that's good news since I have a few hundred .452 diamteter 200 grain "hard" lead Meister bullets on hand. I'm too old too shoot  well with open sights beyond 100 yards so the 200 grain weight is fine for me. I'm curious though, why would a longer,  heavier bullet produce  less fouling?

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Raises chamber pressure and powder burns cleaner.   Makes only a little difference overall, though.  Mainly a few more stages can go by before fellow shooters start asking "How often do you CLEAN that rifle?"  :lol:

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Just an aside,  but long ago a shooter told me his Henry was more accurate an long distance than his 30" '73.  He said it was due to the Henry barrel was very "stiff" because of the attached magazine, whereas the 30" barrel was more "wavy".  I still think the 30" '73's are cool.  A pard, Jake Jones, used to have two of them in his cart (before burglars got them), and one club used to have 26(?) knockdown targets that you could use ANY CAS-legal gun combination to shoot (back in the "good ol' days" of course).  He would load up both '73's and just shoot those and he always won that stage.

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Great information. Thanks for your help. I've got a couple of '73's in .357 and find they all shoot well with .38 special out to 100 yards. I just wanted a long barrel rifle in 45 caliber because it looks cool, and thought it might be fun to bring to camp during deer season. Even though I rarely get a 100 yard shot, I like the idea of this rifle's longer sight radius, and hope it contributes to a better sight picture and accuracy

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FWIW: My 1873 is closer to 451, and that is what I size them at. Therefore I'd endorse the advice to slug the barrel.

 

I chose a 250 grain, just because the former owner said that is what he shot and it worked for him. Within safe pressures I think that you could perhaps get a bit more velocity out of the 200, but I'm guessing at about 600 yards the 250 would probably have dropped less. The old Winchester barrel mounted ladder sight was calibrated out to 900 yards, but IMHO that seems a bit optimistic. 

 

I have a '66 Cimarron that I've tried out to app 275, and with the ladder at 300, it was working. You do need a long neck to be able to line up the sights and still have the butt on your shoulder. I believe Elmer said that having "a jaw like a jackass" made sighting possible. 

 

BB

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I once had a 73 in 44-40 and a 30" barrel just for pistol caliber long range. I only shoot black Powder. Shooting 10 shots in a 30" barrel and no blow tube or wiping resulted in a fouled barrel. Accuracy was not in the discussion after shooting. Sold it.

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.452.

Assuming you already load for .45 Colt, use the exact same loading you use in all your other guns.   ONLY if that gives you poor results should try to come up with a customized load for this rifle.

 

I personally shoot a 200 grain bullet in this caliber.  I have been able to hit things at a hundred yards out of my Armi San Marco 92 and my AWA Lightning, both with 24" barrels.

I've also gotta decent long range pistol result in my plethora of revolvers in this caliber.

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I have this exact rifle and I don't tailor my 45LC loads to it.  I use 250g LRNFP bullets for all my 45's and have no problems.  The 30" 1873 Winchester is a beast...you can almost load an entire stage's worth of ammo in it if allowed.  I'm sure if loaded with 45 Schofield it would, and if you were able to get one of those nifty 45 Cowboy Special mods done then you could hold more rounds than an AK.

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