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‘73 Lever Question


Tequila Shooter

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Some of y’all may have heard that I had an out of battery discharge last month on my Uberti ‘73 with a straight stock.  I’ve had to replace some parts, and I’ve got it running again, but ran into a problem that I haven’t been able to figure out.  The original lever had gotten bent, which I didn’t surprise me since the lever screw was bent.  I tried to order a new lever from Taylor’s but they only had pistol grip levers, so I ordered one from Cimarron.  Tonight I put the new lever in and when I brought the lever down it went too far forward and the lever pin came out of the toggles.  When I compared the new one to the old one it was easy to see that the stop was different allowing the lever to go too far.  I used the new one as a guide and carefully and slowly bent the old lever back to it’s original angle and put it back in, guess what it worked without going too far forward.  So, my question is why is the new lever different than the old lever?  Did they ship me a pistol grip instead of straight stock lever?  I know that when I spoke to Taylor’s they said that they got a shipment that was mis-labeled as straight stock but was actually for a pistol stock and were waiting for another shipment from Italy.  

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Without pictures it's hard to say. It's possible your short stroke kit is a renegade or Uberti kit. That lever has considerably more material at the contact point to the lifter arm.  Other kits add material to the lifter arm. 

You should double check the timing. If you don't know how please go to www.wheelergunworks.com on the left click installing a carrier, at the bottom there is directions.

Hope that helps. 

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I have a lever for a straight stock '73 that I purchased from VTI about 15 years ago.  I bought it as a backup when I was installing a short stroke kit.  I never needed it, it has never been in a rifle.  I will  make you an attractive price if you are interested. Shift to  PM for further discussion.

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The lower lever is Uberti short stroke, upper is stock Uberti stroke. The added material is on the lever not the lifter arm. 

IMG_20211123_074121387.jpg

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16 minutes ago, Lefty Wheeler said:

The lower lever is Uberti short stroke, upper is stock Uberti stroke. The added material is on the lever not the lifter arm. 

IMG_20211123_074121387.jpg

 

That’s it!  Lefty, I never knew that Uberti made a short stroke lever. Thanks. 

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First, glad you are OK.  That can be an enlightening experience.  There is a video floating around here on the wire somewhere of Cypress Sam having an OOBD.  Scary to say the least.

 

My wife has bent the lever on her '66 a couple of times due to OOBD, which is one of the reasons I like having the lever safety on the '73.  Still happens on a '73 sometimes, but not as often in my experience.  I made a little jig and bent it back into shape.  Hasn't happened in a while, so I think we finally got her timing (that's HER timing, nothing wrong with the rifle :rolleyes:) fixed.

 

If it happens again, I will likely bend it back into shape and then try to re-heat treat and temper it again to see if it resists bending better, but it's been 4 or 5 years since it last happened, so I think the problem may have been solved.

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If you hadn't already bought a replacement, I'd say the Cowboys & Indians hardened lever is the way to go. We're running them on 2 of our rifles, replacing ones that bent.

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1 hour ago, Max Payne said:

If you hadn't already bought a replacement, I'd say the Cowboys & Indians hardened lever is the way to go. We're running them on 2 of our rifles, replacing ones that bent.

+1 .. I was gonna say!!

... AND ... lots of folks have had un-necessary  trouble installing a short stroke kit because they didn't realize their lever was already bent (before they started).  

 

I picked up a C&I hardened lever myself ... they don't bend ... 

... check out the second page of their SS installation instructions in regard to straightening a bent lever ...

http://cowboysandindianstore.com/pdf/C-I short stroke instructions 4-30-14.pdf

 

 

 

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If a stock Uberti lever won't work with the Uberti short stroke why does anyone believe the C&I replacment lever will work?  The C&I is a replacement for a stock Uberti lever.

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1 hour ago, Tequila Shooter said:

Does anyone know if with the Uberti short stroke anything else is different?  When I put the new lever on the lever would go so far that the pin would come out of the toggle. 

Im trying to envision how the pin could come out of the toggles?  The side plate should contain lateral toggle sliding so that the captured pin cannot escape its slots.  Are you sure the OBD didn't also deform the toggles or bend the pin? 

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1 hour ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

Im trying to envision how the pin could come out of the toggles?  The side plate should contain lateral toggle sliding so that the captured pin cannot escape its slots.  Are you sure the OBD didn't also deform the toggles or bend the pin? 

 

Dale, I had the plates off to see it for myself, the lever would go forward so far that the lever would go past the end of the toggles.  When that happened of course the pin would stay with the lever and wouldn’t go back into the toggles.  When I got the old lever straightened back out I put it back in and with the side plates watched and the lever didn’t go far enough to let the pin come out of the toggles. 

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3 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

If a stock Uberti lever won't work with the Uberti short stroke why does anyone believe the C&I replacment lever will work?  The C&I is a replacement for a stock Uberti lever.

My point is that if I had one bend, I wouldn't want to install another one if a hardened one is available. The stock Uberti lever & the replacement C & I hardened one should both work on a standard rifle, as long as nobody ground on the lever instead of the lifter arm when timing the rifle. I fired one out of battery a few years ago & discovered that the lever was bent. I compared it to another one I had & was able to bend it back so that it worked. I talked to my favorite gunsmith at the time, & he cautioned against just bending it back, even though it worked, because now the metal was weakened & apt to do it again. He recommended the C & I hardened one, which I installed, & everything worked properly. The same thing happened some time later with my wife's rifle, & I installed the C & I on hers also, instead of replacing with a stock Uberti lever.

 

You are correct that the C & I shouldn't provide anything timing-wise that the Uberti won't. It just adds the benefit that it should not bend if something bad happens again.

 

If the Uberti lever is different for the Uberti short-stroke, unless C & I has a hardened one that copies that one, you are correct. It doesn't bring anything new to the party. It's a shame that the lever appears to be different for the Uberti short stroke. C & I & Pioneer both handle their short stroking with the standard lever.

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5 hours ago, J. M. BROWN, SASS # 27309 said:

it is yours!!!

 

JM

 

I didn’t know that you took a picture, thanks!  My wife wants to frame the case, I said it would make a good pendent, she said she wouldn’t wear it :ph34r:

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All this headache over having to find out that Uberti has made a standard lever and a special-short-stroke lever.  For me, I would not buy a factory short stroke made by Beretta / Uberti.   Either new or used.  Imagine having to try to find the SS lever in a few years, after Uberti gives up short stroking them at the factory.

 

It pays to use standard parts if those standard parts are going to require replacement at some time.  Or know a gunsmith who is real friendly with his tig welder.

 

good luck, GJ

 

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3 hours ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

All this headache over having to find out that Uberti has made a standard lever and a special-short-stroke lever.  For me, I would not buy a factory short stroke made by Beretta / Uberti.   Either new or used.  Imagine having to try to find the SS lever in a few years, after Uberti gives up short stroking them at the factory.

 

It pays to use standard parts if those standard parts are going to require replacement at some time.  Or know a gunsmith who is real friendly with his tig welder.

 

good luck, GJ

 

 

I bought the rifle used a few years ago and didn’t know it was factory short stroked until this happened.  I imagine if I ever wanted to change the lever I’d have to change the toggles too. 

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1 minute ago, Tequila Shooter said:

bought the rifle used a few years ago and didn’t know it was factory short stroked

Yep, your post awakened a new awareness in me about checking for a standard lever in guns I might consider buying.

GJ

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On 11/24/2021 at 9:38 AM, Tequila Shooter said:

That looks familiar mine looked a lot like that. 

Did you have the lever safety disabled? As I got faster shooting my 66 I had two out of battery discharges. That ended my shooting the 66 as a main match rifle.

I had a hang fire in my 32-20/73. A piece of brass went through my top hat, hit me in the forehead, bounce up and put of the top of the hat. An ambulance ride later they discovered it didn't penetrate the skull. Just a nasty cut.

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Doesn't take much to do that. We had a feller on friday get a 44-40 round in his 38-40. Blew the case in half, left the front half in the chamber. When I checked it for a squib the bullet was nowhere to be found. I used a tight patch on a cleaning rod to push the half case out of the chamber. I was totally shocked  that that the bullet was not in the barrel.

kR

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26 minutes ago, Kid Rich said:

Doesn't take much to do that. We had a feller on friday get a 44-40 round in his 38-40. Blew the case in half, left the front half in the chamber. When I checked it for a squib the bullet was nowhere to be found. I used a tight patch on a cleaning rod to push the half case out of the chamber. I was totally shocked  that that the bullet was not in the barrel.

kR

 

My bullet must have gone down the barrel too.  But on mine the bullet was in the chamber, so the only thing on the carrier was the case.  I still don’t know if the spotters called that one a miss :ph34r: :D

 

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