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.357 magnum navy arms short stroke rifle


Skiddsteer1

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I have this, and it is old. I have not had to modify the OAL if the cartridge I use since I got it. Shot it a lot. Now it double feeds even with just two bullets in the magazine. Any suggestions, or possibly a suggestion for a good gunsmith for this? Thanks. Skid.

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Could be that the tab on the front edge of the loading gate is broken or badly bent.   Replacing the loading gate on a 73 is about as simple as can be - just needs a proper fitting screwdriver to remove the small screw which holds the loading gate to the right side plate on the receiver.   If when you load those two rounds, the first one recedes into the body of the receiver, instead of staying in the lifter block, that's generally the problem.   If you order one yourself, have the serial number ready and make sure they send one that uses the same screw size as the original.

 

Any local gunsmith (especially who has done work on cowboy guns) should be able to handle this - ask your club members for a recommendation, as this simple a repair should not have to add on the costs of shipping (or driving) the gun to a smith.

 

good luck, GJ

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1 hour ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Could be that the tab on the front edge of the loading gate is broken or badly bent.   Replacing the loading gate on a 73 is about as simple as can be - just needs a proper fitting screwdriver to remove the small screw which holds the loading gate to the right side plate on the receiver.   If when you load those two rounds, the first one recedes into the body of the receiver, instead of staying in the lifter block, that's generally the problem.   If you order one yourself, have the serial number ready and make sure they send one that uses the same screw size as the original.

 

Any local gunsmith (especially who has done work on cowboy guns) should be able to handle this - ask your club members for a recommendation, as this simple a repair should not have to add on the costs of shipping (or driving) the gun to a smith.

 

good luck, GJ

Or, loading gate screw could be loose.

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FYI, the older Navy Arms 73's (and 66's) had slightly different dimensions that the later models.  When they first started doing the shot strokes, I had one of the top guys try to do mine but it didn't work out.  A very talented friend studied it for a few hours and finally got it working well.

I believe one or tow of the link makers knew of the differences and used to make special short stroke links but not sure that is an option any more or not.

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OK now, THIS is why I have all you smart cowboys and cowgirls here for me! I got the rifle to cycle very well without my dummy rounds. The OAL of these is 1.52 which is I suspect is too long. They work in my Marlin ok, duh. What would be an optimal OAL for this old Uberti Navy, and might I want to consider using .357 casings as opposed to the .38's. Naturally I do not want to go too short I don't want to break off the lower tab on the bolt, which by the way, I changed as I had two other spares and I inspected this new bolt for good fit to the bottom of the .38 casing. I also installed a new loading gate from Numrich. Thanks Skid.

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7 hours ago, Skiddsteer1 said:

OK now, THIS is why I have all you smart cowboys and cowgirls here for me! I got the rifle to cycle very well without my dummy rounds. The OAL of these is 1.52 which is I suspect is too long. They work in my Marlin ok, duh. What would be an optimal OAL for this old Uberti Navy, and might I want to consider using .357 casings as opposed to the .38's. Naturally I do not want to go too short I don't want to break off the lower tab on the bolt, which by the way, I changed as I had two other spares and I inspected this new bolt for good fit to the bottom of the .38 casing. I also installed a new loading gate from Numrich. Thanks Skid.

 

7 hours ago, Skiddsteer1 said:

OK now, THIS is why I have all you smart cowboys and cowgirls here for me! I got the rifle to cycle very well without my dummy rounds. The OAL of these is 1.52 which is I suspect is too long. They work in my Marlin ok, duh. What would be an optimal OAL for this old Uberti Navy, and might I want to consider using .357 casings as opposed to the .38's. Naturally I do not want to go too short I don't want to break off the lower tab on the bolt, which by the way, I changed as I had two other spares and I inspected this new bolt for good fit to the bottom of the .38 casing. I also installed a new loading gate from Numrich. Thanks Skid.

 

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From the front of of the receiver facing to the back of the chamber measures 1,552. This rifle likes 158grn bullets. As someone said he uses a OAL of 1,48 in all of his 73's (125grn). Sounds like I will be making some dummy rounds this afternoon both in .38 and .357 casings. Skid.

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6 hours ago, Skiddsteer1 said:

From the front of of the receiver facing to the back of the chamber measures 1,552. This rifle likes 158grn bullets. As someone said he uses a OAL of 1,48 in all of his 73's (125grn). Sounds like I will be making some dummy rounds this afternoon both in .38 and .357 casings. Skid.

If 1.552" is the length of the carrier mortise, that will the max overall length of any round that could possibly feed; a few thousandths shorter would give you some clearance.  The length of the slope at the bottom front of the carrier wil; tell you how much shorter you can go.   

 

BTW, there is a date code on the barrel that will tell you the year made.  http://www.sackpeterson.com/models/italdates.htm, or:

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I'd be curious in knowing how old this '73 is.  While I've known that '66s were made with short carriers, I'd not heard that any '73 were.  

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A measurement of 1.522" is not a length that the carrier has been built in, as far as I know, for any Uberti made '73.  Better make a better measurement, and measure the CARRIER length, not the opening in the top of receiver. The length of the carrier is what matters to cartridges.  If you have a 1.600" length carrier, it will, without modification, feed OAL of about 1.530" to 1.598"  And with suitable modification to the carrier, it can handle even shorter lengths.  And, it should not be restricted to only shooting 158 grain bullets, especially when using .357 mag brass.   And even using .38 special brass in that gun (like MANY cowboy shooters do), it's pretty easy to get it shooting a 125 grain bullet.

 

Navy Arms imported the Uberti-made 73 rifles for a while.  But is not importing Uberti products now (or for perhaps the last 15 years) as far as I know.

 

Sounds like you are not getting real accurate info from locals about how the 73 rifles can be set up to run.

 

good luck, GJ

 

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OK, so far I have gotten some really good feedback on this topic. My 1.532's cycle very well WHEN the front edge of the loading gate is not impeding what I assume is the bolt. The loading gate is flexing IN toward the receiver. What if anything can I do (short of using some JB Weld) to  keep the gate from riding in? The screw is

 

tight. Thanks Skid.

 

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3 minutes ago, Skiddsteer1 said:

OK, so far I have gotten some really good feedback on this topic. My 1.532's cycle very well WHEN the front edge of the loading gate is not impeding what I assume is the bolt. The loading gate is flexing IN toward the receiver. What if anything can I do (short of using some JB Weld) to  keep the gate from riding in? The screw is

 

tight. Thanks Skid.

 

Maybe take the loading gate out and bend the straight "spring" part of it?  I have also heard of a few loading gates hitting the links on a cut'n'weld short stroke.  The 'smith said to grind away a little bit of the link where it was hitting.

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The Uberti '73's all have the same length carrier, that never changed.

 

The early .357 '73's had a carrier with the cartridge ramp at the front angled for full length .357 rounds.

 

The early '66's in .38 Special had a short carrier, later '66's had the same length carrier as the .357 '73, but with an angle on the cartridge ramp for a .38 Special length round.

 

Later, Uberti started using the same carrier in the '66 .38 Special and the '73 .357.

 

You can modify the angle on the ramp on the early .357 '73 to better feed the shorter .38 Special rounds.

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3 hours ago, Skiddsteer1 said:

front edge of the loading gate is not impeding what I assume is the bolt. The loading gate is flexing IN toward the receiver.

Loading gate cannot reach the bolt, which is higher up in frame.

It's hitting the front of the right side link.  Probably see a scratch mark there. 

Bend the arm of the loading gate to move the gate farther to the outside of frame.  Or replace the loading gate if it has become weakened and won't hold it's position.

good luck, GJ

 

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