Anyone own a Winchester 1873 repro?

[DaveB]

I had one of the Uberti 1866 replicas and they were very smooth and fast. The 1873s would have been my first choice but they were more expensive, and I just couldn't afford it. I don't think you can go wrong with Uberti.

[GRSporth1]

I have a Uberti '73 in 45Colt and an original '73 in 44-40.

44-40 would be my favourite, but 45Colt/44Spl is easier to load for high-volume competition.
357Mag? - that's plain wrong. Good idea, but just ... wrong.
Absolutely reliable guns - providing the ammo is sized correctly, you will never jam a '73 (or a '66 or '76).

The Ubertis are very well made copies. Originals are very smooth, Ubertis are good from the box and can be made better with a bit of tinkering (no need to buy all the fancy springs and bits you see advertised if you are prepared to take your time and do some careful grinding and polishing). I'd highly recommend replacing the Uberti rear sight, but it sounds like you plan that anyway.

[Sim G]

Outstanding guns. I'm a big Uberti fan and I've had loads of them! My favourite was a 24" Soecial Sporting with a pistol grip stock. And despite the above, was actually chambered in .357. I bought it specifically for CAS, hence the calibre.

Regretted moving it on and I've always fancied another. But, two things put me off, firstly as dromia said, Kranks only get what ever of the then production run the Yanks don't want. It took me a year to get my '73. Secondly, for the price if them now, I can get a pre-WW1, original Marlin.

They do come up quite often used, but still hold their money well.

[River]

A&A have a fairly wide selection of Uberti 1873's at the mo, they also offer a few bells and whistles / mods on them.

Although if you are buying one that has been run in / shown by them, just watch for the condition of screws on the gun

Who is A&A please

[bradaz11]

A&A gunsmiths of Skegness, Alan and his son Adam

[redcat]

[quote="GRSporth1"]

357Mag? - that's plain wrong. Good idea, but just ... wrong.

quote]

.45 Colt & .44 Spl. are also wrong - originals were not chambered in those calibres.

Redcat

[redcat]

I wasn't aware you could get a longer barrel version, 30" barrel would be even better. Looks like Uberti is a good choice. None of the Ubertis have tang sights that I've seen and apparently need drilled and tapped, what sort of tang sight would I need to purchase?
Thanks.

From experience I can say that the 30" barrel is awkward and rather heavy.

Redcat

[GRSporth1]

357Mag? - that's plain wrong. Good idea, but just ... wrong.

quote]

.45 Colt & .44 Spl. are also wrong - originals were not chambered in those calibres.

Redcat

I know, but at least they're both contemporary cartridges (if you regard 44Spl as a mildly improved 44 Russian, or even a modern equivalent of 44 Henry). Both fire heavy bullets fairly slowly, rather than being flat-shooting magnums in an old-fashioned gun.

Obviously modern materials mean it's fine in repros, and 357 is just as much fun as anything else, but "spirit of the original" and all that...

[GRSporth1]

I wasn't aware you could get a longer barrel version, 30" barrel would be even better. Looks like Uberti is a good choice. None of the Ubertis have tang sights that I've seen and apparently need drilled and tapped, what sort of tang sight would I need to purchase?
Thanks.

From experience I can say that the 30" barrel is awkward and rather heavy.

Redcat

Seconded. 28" is bad enough.

[dromia]

Depends on what suits you, me I like long barrelled guns, nice and heavy sits well when shooting off hand, it is as always each to his own.

I also like a long sight radius, I need all the help I can get to knock those middles out consistently.