Cimm 73 in 45 colt

[rjohns94]

Anybody know of any problems with the Uberti Cimmaron 73's having problems cycling round nose .45lc rounds? should the rilfe be held barrel up for reliable feeding? are round nose a no-no, perhaps a swc would feed better? need some help here. Do I send it back? Do I sell it and call it a lost cause? FWIW its a 24" barrel and simply beautiful but worthless if I can't have it reliable.

[Hobie]

Mike,

There's no reason it shouldn't feed RN loads, especially those with the little meplat. Send it back to be fixed.

The thing with the '73s is that COL is critical (more so in some individual guns) due to the design. If it is too short or too long it will hang up/jam. I don't see how a SWC will improve feeding in the .45 Colt.

[2ndovc]

What Hobie said. Send it back. I had to send back an SAA that I Broke and the fixed it no charge.

73's can be a pain in the rear. My Grandpa's old 32-20 has been and excersize in frustration. The only 32-20 that I have that won't feed and shoot anything but one particular load.

jb

[Terry Murbach]

MY CIMARRON ' 66 45COLT SHORT RIFLE FEEDS RN AND RNFP 250gr BULLETS LIKE PHHHHIT THOUGH A GOOSE.
IT WILL NOT FEED ANY SWC I HAVE TRIED AND THE JAMS ARE A KING SIZED P I T A .
FURTHERMORE YOU MUST LOAD THE 45COLT AMMUNITION RIGHT AROUND AN LOA OF 1.590" OR IT WILL NOT FEED CORRECTLY OUT OF THE MAGAZINE TUBE ONTO THE LIFTER. AS LITTLE AS .010" ONE WAY OR THE OTHER CAN BALL UP THE WHOLE WORKS. NO BIG DEAL !!! ALL THE 45COLT LFN COWBOY BULLETS WORK FINE.
ALL OF THE CIMARRON ' 60, '66, AND ' 73 RIFLES AND CARBINES OPERATE TO THE SAME SPECS.

[Griff]

My 1986 produced EMF '73 in .45 Colt will feed anything less in length than the mortis in the action for the lifter; EXCEPT, wadcutters and some very sharp cornered semi-wadcutters like Terry said. I generally shoot a bullet cast in a RCBS # 45-225-CAV mold. It throws a truncated cone of 225 grains. I do know some round nose bullets have a slightly enlongated ogive and won't feed in the action unless the bullet is seated down below the beginning of the ogive. If you close the action and push the lifter up around the bolt, you can trial fit your rounds in the bottom of the mortis. If it goes, it should feed. I say should, as there's always that lone rifle that won't.

I must admit that I forget the exact OAL that should allow your rounds to cycle thru the action.

Hope that helps.

[Ysabel Kid]

Mike -

Almost all of what I shoot in .45 Colt are RNFP designs - with a pretty generous metplate. I like these for leverguns anyway - not that a RP should cause a detonation of the round ahead of it, but why bother when the RNFP design works so well. Never had any hangups in my Henry clone, 1866, 1873 or 1892.

Good luck!

[rjohns94]

so I decided to put my attention on this issue this am. Started out with Winchester round nose cowboy loads. Cycled about 30% of the time. Had best success with the barrel elevated above the horizontal. round was catching at the base of the bullet where it meets the case at 12 o'clock on the chamber edge. after cycling two boxes through, I took all the ammo that cycled and ran it through the rifle again, making sure I had full throw of the lever. Chamber rate about the same.

Then I went to PMC ammo. Cycled like Phttttt through a goose as Terry said. No problems at all. Flawless.

Then I went to my RNFP reloads - same thing, cycled with no problems, slick as can be.

Measure the rounds and all were at spec. Only thing I can think of is perhaps the winchester ammo is lightly crimped and is not presenting a smooth transition. I can't see this, nor can I measure a noticable difference with my calibers but something is amiss with the ammo, not the rifle and for that I am pleased.

the rifle has a 24 inch barrel and full mag and has the wonder case colors Uberti/Cimmaron are known for, and that "orange" looking finish on the stock. That has to go. Will post pics after a trip to the range to check out how it shoots. My rifle rack is coming under control:

From left to right: Steyr Scout .308 with leopold scope, Shiloh sharps 1874 30" Hartford Heavy with silver forend tip, XX fancy wood in 45-70, Wild west guns - takedown Marlin 1895 Co pilot in .457/45-70 with leopold scope (on its way to the rack), Cimmaron/Uberti 24" 45LC, case colored, hex barrel, Marlin .357 hex 20" model 94 (holding a spot for my two tone s/s NKJ 20" Puma '92 in 357 due in Sept), and a Marlin 39 TDS. Over the rack is my late 1800's Midland hammer 12 bore on my deer foot rifle rack, and above that is my custom built .54 flintlock spread between two European mount deer rack mounts. Throw in my pellet scoped pellet riflle in .20 cal and that completes my long guns. (I have several others but they are being sold or traded)

[Hobie]

I don't know how you managed to sell guns. For me, and I admit it, selling a gun is like a crack addict handing out his stash, free. I simply shudder at the thought.

[longarm4146]

Mike. something ain't right with your rifle...I have 3 of them 20,24,and 30 inch and they all will cycle 250 gr bullets as fast as I can lever the gun, even before they were slicked up somewhat. U shouldn't need to do anything special to make it function. Call Mike Harveyor Jamie at Cimmaron and ask them about returning it. If you're near any cowboy clubs in your area you might go out on shoot day as there is usually someone there that does action work on '73s that might could give it a cursory inspection to see if any obvious problem exsist. Is York close to New Cumberland, big club there. Cody Conagher, near WV/MD border is also excellent....google him at The Cowboy Shop. BYW did u buy the gun new, or could someone have altered something in it prior to you getting it.

[Griff]

If it's cycling outta the mag onto the lifter and up; then catching on the lip of the chamber, then ya might have a burr on the chambber. Remember, the .45Colt is meant to be a singly loaded pistol round, not one that is mechanically fed. The case needs a nice beveled crimp and the chamber needs a slight chamfer or bevel to it (slight is all it needs). Then again, maybe all ya need to do is to run them cartridges thru a shallow crimp station and get a bit more bite on the boolit with the case.

(For my money, those factory rounds are mass produced and sometimes lack for attentive quality control). Oh my, did I say that out loud?

[rjohns94]

Hobie,

I like to try them out. Those I fall in love with, I keep, those I don't move on. I go through phases too. The .54 flintlock is perhaps the one gun I have owned the longest. My dad did not have any firearms to pass on to me so I have no heritage in them. I have spent a great deal of time in the past collecting and had hundreds at one time including pristine examples of every major american military rifle for the past 200 years. I also had a complete H&K collection, rifle and pistol. I have owned well over 1000 different firearms and I shudder at the amount of $$ I have spent in this passion. I'm now into performance and minimizing the # of rifles I have. Eventually I will be down to a .22, .357, 45-70 in lever guns. The sharps, Steyr and flintlock will stay too as well as a pellet rifle. The shotgun is here to stay for a while. Pistols - well they come and go like the wind. Hard to find the perfect pistol. I am very pleased currently with the Freedom Arms pistols in .45lc and .22/.22mag. That pretty much covers any hunting need I have. My current carry pistol is the Rohrbaugh in 9mm. That will stay for a while though I really am not married to the 9mm. I have a 3 " .357 model 60 pro with adjustable sights. My perfect version of a kit gun and one I am very pleased. It may displace the Rohrbaugh one day, especially when I have NKJ 92 in my hands. The .45/.410 Bond serves a lot of different purposes while in the field and I really like it, carrying while canoeing, hiking, cycling, fishing, sailing. I may even get some extra barrels for it. There are many guns out there I would like to try, and I am sure there are many that would serve others better than those that I have currently but for now, for the place I am in life and in trying to minimize the number of different guns and different calibers, I am happy where I am. I could always be talked into trying some Colt SAA, or an 1886 SRC takedown, but for now, I'm closing in on 12 guns and minimizing the different calibers. I walked away from .44mag which was my all time favorite caliber. I could do that again with .45lc or .357, but not any time soon I think. probably only "need" one of them. I won't get rid of .22, 45-70, 12ga. All of the guns I have had in the past and present are just "items" that I am intrusted with. One day, they will be left behind for I don't think I can take them with me. Until then, I keep looking for the perfect tools for the job at hand, buying and trading and selling along the way.

[rjohns94]

longarm - I think the problem is in the crimp of the ammo with the winchester. everyother round I have cycled has gone through the firearm. I will shoot the winchester up with my pistols and use the other ammo I have in the rifle. My reloads are working ok so I am pleased with that.

Griff, see above.