Cowboy Action?

[Sporting Lad]

Chamber honing & polishing isn't a job ( to do it well) for a hand drill... they will remove metal ( but sometimes not an equal amount from total circumference of the chamber, meaning..."you are left with an oblong chamber") to loosen case head binding if enough time is spent at it. but won't "polish". you need very high speed (Dremel type speed) and use oil on your very fine (like 1200 grit, hard to find unless you have a specialized metal finishing store close by) grinding tool to end up with a polished finish.

Tight chambers may not be the problem. The extractor would jam in place so tightly that I'd have to smack it with a drift to get it to move. I mean--there was ZERO tolerance there! I measured the extractor and its seat with my caliper--depending where I measured, there was + or - a few thou. I removed it and dremelled both ends/sides flat, and took some emery to smooth the shaft a bit. It's much better now. I'll get out to the range next week to see how much difference it made. I'm hoping that's The Fix....

 

[Sporting Lad]

Got quality issues? Demand better crap!

Yep, mine and Victoria's are attached to our loading blocks. They are actually bear tooths

Using sticks and teeth to load your rifles??
What kind of lever guns have you guys's got?
I'm in process of shopping for one. I thought I'd settled on a UBERTI 1873, but now I'm looking at a
HENRY BIG BOY with no 'loading gate'. Every cartridge slides into the front of the opened tube mag just like my ancient Marlin .22, so you're not working against a spring when you reload.
I've not read any comments re the Henry's quality/durability from experienced 'Nutters. Anybody out there?

(mini-rant)
I'm getting very tired of having to start 'tuning'(rebuilding) a brand-new gun as soon as I take it out of the box. That's just unacceptable in any other product. How many other products must we fix before we can use them? TVs? Toasters? Power tools? Cars? No! So why should we be tolerating a firearms industry that sells us shoddy guns? These are not new models or prototypes the manufacturers have rushed into production to meet a demand--they've been around for years with the same mechanical issues year after year with no apparent effort to correct them. We should start demanding better. After all, we are their bread and butter--without us they could not exist.

 

[Garand]

If you are serious about competing in Cowboy action you will find that after a few matches you will be looking for another rifle. Very, very few serious competitors use a Henry, there are very few aftermarket parts and it generally runs slower. I run a slicked Uberti M73 w/ .38 specials, my wife runs a slicked Browning B92 and our backup gun is a Rossi M92 in .357.

For Wild Bunch side matches I run a Marlin M1894S in .44 Magnum and as a backup I have a 1906 manufactured Winchester M92 in .44 Magnum. My advice, buy a Uberti and you will not be disappointed nor will you need to buy another rifle.

As for the reason of the piece of dowel or animal tooth some ladies with long nails and some carbines with stiff tubular magazine springs feed the last couple of rds into the gun easier with assistance. Simple as that.

 

[Sporting Lad]

Much obliged! (plus anti-Cabelas rant):

thx, that's some good intel!
As I indicated in my earlier post, I'm getting pretty tired of having to "tune up" a gun I just paid a thousand dollars or more for before I can use it effectively. A few days ago I saw a Henry Big Boy at Cabelas, then found all these rave reviews about it (nothing negative).
But when I returned, the man at Cabelas would not allow me to feel the action or trigger. I asked to see the store mgr and he refused to remove the locking cable on their demo.
He actually said, "How do I know you don't have a live round in your pocket?" He certainly knew how to insult a good customer.
I'm a retired US Army tank commander, I've spent nearly two grand in his store since they opened in November, and he's lecturing me on 'store policy'. I almost replied,
"Well, how do you know I don't have a loaded 1911A1 in my pocket?" Instead I just walked away. That place is too big for any of the staff to get to know (or care) who you are.
My loyalty is still with our little Mom & Pop rod and gun store where I don't get treated like a suspected terrorist/psycho.
(Please excuse the rant)
I'm glad to hear you say the UBERTI is alright. Personally, I think the Henry looks a bit garish with all that cheesy gold-like brass.

 

[The Cold Lake Kid]

Sporting Lad: You'll find an 1860, 1866 or an 1873 Winchester clone's action pretty slick right from the box, because of the toggle action.
As for inserting rounds through the loading gate, many of us find the simplest way is to insert rounds almost all the way into the magazine, then push it in the rest of the way using the next cartridge to be inserted. This leaves only the very last cartridge to be pushed in all the way by some other method, such as a dowel etc. if your fingers aren't up to it.
Welcome to CAS

 

[Sporting Lad]

Which lever is "best" for CAS?

Thanks for the info and the Welcome to CAS. I've just started attending the monthly Fun Shoots at the "Valley Regulators" here on Vancouver Island
http://valleyregulators.com/

Another Q if I may-- Amongst the various models/dates of available SASS-approved lever guns--is there one that is preferred above others for CAS?
Is a "newer" model better than one of the older designs? e.g. is 1886 superior to 1873?
I'm a .38/.357 guy.

thx,
SL

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/repeating-rifles-1.html

 

[Garand]

Go with the Winchester M73 clone made by Uberti, you will never need to buy another Cowboy Rifle (unless you want a back up)

 

[Sporting Lad]

Good. That's the one I had my eye on initially. "Hickok 45" on YT seems to like them alot too. I wish I could shoot as well that guy does off-hand, and using iron sights!