Uberti 1866 Winchester Carbines

[albayo]

I am working on a trade for two Uberti 1866 saddle ring carbines with 19" barrels.
One is in 44-40 and the other is a .22, they are identical in appearance. The barrels are around 19" and don't appear to have ever been used.
Lots of tarnish on the brass on the .22, but the 44-40 has been polished.
Are they suitable for Cowboy Action Shooting?

 

[Tuco Pike]

Hello.

The 22, no not really. I believe only the young people can use 22's. Also there may be some side matches that will use 22.

The 44-40 on the other hand would be a perfect main match rifle. You need to ensure that the magazine holds 10 rounds, which I believe on the carbine at 19" will be fine. Also the 1866 can use the same short stroke kit as the 1873 if I am not mistaken, so that will really slick up the rifle and make her quick. I have been told that 44-40 is a hard round to load for, but since I don't reload I don't know. Having your revolvers be in 44-40 as well would be ideal for ease of use at the loading table.

The 1866 is one of the more popular rifles for SASS shooting. I think the only one more popular is the 1873.

 

[rhs]

I've been using a Uberti '66 carbine in 44/40 for a number of years for CAS. Works great. As mentioned, you can short stroke it and do a number of other mods to slick it up, or you can just use it as it. Most of the toggle link rifles are pretty smooth to begin with. 44/40 is a bit more time consuming to reload, as you need to lube the cases, but since they are so thin you don't need a lot of lube or effort to resize. You can't be in a hurry when reloading since you'll crumple case mouths, but otherwise I've found it is an easy cartridge to get to shoot well. Mine works well with the .430 sized bullets instead of the more correct .427, and I get no blowback on the cases, either with smokeless or black. Flitz is your friend for keeping the brass receiver shiny. Some of the bigger matches will have .22 sidematches, and you can use your companion carbine for those.

 

[ordnancebob]

.44-40 is not difficult to reload for.
If you have atumbler put a few drops of Nufinish car wax in the media.
This gives a thin coat on the brass which then goes through the sizing die slick as snot.