The Traveling Uberti 1873

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Every now and then a firearm will land on a gunsmith’s bench that makes one stop and think. The traveling, unfired Uberti 1873 rifle here is one such firearm. "Traveling" because for the better part of a year I saw this particular rifle in the racks of first one, then a second vendor at several western Pennsylvania gun shows. The Uberti is a replica of the 1873 Winchester, itself the third iteration of the Henry/Winchester rifle progression of improvements in early Winchester leverguns.

The 1860 Henry was revolutionary as a practical, high-capacity metallic cartridge repeater in an age of paper, black powder, non-metallic cartridge-fed single shot rifles.

The brass-receivered 1866 Winchester was a direct improvement on the 1860 Henry, incorporating for the first time Nelson King’s patented loading gate in the right sideplate and protection for the weak hand in the form of a wooden forend as opposed to the Henry’s bare steel magazine tube and barrel. 1860 Henry shooters always wore leather gloves for a very good reason.

The 1873 Winchester saw a switch from brass to an iron receiver and the sideplates were "proud" of the metal of the receiver instead of fitted and blended in with the receiver as was the case with its two brass-receiver predecessors. The ‘73 also incorporated a sliding dust cover actuated by the retracting bolt head. It kept the cartridge lifter relatively free of dirt and debris and would stay open to the rear by the friction of a spring-loaded steel ball until manually pushed forward.

The subject of this story is an attractive piece, a short rifle chambered in .357 Magnum featuring a 20" half-round/half-octagon barrel, checkered pistol grip buttstock, checkered forend, and case-colored receiver, sideplates, and buttplate. For a couple of shows it was on one dealer’s table advertised as "new, unfired" with a tag price just north of $900 and wearing the little Uberti factory red rectangular safety notice tag zip-tied to the lever loop. I examined the ‘73 during one show.

Lighting up the rifling at the muzzle showed no trace of copper or lead on the lands themselves or at either side of the lands. The show policy was to have all actions zip tied for safety so I could not open the action for a closer inspection without requesting the cable tie be cut. Not being flush with cash at the time, it was pointless to look inside anyway. The attractive Uberti short rifle caught my eye a few months later at another show.

Same rifle, same chambering, same condition, same little red Uberti factory tag, same price tag, and, unfortunately, same empty pockets. I kept walking. Just after the first of the year I spotted the Uberti at another show, this time on a different vendor’s rack, still wearing the red Uberti safety tag but no price tag.

I asked to pick it up, and sure enough, it was the same serial number (I had handled the piece enough previously that I had memorized it.) I asked the price and it had climbed to $985 from November to January. Ouch. "It’s new and unfired," the dealer said. "It’s nice," I replied, "but I don’t have that kind of money at the moment." Back on the rack it went.

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Use properly fitted hollow-ground screwdrivers and employ the tip to unload the lever springs described in the article text. At another show in February there it was, again offered by the second dealer and no price tag. I stopped briefly to eyeball it in the rack, check the serial number, and then moved on. I set up at a show in late February myself, cleaning out the shop and thinning my own herd of some firearms that no longer held interest from a personal collection standpoint.

Eighteen fewer firearms later but with a significantly thicker wallet, I went to a couple gun shows one Saturday in mid-March, looking for certain parts or projects of interest. At the second show that day, there was the dealer with the subject of my recurring gun lust.

Asking to pick it up, the dealer recognized me and said, "You’ve looked at it enough, what don’t you buy that?" I verified the serial number, looked it over superficially, and said, "Well, I just got here, I’m going to finish this first pass." He replied, "It might be gone by the time you get back." "Based on the past six-to-eight months, not likely," I thought. Finishing this long story, I did return to the dealer and the ‘73.

We came to terms on the rifle at a substantial discount from the asking price seeing that he did not have the box or papers and there were an increasing number of small dents in the furniture from all the miles the Uberti had seen pass. He seemed an exceptionally motivated seller, too.

Prior to forking over eight $100 bills, I asked him to cut the zip tie holding the lever shut and went over the internals with the assistance of my Streamlight Micro Stream (don’t leave home without it!) The ‘73 passed muster, so we shook hands. Inspection/Disassembly Back home on the bench, the Uberti replica received a good cleaning as there was superficial dust on surfaces that were horizontal with the rifle when held vertical and muzzle up.

After cleaning the bore, it was time to see how the action cycled with snap caps and, if necessary, adjust the two lever spring screws on the underside of the receiver. That’s when things took a turn for the worse and mysterious. The loading gate (called a "ladle" by Uberti) would not open inward to allow insertion of snap cap cartridges into the magazine tube. That little door was solidly blocked as if barred from the inside.

No amount of thumb force would move it and it made a metallic "click" as it came to a halt after moving not a millimeter. Whoops. I was captivated by the Uberti ‘73’s aesthetic siren song and violated one of my cardinal principles of used firearm Far

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This allows the carrier block to be withdrawn from the bottom of the frame. Be sure to support the carrier block with your fingers to control its removal. purchases: Open and shut all the doors, check all the switches and fluids, and kick all the tires. I looked everything over but hadn’t pushed on the loading gate. Who knew? I won’t make that mistake again.

Maybe something was inside that didn’t belong there, blocking the The chamber and magazine follower are visible at left and the carrier block lifter arm passage and bolt face are at the right. This drastically unloads the spring force, allowing the lever spring screw to be removed with little difficulty. Repeat with the left lever spring once the right spring is removed. loading gate from pivoting inward, so off came the sideplates. With the right sideplate (74) removed, no foreign bodies were visible.

Removing the loading gate screw (114) and the loading gate (127) from the right sideplate and replacing the sideplate in the receiver, it was obvious that the right lever spring (93) was over-arched and protruding above the loading gate window in the right sideplate. Magnified examination of the bottom edge of the loading gate itself showed a small area exhibiting removal of the blued finish. It’s fairly widely known that Uberti Henry 1866, 1873, and 1876 rifles have exceptionally robust and stiff lever springs.

These same rifles are notorious for the lever spring screws (124) being excessively tight as well, with slotted heads that easily twist out if a well-fitting hollow-ground screwdriver is not used. Fortunately there’s a little gunsmithing trick that allows for removal of the spring screws with relative ease without mangling the screw heads and it just requires a little disassembly of the action. With the sideplates off, remove the left (84, 86, 106) and right (83, 85, 106) sets of links and the lever pin (107).

Next, using a properly ground and fit screwdriver, loosen and remove the lever screw (101). You may need to use a pair of pliers with protected jaws to pull the lever screw out against lever spring force. Withdraw the lever from the bottom of the receiver. Then, ensuring that the bolt and bolt extension (67, 97, etc) are fully retracted, move the brass carrier block (7) partially upward to allow the carrier lifter arm (90) to be withdrawn to the rear and down through the lever slot in the receiver.

Be sure to support the brass carrier block as the carrier lifter is removed or else the carrier block may fall through the bottom of the receiver and its soft brass be damaged. Next, take a brass drift and gently tap the free end of the right lever spring (93) toward the center of the receiver and into the lever slot. This unloads the counter force on the arched lever spring and also reduces the force on the lever spring screw (124), generally allowing it to be easily removed with a properly-

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Slow-speed grinding of the length of most of the top of the spring thinned it sufficiently that when installed and loaded by its screw, the spring was sufficiently below the lower edge of the loading gate window in the right sideplate. Polishing cuts down on friction force and helps to slick the ‘73’s action. sized hollow-ground screwdriver. Repeat for the left lever spring (92) if you wish to do some polishing of contact surfaces or lightening of the spring by grinding.

Once I had the offending right lever spring removed, I marked the length of the top surface of the arched area that was bisected by bottom edge of the loading gate window. Clamping the spring in a locking plier, I moved to a belt sander to remove metal from the proud area, careful to use a slow rate that did not build heat and potentially draw back the tem- The author uses Weapon Shield Grease. per of the spring.

Removal of metal in that area would have the benefit of reducing the high force the lever spring exerted on the carrier block lifter arm, smoothing the action. The slow grinding of the right lever spring was a "lather-rinse-repeat" process, with frequent progress checks in the form of refitting the parts and trying the loading gate for function. Once sufficient metal was removed and the sweet spot found, I took an abrasive-loaded rubber polishing bit chucked in the motor tool and polished the ground area.

After this was completed, Brownells Oxpho-Blue was applied for corrosion protection. Since I commonly tune 1866, 1873, and 1876 rifle actions by adjusting the two lever spring screws, I did not grind on the left lever spring (92). The only work performed on it was polishing the 90-degree pinlike extension at the free end that contacts the lever itself. The same contact point of the right lever spring was also polished and these were left in the white as they would be greased during reassembly.

Since I was in for a penny at that point, the contact areas of the carrier lifter arm (90) were polished, concentrating on the "head" end that projects into the brass carrier block as well as the sides of the pivot area that contacts the receiver and the hand lever. I also broke its sharp edges to prevent skin cuts and polished the contact surfaces of the brass carrier block to further reduce friction in the assembled action.

Reassembly It was time to reassemble, lubricating the contact points of the lever, carrier lifter lever, lever springs, toggle links, and link pivot pins along the way with a thin coating of Weapon Shield Grease (WeaponShield.com, A thin coat of Weapon Shield (CLP) was applied to the bolt and bolt extension. Once together, the action was cycled to distribute the lubricants and check for function before refitting the sideplates.

When cycling the action of a toggle-link Winchester-design lever gun with the sideplates removed, it is best to keep the rifle vertically oriented so as to prevent the toggle links from dropping out of the assembly. As it is, keep an eye on both sides of the open action while cycling the lever because the links tend to "walk" off their pins. When replacing the sideplates, put a light smear of grease on the outer faces of the toggle links where they may contact the inner surfaces of the sideplates during operation.

1 Receiver 2 Hammer 3 Barrel 7 Carrier Block 15 Front Sight 16 Spring 19 Trigger Spring 20 Mainspring 36 Mainspring Screw 53 Mainspring Adjusting Screw 55 Rear Sight 57 Butt Stock 58 Butt Plate 61 Rear Sight Elevation 62 Butt Plat Screw 63 Tang Screw 67 Firing Pin Extension 68 Forend 72 Cam Lever 73 Right Side Plate 74 Left Side Plate 79 Extractor 83 Right Rear Link 84 Left Rear Link 87 Lower Trigger 88 Upper Trigger 89 Lever 90 Lifter Arm 91 Safety Bar 92 Left Lever Spring 93 Right Lever Spring 94 Trigger Safety Spring 96 Magazine Spring 99 Trigger Pin 101 Lever Screw 104 Firing Pin Stop 105 Rear Link Pin 106 Link Pin 107 Lever Pin 108 Extractor Pin 109 Cam Lever Pin 111 Safety Spring Pin 112 Hammer Link Pin 113 Magazine Follower 114 Magazine Tube Plug 115 Hammer Link 118 Magazine Tube 123 Side Plate Screw 124 Lever Spring Screw Uberti 1873 (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 127 Loading Gate 128 Loading Gate Screw 137 Base Pin Spring 167 Trigger Guard Screw 216 Forend Protection 218 Powder Cover Slide 224 Cover Slide Guide 225 Forend Protection Bearing 233 Powder Cover Screw 234 Powder Cover/Base Pin Spring 237 Lever Hook Spring 238 Lever Hook Pin 240 Trigger & Lever Screw 275 Magazine Tube Bearing 281 Magazine Tube Bearing Pin 283 Forend Protection Screw 284 Powder Cover Sphere 542 Lever Hook 692 Hand Pin Set Screw (Coil) 721 Firing pin Extension Stop Once fully assembled, I made certain that the loading gate swung completely into the action to allow the loading of cartridges into the magazine tube and adjusted the two lever spring screws, tuning the operation of the action.

The right lever spring screw (left screw looking at the screw itself with the receiver upside down) controls the force on the carrier block lifter arm. That screw is adjusted so that the carrier block moves freely and always returns to its lowest position when the lever is closed, no matter the orientation of the action—vertical, sideways, or even upside down.

The left lever spring screw (on the right with the rifle inverted) is adjusted such that the hand lever stays closed when the fingers grasp it against the stock wrist but not so tight that it touches or compresses the plunger on the safety bar (91) by itself. Function checking with snap caps was anticlimactic; they loaded easily and cycled through the action smoothly and without a hiccup. The same held true for the ‘73’s maiden outing to the range.

I elected to use Independence Ammunition 158grain jacketed soft points. From a sandbag rest five of them cut a 1-3/8" group at 100 yards with the factory open sights. Elevation needed some adjusting but windage was good enough for "minute of bad guy"—or coyote, whichever comes first. Lesson learned: When evaluating a firearm for purchase, don’t assume anything, even something as simple and fundamental as the functionality of a lever gun loading gate.

The ‘73 did not appear to be fired, even test fired, as evidenced by the appearance of the barrel, breech, and bolt face being completely free of brass, copper, and powder residues. In retrospect, that should have been a flag raiser because I can’t recall any new firearm that I’ve examined in the past 25+ years that didn’t have evidence of having been at least test fired. The unsolved mystery is how did the ‘73 get through final inspection, packed and shipped? AG