Took the 128 year old 1873 out for a shoot...Ugh!

[rbertalotto]

My brass and dies finally came in for my old 38-40 Winchester. The bullet mold arrived a few days ago. I cast up a bunch of 180g bullets and loaded ten rounds to see how the "sewer pipe" barrel would do.

Not so good! Can you say "key holing"!

There is a whole update on the entire 1873 Winchester project here:

www.rvbprecision.com

Hope you enjoy it!

[Blaine]

My brass and dies finally came in for my old 38-40 Winchester. The bullet mold arrived a few days ago. I cast up a bunch of 180g bullets and loaded ten rounds to see how the "sewer pipe" barrel would do.

Not so good! Can you say "key holing"!

There is a whole update on the entire 1873 Winchester project here:

http://www.rvbprecision.com

Hope you enjoy it!

Hillary Klinton's pic was on your website

[Shasta]

I've been following your posts on this rifle. Very interesting! I especially liked the bore pictures, and ordered one of those viewing devices. I'm glad to hear you will be relining it to the original caliber. I predict a lot of fun in your future!

SHASTA

[1894c]

i too liked following the adventures of this old levergun...even though it didn't shoot so well at this jucture i like the idea that the adventure continues... :)

[claybob86]

i too liked following the adventures of this old levergun...even though it didn't shoot so well at this jucture i like the idea that the adventure continues...

+1! Looking forward to further updates!

[rbertalotto]

Thanks folks! I'll keep you informed.

[w30wcf]

I'd be curious to see what improvement adding PSB would give.......

w30wcf

[rbertalotto]

"PSB"...????

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

"PSB"...????

what is that?

Hi Robert,
Saw your blog on the mud road barreled 73. A few things you might consider. You can rent the reamer for that project from;

http://www.4-dproducts.com/index.php

He doesn't have gages but you can do it with a cut-off 38-40 case. Cut it off so the shoulder doesn't interfere. The other thing to consider if you plan top shoot smokeless is finding some early small pin Uberti toggle links and pins. The original links aren’t going to hold up too long for smokeless CAS.
One of the short comings of the old 73's is some were shot loose. The neat thing about relining is you can correct headspace with that new liner.

[rbertalotto]

I ordered the rental from 4D products but they won't have their 38-40 reamer available for 4 weeks.

So I went with Elk Ridge, and they have a piloted reamer that they send with four pilots. A few $$ more, but it might be a better choice. I could buy a solid pilot reamer from Manson for $125. But I just dopn't think I'd have a use for it after I do this rifle........Unless I decide to rechamber and rebarrel a pair of SAA revolvers.............

Thanks!

[cas]

How hard are your bullets? (in case I didn't mention this elsewhere) I have a 38WCF with an awful barrel that throw commercial hard cast all over the place.

There was a company (now out of business I believe) that used to sell a "cowboy alloy" that was a good deal softer than their normal stuff, and the rifle shot them just fine. Good enough to hit 6" steel at 100 yards anyway.

[pwl44m]

U can bet that I am following this thread and Shasta's because one day soon maybe Mine will make smoke. Just waiting on an extractor. Got tired of waiting for an original and ordered one from the same place as Shasta. Hope I have better luck than He did. We will see. Mine is 32-20 so I won't have to do any fitting other than making it fit in the groove. I have a pic of the way it looks right now.
Perry
I guess I dont have a pic, My camera got switched and the pics are too big.

[Larryo-1]

I can't help my self but to interject a comment or two here about your "sewer-pipe" barrel. I have a Model 92 Winchester in 32-20 caliber. It, too, has a sewer pipe for a bore. I thought about having it relined as you are thinking of doing so I asked an old gunsmith friend of mine about my idea and told me to try jacketed bullets first before doing it. I had tried cast bullets with the same results that you have stated. Well, I went to jacketed bullets and it shoots like a house afire! I can get that little rifle to put all the shots inside a quarter at 25 yards where with cast bullets was lucky to get them on the paper. In fact, we were raising Emus at the time and they got sick and had to be destroyed and this little rifle was one of the firearms we used to get the job taken care of. So---before you get that barrel relined, get some jacketed bullets and see if they work. If they do then you could be saving some bucks.

[w30wcf]

"PSB"...????

Polyethylene Shot Buffer. It acts as a flexible gas check allowing the bullet to transverse the barrel undisturbed by escaping powder gases. I have found that it works with undersized bullets (target link below) and in really rough barrels.
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/ ... -40PSB.jpg

The worst barrel I ever saw physically was on an original 45-60 1876 Winchester. It was really pitted and really rough. Fired cases had to be removed with a cleaning rod since it expanded into small divots in the chamber.

Anyway, fired 5 rounds at 25 yards 300 gr cast bullet .359" diameter 25/5744. Result: keyholes and about a 12" group.
Added PSB over the powder charge and compressed it about 1/4" with the bullet.
Wow! What a difference. 2" group with no keyholes.

w30wcf

[rbertalotto]

Larry-o...Thanks for the suggestion. I've heard this from a few folks where jacketed ammo might shoot well where lead won't. But I can't shoot jacketed ammo in Cowboy Action Shooting matches. Lead only. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that your bore ain't no way near as bad as this bore.......

PSB.........Got it! And , yes, I bet that would work, but I'm going to be shooting hundreds of rounds a week and simply wouldn't want to mess with PSB. But thanks for the idea!

I just received notice from UPS that the barrel liner and drill will be here tomorrow.......now I just need the reamer to arrive!

[1historian]

My 1889 Marlin 38-40 had a terrible bore...but not so bad as this one...shot well with black powder reloads and a 1/20 cat bullet.

[rbertalotto]

Check out the updates on my web site. I got the old barrel bored out and ready for the liner!

www.rvbprecision.com