Poll does this gun shoot good enough? UPDATE

[hightime]

Many of you guys have tried to help me get my 1873 Uberti to shoot. Many times I thought I might be getting it. A couple weeks ago I said it shoots. Best groups ever, but 2'' at thirty yards shouldn't be that difficult. It seems like 3'' groups are more common, and that's with a very steady bench rest and a tang peep.
The paper plate here is at 30 yds. and the Gander target is at fifty yds.

Benelli USA said I can send it back again. Depending on what you guys say, I'll send it in tomorrow.
The loads used on these targets were Win. brass , 9 gr. Unique and Rem. 250 gr.rnfp swaged.
I have tried Trail Boss and a couple different bullets.

Owen ( CHECK OUT MY LAST POST DOWN A WAYS )

[Pitchy]

30 yards is the hangup for me, i`d think a little better at that range.

[M. M. Wright]

My Uberti 73 in 44-40 does a lot better. I get groups like those at 100. Something ain't right. An mine has a piece of steel gone from about halfway down the barrel. Still shoots great.

I'm assuming you did slug the barrel and found it to be .451 or .452?

[madman4570]

Not good at all.
That group is about what I get with my 12ga Browning (Inv/Briley full choke) when shooting Tri-ball Buckshot loads but mines @ 40 yards,and is a little tighter
On a serious note that gun at 30yards(with a very steady rest)better be within 1" or (it ain't going in the woods with me)
God only knows what 100yard groups would look like and imagine then (no rest)

Nope---not good enough! (by far)

[.45colt]

At those ranges it should shoot ragged 1 hole groups. I say send Her back.

[El Chivo]

At those ranges it should shoot ragged 1 hole groups. I say send Her back.

I'm not quite as good as that, but a four-leaf clover is reasonable.

[MrMurphy]

I do better than that with a pistol at that distance quite often....

I'd send it back.

[J Miller]

Q: Does this gun shoot good enough?

A: No


Joe

[Blaine]

According to me, that Gander target is vertically strung....Hot Barrel? My 336 will shoot like that, except for the first three or so cold shots. Try without the forearm?? Maybe it does not like that bullet....But, no....not shooting very good

[old06]

NO

I would send it back

[hightime]

I'm going to print off this topic and send it with the gun.

Keep it up guys.

Owen

[Griff]

I have several Uberti firearms. I don't think a single one of them is that poor. Send it back... but... I think I'd ask for a replacement unless you can identify a specific issue that would be the cause of such poor performance.I wish I could tell you that mine did "x" inch groups... but it was so long ago that I worked up good loads and checked for accuracy, any such claim would be uspported by fact.

Maybe I'll get time the next time I get home to do some... I'll be sure to pass that info along to you.

[RIHMFIRE]

It probably two things....
ya havent found the right load yet....
and those heavy uberti triggers dont help much either.....

[1894c]

ship it back...

[guido4198]

Not acceptable, unless you want to keep it for a wall-hanger.
Ask the company if that meets THEIR standard for their product. Let us know what they say.
Could have a great influence of future purchase decisions if that's as good as they expect their rifles to shoot.

[L_Kilkenny]

Plain a** stinks no mater what the load you're stickin into it. The worst load in the world should do better than that, Send er back.

LK

[willygene]

yep send it back, mine will shoot a one inch raged hole at 100 yards with the factory sights. that rifle has issues.

[hightime]

That made me feel bad.
I worked the tight spot with lapping compound. Things look better today, but I'll send it back anyways. Randy at Benelli USA has been a big help and wants me to send it back. At his advice I tried a box of Rem factory loads. They shot better. Then I went back to my loads and they shot better too. A different day , I guess. Here's today shots, six rem factory and six Rem bullets 250 rnfp swaged with 8.5 gr. Unique, with a steady bench rest.

I take it, they're still not good enough?

Owen

[JB]

I would say willygene got very lucky with his and you got very unlucky. I'd think at 30 yards a benched rifle with tang peep should shoot better than what you're getting.

[Pete44ru]

Hey, I'd call that last series of targets good 'nuf, fer sure - after all, it's not a target (as in: competition) rifle............... (jes' sayin')

.

[willygene]

that last set of targets looks a lot better and yes i did get lucky that mine shoots that well im sure not gona gripe about it. mine is doing that with 8.5gr of unique and a 200 gr lead cast from friendswood bullets.

[madman4570]

Here is what I say--------------
I am now very curious, ya know before I would send it back I would try some more shooting with it.
HUGE difference from first targets. Try some more groups.Heck try shooting it every day for a week and see where they get to.
Let someone else (known fine shooter)try it too.)even with a steady rest platform the shooter still makes a difference.Though you probably are a fine shooter(this just takes another variable out of the equation)
I would let the Gun Company know(you are trying to get the gun to shoot good,with quality factory loads)but if not----back its coming.Get their OK.(if they say send it back now(send it back)
Truthfully, I would(only,for now)shoot good quality commercial loads(like the Remington's)threw it,so you have a solid base when talking about comparisons with how other ones(same mfg gun)shoot with same ammo.

Sometimes when you mention(handloads to the gun mfg)they think you screwed up and maybe screwed the gun up ????

[KirkD]

I've had a lot of old lever guns pass through my hands and like to get them all shooting. I only shoot 50 yards to get the open iron sights adjusted for 100 yards. Then I go to work. Here are my standards, which I think are very reasonable for any rifle that is 100 years old and has slight texture in the bore. A smooth shiny bore will obviously have higher standards:

Acceptable: five shots into 3"
Good: five shots into 2"
Excellent: five shots into less than 2"

This is at 100 yards. For 50 yards they should all go into 1 & 1/2" or less.

Your second set of targets is better, but at 25 yards from a rest, I would expect it to be one ragged hole. It is hard to say what factors are at play in this case. It could be the ammo, it could be the barrel.

Yesterday, I took a 118 year-old Marlin Model 1889 to the range. With a bit of experimentation, I could put 3 shots into 1 & 1/8" at 100 yards BUT only if the bullets were jammed into the lands. The exact same loads if the bullets were barely touching the lands, gave awful groups. This is just an illustration of how picky some guns and loads can be. The biggest problems I find in accurate shooting is my 58 year-old eyes, which make for blurry sights and properly sized cast bullets.

I would try the rifle at 50 yards to see if you can get sub-2" groups with factory ammo. If not, I'd send the rifle back.

[hightime]

Kirk, I like that standard. We'll see if Benelli USA thinks so too. If I get the gun back as is, I will just try and improve on what I have. I have one more idea. The chamber throat is still tight. I'll take that to task next.
I just went to work on the tight spot just foreward of the rear sight dovetail. It came out good. Here's what I did; I bought some automotive valve lapping compound. I invented a high speed recipricating cleaning rod from a saws-all. I slid a rubber gas line over the rod to protect against a rub of the bore. I used one of those fabric brushes in a cleaning kit, smeared some compound onto that brush and measured the distance to the tight spot. It only took about a min. and a half to smooth out the tight spot. The slug pushes though without a bind now until it reaches the chamber throat. I will fix that next if I still have the same barrel when she gets back home. From what I've read it is a bad thing if the bore starts out tight then opens up. Better the other way around. If I can kill a pie plate at a hundred , I'll be happy enough.

Owen