By Joe W Gorman
Uberti’s beautiful 1873 Special Sporting Rifle in .45 Colt
Since 1959, Uberti has supplied the world with accurate replicas of legendary firearms. You’ve seen their guns in movies. Movies such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, True Grit, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Tombstone and Dances with Wolves all had Uberti replica firearms as props. The historical accuracy of their guns is widely regarded amongst collectors and cowboy action shooters.
I have some previous experience with Uberti’s Winchester replica rifles. I have tested their 1886 Rifle and The Cimarron 1873 Rifle (Made by Uberti for Cimarron). Both rifles were of excellent quality and performed well.
This review is of Uberti’s 1873 Special Sporting Rifle with a 24” octagon barrel and color case hardened receiver. Like the previous offerings from Uberti I’ve reviewed, this specimen too is a beautiful example of a classic Winchester rifle.
Testing various loads from the bench. As usual, Hornady ammunition was a good choice.
Featuring a dovetail-fit, blued front sight and a dovetail-fit, blued, adjustable, rear buck horn sight the Uberti 1873 shot very close to point of aim with traditional .45 Colt 255 grain lead ammunition. The toggle action, while not the strongest in lever action history is plenty strong enough for the low pressure likes of traditional .45 Colt ammunition. With round nosed ammo, the Uberti action is buttery smooth. Competitors can get short stroke kits to hasten the cycle time of Uberti ’73 rifles but I had no such desire. This rifle is fine for casual shooting and hunting as it comes from the factory.
The familiar cadence of the ’73 cycling is mechanical music to my ears. Looking over the deep blued barrel, magazine tube, butt plate and sights, you can’t help but notice the quality of the craftsmanship in the Ubert 1873.
The wood to steel fit on the Uberti is very good. The overall look, particularly with the octagon barrel, is one of a first-class firearm. The walnut stocks have a historic red tint and the barrel bluing is deep and glorious. The finish and solidity of the Uberti conveys quality.
On the bench, the sight radius inherent in the 24” barrel lends itself to consistent groups with ammunition the rifling likes. I didn’t swage the barrel, but my testing showed that groups shot with cast .453 diameter SWC bullets (that I had on hand) were most consistent. Backed by 10 grains of WAP this handload managed the most sub-3”, 3-shot, 100-yard groups in my testing. And while they may have been the most consistent, I would recommend not using a SWC in an 1873 and they are two great things that do not work well together. Stick to the round nosed type bullets for smooth shooting in an 1873 Winchester. Hornady’s 255-grain cowboy loads worked well and turned in a couple 3” groups at 100 yards too.
This is the best group I managed from 100 yards. These are handloads using 255gr SWC cast bullets that were very finicky to cycle.
From a bench rest, shooting the Uberti 1873 Special Sporting Rifle in .45 Colt with traditional pressure loads is very enjoyable. The recoil is tamed by the weight of the rifle and the relatively low recoiling round. I never managed the one inch 3-shot groups I shot from the Uberti 1886 rifle at 100 yards with the 1873, but that’s ok. It’s an extremely handsome rifle that will draw compliments at any range.
For more information: Uberti-usa.com
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