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Uberti 1866 Carbine

Uberti 1866 Carbine

When shirt maker Oliver Fisher Winchester invested in the Volcanic Arms Company, he could not have imagined that one day his name would become synonymous with lever action rifles throughout the World. His company’s development and improvement of the Henry rifle led to the introduction of the first rifle to bear the Winchester name, the Model 1866 or ‘Yellow Boy’.

Turn up at any well-attended rifle shoot and there will be a wide range of firearms in use, including military surplus, stalking/hunting and a good smattering of ‘black’ rifles. Search down the line and you will most likely find one or two guys immersed in the enjoyment of 19th Century technology, in the shape of lever action rifles. Many of these guns will be chambered for cartridges that are well over 100-years old, although the more modern .357 and .44 Magnums are popular among the Gallery Rifle shooters. This latter group will most likely be shooting Marlin rifles, as they can readily accept an optical sight, whereas a good number of the rest will have been attracted to this mechanism because of its association with the American West.

Check out the ages of these shooters and a lot will have been around when Western movies were popular. Long range, high power and rapidity of fire are not important to these guys, but it’s the fun of trying to wring the best out of these old-fashioned designs, with basic iron sights and low-powered (in most cases) ‘pistol calibre’ ammunition. Having said that, check out the Cowboy Action Shooting world record competitors on YouTube to see competitors shooting a lever action at unbelievable speed. Sooner or later, some of the ‘modern’ gun shooters will wander down the line and watch with fascination at the loading and operation of these rifles – the Henry reproductions really amuse some folks! While most would probably refrain from purchasing such guns, they all enjoy shooting one when offered the chance.

Improvements

The Volcanic Arms repeaters were quirky, low powered and not particularly reliable, so Winchester assigned Benjamin Tyler Henry to develop better, more powerful ammunition and an improved method of delivery. The resulting Henry rifle, in .44 rimfire calibre and patented in 1860, was the first really successful repeating rifle, although still weak by today’s standards. Its big advantage was the 14-shot magazine under the barrel. This magazine, with its odd loading procedure, was also one of its weak points, as an ingress of foreign matter in the tube could disable the rifle, and shooters had to be aware of the moving cartridge follower.

In 1866, Nelson King patented an improvement, enabling cartridges to be loaded from the side of the receiver, and added a wood forearm to the rifle. Using the same rimfire cartridge as its predecessor, the new model was an instant success. Known then simply as ‘the Winchester rifle’, as it was the only one made by the company, when the second Winchester offering was introduced in 1873, the process of naming rifles according to their year of introduction began and the earlier gun became known as the Model 1866. The nickname ‘Yellow Boy’ was supposedly given to the gun because of its brass receiver, and the model was available as a carbine (20- inch round barrel), a rifle with 24-inch round or octagonal barrel and a musket with 27-inch round barrel. Although centre fire rifles became the norm after 1873, this model was in production for over 30-years, by which time over 170,000 units had left the factory. It is said that Sitting Bull carried a Model 1866 and the Turkish army also purchased this rifle, probably in musket configuration.

Uberti’s first

In 1866, this was the first rifle to bear the Winchester name and 99-years later, just in time for the model’s centenary, the Model 1866 became the first reproduction centre fire rifle to carry the Uberti name. Today, the model is still a popular inclusion in their catalogue and is available in a number of configurations, with several barrel lengths and calibres from .22LR to .45 Colt. There are no centrefire magnum chamberings for this rifle. The version we have here is their standard, 19-inch round barrelled carbine, in a classic Old West calibre of .38 Winchester Centre Fire (.38 WCF), better known as .38/40. I am unsure as to how Winchester came up with the name, as this cartridge is actually a .40 calibre (.401-inches).

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The walnut stock and forearm are finished in the ubiquitous red/brown varnish that Uberti employ on all of their standard woodwork and the stock on this example is quite nicely figured for an off-the-shelf gun. Deluxe wood, with a hand-rubbed oil finish is available as an extra cost option. The forearm is held in place by a barrel band, a different arrangement from the rifle, which uses a nose cap on the wood. The loading lever and hammer have case colours with the barrel, magazine tube and the rest of the small metal parts being black. The carbine uses a slightly curved, broad butt-plate – unlike the typical crescent shape used on rifles – which is plain brass to match the receiver. Overall fit and finish is very good, with only one or two minor raised edges where the wood meets the metal.

The rear sight is a very simple tip-up arrangement, which basically has three elevation settings, all with square notches, and can be drifted left or right for windage. The front blade, being an integral part of the front barrel band, is fixed and the sight picture is not too bad, although I think I would have preferred the rear notch to be a fraction wider. Out of the box, the front sight was fairly high and with my preferred picture of the top of the front blade level with the top of the rear notch, I was not hitting an A4 piece of paper at 25-yards! The rifle turned out to be shooting around seven inches low, so a little work with a needle file was needed. I figure I have taken off between .015-inches and .020-inches to get it to where I want it to be.

As with all the toggle-link mechanisms, operation of the lever is very smooth, as you would expect from the brass cartridge lifter sliding against the brass frame. The finger loop of the lever has a small projection at its upper rear edge, allowing it to be locked in place by a swivel stud. Trigger pull is rather heavy out of the box, so will need a bit of work, but it breaks cleanly without any creep. Empty cases are ejected via an aperture in the top of the receiver, so there is no provision for fitting an optical sight on this carbine, although I cannot imagine anyone wishing to scope this model.

Capable performer

This model will likely find favour with shooters who have an interest in the American West, such as myself, and those Cowboy Action Shooters who want something a little different to the 1873 and 1892 clones that usually populate the CAS events. I can see the .45 Colt being the most popular calibre as, for some reason, the bottle-neck cartridges, such as the one we have here and its big brother the .44/40, have acquired a bit of a reputation for being fiddly to reload. Nothing is farther from the truth and the bottle-necks were designed for black powder cartridges and give a good seal at the breech, minimising blowback. Although introduced in the same year as the .44/40 (1873), the .45 Colt cartridge was never used in 19th Century rifles.

There are a couple of commercial lead bullets available for this calibre, one a truncated cone (in reality a 10mm bullet) and the other a RNFP. The former has no crimp groove and care must be taken to ensure that the bullet is gripped tightly enough in the case mouth, otherwise there is a strong possibility that one or more in the magazine tube can be forced back into the case under recoil, or as they move backwards when the lever is operated. You will be unaware of this until one such round enters the cartridge lifter and you find that the lever will not drop. This is because the shorter cartridge allows the rim of the following cartridge to also enter the lifter, jamming the rifle. Not too bad on a leisurely shoot but disastrous during a competition. Should you have this problem, you merely loosen the screw at the front of the magazine tube (hold on to it as it comes loose or it will shoot off into the distance!), and tip out the cartridges. For this reason, cartridge overall length is critical in all tube magazine lever action rifles.

Load up!

I opted for the RNFP bullets, a 180-grain affair sized to .401-inches. For short indoor or outdoor ranges of twentyfive yards, I have found that 6.5-grains of Unique powder is more than adequate. If you wish to go out to one hundred yards, then upping this to eight grains or so will do the job. At the shorter range, this load will consistently put five shots into a two-inch group from a standing position- if you do your bit. Recoil is extremely modest and you could comfortably shoot this rifle for long periods. I have owned this carbine for over three years now and it has never missed a beat.

Cleaning requires no more than two or three runs throughs with a bore snake and a quick brush in the breech area with a toothbrush. Once a year, the side plates come off and the mechanism is checked and cleaned and a tiny smear of grease added to the toggle pins.

So, if you have not experienced one of these rifles, go and stand behind someone who is using one at your next shoot. There is a good chance you will be offered the opportunity to have a go.

  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

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  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

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  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Uberti 1866 Carbine - image {image:count}

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