Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Cowboy Action Shooting Uberti 45 colt

My lgs has an older Uberti with folding tang site chambered in 45 colt. Nice looking gun. Maybe 10 years old. Very little wear. List used is $1098. Might get out the door with tax and all for that. Are they worth that much and how stout loads will they handle. I do reload for my Ruger revolver. Blued but kind of a hazed color.

Uberti is one of many importers and they tend to make and sell decent guns for the money. That price, with a good tang sight, doesn't seem out of line. Look up the current street price for the same gun and see if it compares properly.

What model? Lever rifles in 45 Colt are nice, although not exactly "period correct"for CAS/SASS uses. I shoot one anyway.

"Stout" means different things; most Ubertis are reasonably-priced replicas of guns made over a century ago. Those replicas, like the originals, are capable of handling black powder pressures nicely. That fits the period when they were designed and what they were made for. Modest and average smokeless loads also do fine.

If you are shooting CAS/SASS you really don't need heavy artillery. If you are in a different market, like 150 yard deer or coyotes, you may want to find something designed and manufactured for modern calibers and pressures. Pushing a Uberti to the red line is not necessary when there are alternatives with current design and metallurgy available for fewer bucks.

In addition to the above, it also depends somewhat on which model one is talking about as Uberti has made replicas of many models of various action types by different manufacturers. Identifying the particular model in regards to price and "strength" would help to a significant degree.

As an example, a replica Winchester 1892 would be able to handle higher pressures for a longer period of use than a replica 1873 due in large part to the design differences. I still wouldn't use loads meant for a Ruger Blackhawk or other such firearm in an 1892 but loads to +P/45 ACP pressures should be no problem if one wanted to take deer or pigs with it, particularly if using jacketed bullets.

As for price, I would also expect the 1892 to go for a bit less than an 1873 as the latter is a bit more "period correct" if trying to recreate the cowboy era. The 45 Colt chambering sort of defeats true replication but others wouldn't know that until seeing the ammo or markings on the barrel. I would also expect to walk off with the gun for less than $1000 all told if it were a used gun and one could probably do a bit better than the OP's estimate as CAS shooting has fallen off up here.

I was looking at the Uberti 1873 chambered for .44 Magnum
As a toggle mechanism I questioned the distributor and factory rep if .44 special or toned down loads were required.
Their response was with modern metalurgy and manufacturing any factory ammunition was safe;
Your mileage may vary