Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Uberti 1885 Winchester .303

I saw an ad in Shooting Times for a Uberti 1885 Winchester in .303 British. It was stocked like an English stalking rifle, with ebony fore end tip and a quarter rib for iron sights or scope mounting. Not the real thing, but pretty, in the ad at least. Not priced, but probably a lot less than a real English stalking rifle.

That is a nice looking rifle. I'm not sure about having to manually cock it with a scope in place, and I wonder what it would take to get the trigger down below 5.25 pounds? The Uberti site lists it at $1689.

https://www.uberti-usa.com/1885-courteney-stalking-rifle

ya!

GWB

Comes in .45-70 as well, I see.

Uberti recommends high rings for scope mounting, probably to allow for the hammer. I think I'd buy the plain quarter rib and a set of folding leaf sights for this retro piece, and skip the scope.

A friend just bought one, it's a very nice rifle. 303 ammo can be hard to come by at least around here.

Graf's is out of .303. They are also out of .270 and much else. I guess buying a rifle in any caliber you don't already have ammo for is sort of an investment in future seasons, the way things are now.

Yes, factory ammo is really hard to come. I’m facilitating a deal between two friends of mine for some 7mm magnum ammo now. One no longer deer hunts but has some ammo, the other cannot find ammo anywhere. Luckily I hand load and have components.

I recently bought a Browning Model 78 in 6mm Remington and had JES bore it to 35 Whelen for our “primitive weapons “ season. I was able to find some dies and brass here on the Fire and 200 gr hornadys locally. Now all I need is for the rain to stop and a little time to work up a load.

Look here.

https://www.buffaloarms.com/303-british-ammo-150-grain-sp-amo303brit2.html

Thanks, Ed.

.303 is a decent big game round. One of my uncles bought an Enfield when NATO rearmed to 7.62 in the early 60s, and shot a pile of deer with it. Paid about $13 IIRC. (sigh)

pic of machining breech cut



Uberti 1885 Winchester I bought in 30-30
I put on a Shilen barrel in 257 Roberts Ackley rimmed.
I shot (4) deer with it out to 400 yards.

I also had JESS Rebore a 30/06 Highwall to 35 Whelen for our Primitive Weapon season. I had him do his 5 groove in a 10 twist. Very accurate, I am very pleased with his work

I don’t know if the Uberti trigger is true to the Winchester, but Lee Shaver in Lamar, MO is known as the guru on 1885 triggers. I keep saying I’m going to take my Hornet to him as he is only 30 miles away.

the 303 British wounded more animals in Africa than any other caliber

I dont have the budget for this, but; if I did I think they could have gone with something like 400/450 or 9.3 in addition. I would also like to see some option on the rib. That would be to have the rib removable and be able to swap a classic 3 leaf sight and no scope, no slots. It maybe asking a lot, but; the price is asking a lot from me. I dont like the sights or rib and calling it a stalking rifle does not make it one.

Nothing wrong with 303, but; I got a dozen rifles that cover that ballistic ground. That includes two Lee Enfield which I load for now.

I don't sell them, so this is just FYI. They do make it in .45-70, and you can get a quarter rib without scope slots, with a dovetail for the 3-leaf sights.

I don't need a .303 either, but a man who owns a dozen rifles that cover that ballistic ground surely knows that "need" isn't the point.

I had to confirm that. Yes. Good news. I think or bad news in that I am running out of excuses. I could be happy with a 45/70. I don't need anther 45/70 either, Yes on both counts: "need isn't the point"

The specs say 7 pounds with 24" barrel. That would work very nicely in a 9.3x72. That would address texken's complaint with 285 gr bullets at 3400 ft-lbs.

I just noticed that the well-known custom gunmaker Steven Dodd Hughes has a superficially similar 1885 in .30-40 on his bragging page. He spent 150 shop hours making his version of an English stalking rifle, not counting the barrel work and engraving which were done by others. His is much nicer, and is based on an original 1885, but I am very sure that it would cost a lot more than $1700 to purchase. Several times more. The Uberti is for the man with Rolls Royce taste and Ford purse.

the 303 British wounded more animals in Africa than any other caliber [/quote]

Your point? Other than spouting made up crap. Ever heard of 7.62x39, 577/450, 275/7x57? Care to let us in on the research you did to come up with this pearl?

This is my version of an English stalking rifle, Farquarson style :>)
Cat

What a waste of a great gun.

Sounds interesting.
A 303 British rifle was in every home in our region when I was a kid-
Y'know with in this Uberti rifle a shooter can take advantage of handloads at modern pressures and could be quite effective. I see brass around here.

Huh? In my view he made a great gun even greater.

Thanks gnoahh, not sure it the poster's comment was towards the Uberti or my rifle

If the comment was aimed towards my Ruger, there are several things that need to be clarified.
The first is that I have killed a ton of game with the .303 Brit in the last 50+ years and have flattened everything
from beavers to moose with This one.
The second is that IF I needed to shoot factory ammo out of it ( which I do not) I can literally get it anywhere in Canada .
Greydog built thisrifkle and did an outstanding job.
It is repeatable at 200 meters with or without the scope on the QD mounts or irons.
The most important thing however is that it was built to MY specifications for ME , and if a person thinks it's a waste of a good rifle , I really don't care .
Cat

That is really nice - the octagon to round is a lovely feature.

Nice rifle. And shooting a buck is not a waste.

This looks like a great rifle! How's about some pics with the lever closed?

I'll get some tomorrow with the scope on it as well.
Cat

Way cool rifle, Cat.

Don't get the snarky comment " waste of a good rifle " either the 303 British cart was meat in the pot for canadians many years and still sees service in the game fields. Down here we had the 30-40 krag doing the same thing ,then the 06. 20/20 hindsight a-holes allways make me laugh . Mb

Many years ago, in Rhodesia, it was law that every adult man own a .303. Some bought Enfields, some bought Winchester 95s, probably some bought single or double barreled rifles.

Now, that's a gun control law I could live with.

Sorry, forgot! I looked and could not find a decent pic with the lever closed, so just took one in the shop. Note the Kepplinger single set as well.. :>)
Cat

That's a great looking rifle! Did you modify the lever? I reworked the lever on my 9.3 in a similar manner.

pabucktail, Greydog did all the work on this rifle for me except for the checkering and the installation of the Kepplinger trigger.
I like your lever as well, sets the rifle off nicely . :>)
Cat

My favorite big bore stalking rifle: 1895 Winchester TD in .405 WCF

Nice buff, weirdest looking single shot I have ever seen, though!
Cat

USOG likes it.



I like it pretty well too, but have a nice LW in .44 which is plenty for a iron-sighted stalker. Would buy another Henry for scoped use. The new Henry trigger is perfectly usable. Browning/Winchester screwed the pooch by only making their rifle-cartridge Hunter models as heavy High Walls.

The guy who did this video has several Hagns. Have to see them to believe them!