Uberti 1873 and lightning

hdcolt51

Anyone have one or the other? Are they as good quality as the revolvers. Looking to get back into cas.Went to a recent match but knowone had either.Used to shoot a marlin 1894cb but cant find one in 45 colt. Thanks

Wolf.

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What!!!!? No one had a Uberti-made reproduction Winchester Model 1873 long gun? That's tough to believe. If anyone had a Cimarron or Taylor's Model 1873, then they did have a Uberti-made gun.

See my recent post (link following) addressing part of this question:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=282591

My advice is to stay away from the reproduction Colt Lightning pump action gun altogether. And, do not buy one used. There have been too many problems with the reproduction Lightning jamming up. Why(?), one may ask?

It seems the Lightning, when it was introduced originally by Colt had so many reliability problems that, even though Colt worked hard to resolve the issues, the public lost faith in the Lightning, sales fizzled and the gun was discontinued. Harken to the first years of the millinium (two to four years ago or so). An enterprizing Chinese arms manufacturer (or maybe a US snake oil salesman enticed them, I don't know) decided to create a reproduction of the Lightning. (Need I continue? [:D]) Not knowing the history of the Lightning, the Chinese arms engineers obtained a pristine example of an original Lightning and proceeded to create a reproduction. Their engineers diligently reverse-engineered the flaws of the original gun into the reproduction. Hmmmmm. I am unaware if those flaws have been fixed in the later Chinese guns. However, even if so, who is to say that if you were to buy a new Chinese reproduction Lightning today, that it is not "old stock" that the distributer wants to move? Don't get into that box!!

All is not lost, however! I do believe (but I could be wrong, you'll have to check their web site) that United States Fire Arms Company (a.k.a. US Firearms, or USFA), out of Harford, Connecticut, is (or is planning to) manufacturing their own reproduction of the Lightning. USFA is absolutely the BEST maker of Colt reproductions on the planet, bar none. I don't even have to ask if their engineers knew about the original problems and figured out the fix for the Lightning.

NDNOutlaw

I just recently joined guys but here is my 2 cents.
I have a Uberti 1873 .45LC saddle rig carbine and absolutely love the damn thing.It is well made with beautiful wood stocks,smooth action.Only thing is DO NOT use any ammo other than round nose bullets.Hollow points and what not just wont feed right.I use mine all the time at SASS shoots.I got it from Cimmaron for 800 plus shipping.I think they have gone up to over 1200 now.Worth the money tho.

bugmantraap

Hell, I'm gonna have a real 1873 44 WCF on auction here soon. Basic auction no reserve 1200.00 starting price. It is not original to the serial number but it is all 1873 and the bore is pristine.

Timothy

I have a cimarron 1873 in 44wcf and a taurus thunderbolt in 45colt. The 73 is everything I'd hoped being accurate, reliable, beautifull, and heavy enough to hold steady on game. Its clearly the real deal and deserves the legend its known for. The taurus is also a unique attractive rifle that sells for an exellent price. CAS shooters dont like it since it can be finicky about ammo and operation. If you plan on loading 10 shots and emptying them as fast as possible at 5 yards all afternoon there are better choices. But as a field gun its hard to beat. The long 26" barrel provides an exellent sight radius for the buckhorn sights, hence you'll NEVER hear about them being innacurate. I've spent many afternoon in the field with the gun and I believe mines jammed twice in two years. To miss out on the the asthetics, accuracy, ease of carry, and nostalgia the gun prodides at such a good price is foolish unless you have no use for it other than competition.