Howdy....

My question is roughly how heavy a load will the Uberti '73 Winchester clone, chambered for the .45 Long Colt take without blowing apart ?

I am currently loading 18 grs 2400 in front of the Hornaday 250 grn XTP hollow Pt bullet, with a magnum primer to get it lit, and using a good crimp in the channelure....(using NEW Winchester brass) this load shows NO pressure whatsoever, and actually seems a bit under pressure, as I usually have black streaks down the sides of the fired cases.....goes out my 24 inch bbl at about 1150 ft seconds, and quite accurate....I shoot the same load in my sixgun with no ill effects

am a bit hesitant to get too carried away with the 73's toggle -link action.....if any of you folks have some thots, other than the normal "be safe " stuff, I'd like to hear them.....I am a 40 year reloader and haven't blown anything up lately... :)

I am currently loading 18 grs 2400 in front of the Hornaday 250 grn XTP hollow Pt bullet,

Might work even better if you put the bullet in front of the powder... :)

With the 1873 action, I don't believe I'd even think about how much it could take. Standard-level loads (Colt SAA loads) should pose no problem and give significantly enhanced velocities out of the long barrel. I'd be happy with that.

You can obtain the same velocity with 8 to 9 gr. of Unique, a 250 gr. RNFP cast bullet, and standard pistol primer. Would save the 2400 and magnum primers for your magnums. As previously posted, any load safe for a Colt single action would be suitable for your '73.

Well allrighty then.....the reason I used 2400 is because it fills the case much better...I do not like quick powders in large cases.

I have some really old manuals and was going by some of the Elmer Keith and Phil Sharpe info that I could dig up out of those, and trying to balance that with what is currently available

a lot of folks are hesitant to give opinions on how much is ok...thanks for the answer.

PISGAH : yep you're right LOL .... i just got my tang toungled up......

I have a Marlin 1894 with a 20" barrel in .45 Colt. A 250 gr. XTP with 17 gr. Alliant 2400, Win WLP primmer and Win brass gives me 1400 - 1450 FPS. I backed down to 16 gr. and figured it was still pretty power full. This load was from the Lyman 48 th edition "rifle data" and I believe it to be well above SAAMI pressure limit. I am curious with the disparity in velocity.

Don't know about the disparity in velocity either, probably something to do with the bore size-tightness......my loads chronographed 1150 ftsecnds on my Beta-Chrony.....out of the 24 inch rifle bbl.....little over 900 out of the sixgun....

I am using an OLD can of Hercules 2400 powder, bought about 1978 ....

Its really hard to say how much a '73 would take. They use a toggle link to hold the bolt closed, notice I didn't say to lock it. Anything over factory/cowboy class loads will break one very quickly, parts will bend and wear. Now if you are talking about destruction loads, its hard to say how much pressure they will take before they "blow up." If you want to fill the case, look into Trail Boss powder, its made to bulk up in low pressure, large cases.
Andy

I think the difference between the Hercules and Alliant powder could account for a good bit of the difference. I still have 2 or 3 of those loads, I will probably run them though the chronograph again. I'm eager to try XMP 5744 and AA#5 to see how they work in the rifle.

Nope, not looking to blow up a rifle, just trying to get a feel for what these rifles will take BEFORE having a problem.... basically, what I was-am looking for is a good defense-hunting load with the 250 gr Hornaday XTP bullet, that can be used in both sixgun and rifle....I also shoot a 250 gr Lazer-cast bullet for plinkin' with 16 grs 2400....works great and pops squirrells just fine......

oloutlaw
Looks like your right at the max for the '73! Even if its new metal its the design that limits your Muzzle velocity! That 45 LC at 1100-1200 fps will put a thumping on just about anything to 50 yds!!!Be happy-shoot straight!

Howdy....

My question is roughly how heavy a load will the Uberti '73 Winchester clone, chambered for the .45 Long Colt take without blowing apart ?

I am currently loading 18 grs 2400 in front of the Hornaday 250 grn XTP hollow Pt bullet, with a magnum primer to get it lit, and using a good crimp in the channelure....(using NEW Winchester brass) this load shows NO pressure whatsoever, and actually seems a bit under pressure, as I usually have black streaks down the sides of the fired cases.....goes out my 24 inch bbl at about 1150 ft seconds, and quite accurate....I shoot the same load in my sixgun with no ill effects

am a bit hesitant to get too carried away with the 73's toggle -link action.....if any of you folks have some thots, other than the normal "be safe " stuff, I'd like to hear them.....I am a 40 year reloader and haven't blown anything up lately... :)



My understanding is the 73 action is not even close to the strength of the latter / newer actions that have the bolt / locking lugs . Like my Rossi M92 clone in .45 LC or the Marlins .

My standard S&W load id 8 grains of Unique . My last batch I loaded ( and have not tested yet ) is 10 grains .

for the 73 , I would stick with the loads that duplicate the Black Powder loads of the 1800's .

Wyr
God bless

I have shot +P magnum type loads thru my Win 94 and Ruger Bisley for years. last year I happened on a new in box '73 .45 and couldn't resist.
My goal was to duplicate the original factory 44-40 load.I settled on a 200gr soft-cast Desparado bullet over 12.5 gr of HS6 for just under 1300fps. the Hogdon 2006 manual shows 13gr of HS6 as max with a 200gr XTP for 13,900 cup. with respect to everyone else I have no desire to push the '73 much, as I wouldn't want to find the limits of the action.
Good Luck with your rifle.Jim.