Long awaited repair to a favorite rifle

I want to talk guns but not in the context of pending legislation or criminal misuse. I want to talk about a specific rifle I own and which I hope to shoot a bunch this coming summer. I’ve mentioned this rifle in previous columns, but I would like to go into more depth here.

The rifle of which I speak is an Italian copy of a Winchester 1885 High Wall single shot, manufactured by Uberti and sold by Cimmaron Arms. I originally bought this gun probably fifteen to eighteen years ago because of the caliber it was chambered for. The 30-inch heavy-weight barrel fired the 348 Winchester cartridge. This cartridge would be considered semi-obsolete today but was popular in the Winchester model 71 lever-action rifle in the 1930-1950 timeframe. The caliber is the lever-action ballistic equivalent of a 30-06 in a bolt-action rifle.

The 348 caliber is still somewhat popular here in Alaska, mainly in bush areas, because it will work nicely for hunting moose and will stop a bear with a properly placed shot. Factory ammunition is not common and bullet selection and components like cases for reloading are limited. However, Barnes makes some excellent jacketed hunting bullets and bullet moulds are available to cast lead bullets. Reloading dies are also available.

I worked up some good, jacketed bullet loads for hunting and then began developing a good cast bullet load for casual shooting and practice. I started shooting with the open sights which came on the rifle and quickly switched over to a globe front sight with a tang rear sight. That set-up shot very well. As I got older and my eyesight deteriorated some, I bought a period “Malcomb” style, 18-inch long, ¾-inch diameter scope in 3x modeled after the older style scopes contemporary to this late nineteenth century rifle and had it mounted on the gun.

Using the scope and the cast bullet load I had, I could shoot under two-inch groups off a bench at around 140 yards with no trouble. This load, while not a “hot” load, is suitable for hunting and I have every faith it would easily harvest a moose with proper shot placement.

Then came the November 2018 earthquake!

As I’ve mentioned before in this column, some caustic liquid was spilled on the rifle’s action. Because of the unavoidable delay I experienced before being able to check and clean up the gun, some serious corrosion developed inside the action. I thought I had the action cleaned up, but it no longer worked properly. I called Cimmaron Arms and they referred me to their contract gunsmith, Lonny, who works at Tejas Long Rifles in Texas.

After a couple of phone calls, Lonny agreed to work on the rifle and repair its proper function. I also asked him to rebarrel the rifle to 38-55 caliber, which is a popular blackpowder cartridge caliber for match shooting. I shipped the rifle to Tejas Long Rifles.

I checked with Lonny last week and the rifle was ready to be returned. He repaired the action through a very thorough disassembly and cleaning and said no new parts were needed. He had found an Uberti model 1885 barrel in 38-55, which I had asked for, and rebarreled the gun. He told me he had test-fired the rifle and that it held around a one-inch group at fifty yards and regularly hit an 8-inch gong at 100 yards and a 12-inch gong at 200 yards shooting offhand. This was with cast bullet loads using smokeless powder.

I hope to have the rifle in my possession by the time this sees print. I’ve already purchased dies, cases, wads and cast bullets to reload. Lonny recommends using a .379 diameter cast bullet. My fellow blackpowder cartridge rifle shooting friends recommend between 40 and 45 grains of blackpowder as the powder charge. After I get the rifle back, I will reload some cases and begin the quest for a good shooting load for competition use.

I’m already eager for spring and the snow to be gone so I can start shooting again. I took last summer off because of the pandemic but I’m vaccinated now and really looking forward to resuming my summer shooting routine. I’ve also got to develop some lighter blackpowder loads for my 45-70 and my 50-90 caliber Sharps and Rolling Block rifles for match shooting. Full power loads are not needed for target shooting and my shoulder won’t stand up to the recoil through a 30 to 40-shot aggregate match.