Main Match rifles and why...

[Marshal Halloway]

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Let us help the newcomers with answers to a few of the questions they ask us who have been in this sport for some time.

What is your rifle of choice? Why did you pick the model you are using?

Was it price, looks, authenticity or other specific reasons?

[Gus Hall]

I use a Cimarron '66 "yellow boy" with a 24" barrel chambered for .44 Special. Use it 'cause I can shoot .44 Colts through it. (Same as my pair of Richard's conversions) Would kinda prefer a 20" barrel for easier handling around barricades and windows during a match, but this was the only one my dealer had. This loooong rifle looks realy cool though.

[Jax Orebetter]

Well, the first 5 years I shot a Winchester '94 in 45Colt. Now some folks will tell you that this rifle isn't a good choice for CAS. I have over 10,000 rounds through it without any problems. Is it the fastest? Nope. Is it the most stylish? Nope. But the price was right when I was getting into this, and I didn't know any better. If I had know then (how many times have we said that in our lives?  ) For about the same money you can get a model '92 and is better suited for CAS use.

THat being said, I now shoot a Uberti Winchester '73 45 Colt with a 24" bbl. How many other guns have a movie named after them? 

[Marshal Halloway]

Now some folks will tell you that this rifle isn't a good choice for CAS. I have over 10,000 rounds through it without any problems. Is it the fastest? Nope. Is it the most stylish? Nope.

I bought a Winchester 94 Trails End from Har Trigger back in 1998 and I have no idea how many rounds I put through that rifle before I sold it to a police officer in Norway earlier this year. It never failed me the 6-7 years I used it. Solid and reliable.

What is my choice now? A Winchester 94, believe it or not.

As Jax said, it is not the fastest, but it is a solid rifle for a good price and I just like it. Yes, it needs some firm treatment when you cycle the action and I have to say that it is probably not the very best choice for a newcomer who wants to be fast shooter in a short time. But if money is one of the arguments to get started or not, this 500 dollar rifle is an option for CAS.

And since I am kind of stuck in the 1890's, I don't complain over authenticity either, even though the rifle is in .45 Colt.
 

[Doc Shapiro]

Navy Arms '73.  20 inch barrel, straight stock.  It just fits.  That's all.

Doc

[Old Top]

Evening All,

I sort of went about this exactly backwards, I bought a 73 winchester back in 62 for 25 dollars, problem was that no one had ammo for it so I put it in the gun rack and did not use it untill last year when Curly Cole drug me screeming and kicking into this sport (or madness) so I had the rifle and got the pistols to match the caliber 44-40, the rifle shoots better then I do and is all orignal except for the rear sight but I am working on that.

Old Top

[Russ T Chambers]

Used to have a Rossi ’92 that I wasn’t the best shot with, and when it started having feeding problems, I acquired my Cimarron Arms ’73. 
I don’t know what it was, but my misses with the ‘73 dropped by about 30-40% (needless to say I usually miss a lot, but at least my rifle misses went to almost nil).
I doubt I'd ever get rid of this little puppy, (may even think about given it a name)!

[tarheel mac]

I use a Model 92, made by Rossi...strictly a price deal...I like it fine, but it only holds 9 cartridges, and most match stages are 10, so it always costs me some time there...Wouldn't mind having one of the new Taurus pumps, or a Win 66 replica...

[Four-Eyed Buck]

I use the Marlin because of the ease of maintenence. One screw and it's apart for cleaning. There's not a lot of parts to deal with. My Marlins are accurate and reliable.
 Between the wife and I, we have 4 1894's, an 1889, and an 1893....Buck

[Arcey]

When we were kids plinkin' with .22s we had Marlins.

When I got back into shooting, I bought a camp carbine.  Good plinker and it used the same mags as my Smiths.

Started this game with a '92 Rossi.  Soon found a deal on a '94 CS.  Bought a Cowboy a couple years ago.  No complaints.  No desire to shoot anything else.

[Qball]

Got a Rossi 92 in .45Lc and it was the cheapest .45 levergun i could find here in Sweden.
24" and octagon barrel works just fine so far.
And it looks so slender compares to my original Winchester 1886 .45-90 wcf

[Camille Eonich]

I started out sharing a Marlin with Stump while I was deciding what I wanted.  The '92 was cheap, looked good was light and hey China Camp uses one.  I bought one with a full action job and it felt pretty good just working the action even so the action is sooooo long that I really had to work at to shoot it.  Then there was the stove piping thing.  Then we changed ammo and it started throwing them out of the top.  I sent it back to the smith and he worked on it some more.  It came back feeling even slicker and working a bit better.  Then one day I loaded ten in it and started in on a team shoot.  It wouldn't feed a single round.  I haven't shot it since that day.  BTW the calber is .45

Next I got a 20" '73, straight stock.  Cody did the action job and short stroked it for me.  Great gun and it never let me down.


Now I have a '73 deluxe in .38 put together for me Harland Wolfe.  I LOVE THIS GUN.  I don't see any other cowboy rifles in my future because this one is just too sweet.

[Scattered Thumbs]

My rifle is...a carbine.

An 1873 made by Uberti in 44-40

Why? you ask. Well, because I like it, and they made a Western called Winchester 73, and it's the most period correct covering a large span of the Old West years. there's the 66 of course, but it can't be had in the original caliber. And I just plain like the 73. Also, the 73 action is quite fast to operate and is not prone to jamming.

On the other hand, I recently aquired (it's not in my hands yet, darn beurocratic Country) a Rossi 92 rifle with 24 inch octagon barrel in .44 Mag. It's a John Genius Browning design afterall.     Also, the action is really strong, much stronger than the 73 and dare I say it, stronger than the 94. That's why I chose it in the non period correct .44Mag, to use the action true potencial, since it's also intended as a hunting rifle.

[Missouri Marshal]

I have 2 Marlin 94's and a Uberti 73.  Shoot the Marlins mostly cause they are slick, fast, reliable, easy to load one on the clock, easy to clean and it's a side eject.  For the money you can't beat a American Made Marlin!  You can git the 1894C starting at about $350 or so through Wal-mart.  Mostly I like it when I can beat my pard Tensleep with my "Fish" gun and I do that every now and then.(he don't like Marlins).

[Ozarks Ranger]

I'm like Jax, I started with a Winchester  Legacy Never had a problem with it and it is still a good gun ( fire away)I an now shooting a 73 carbine 19 in. barrel, Do not have a short stroke kit in it nor have my Rugers been tricked out.
Snake Eyes

[Terry Lane]

Howdy all,
Started out 12 years with a Navy Arms '60 Henry 1 of 1000 steel frame .44 WCF. Still my favorite. Backup is a Uberti '73 Deluxe Sporting rifle .44 WCF. All I've ever needed. Take care. 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I started with a Rossi Model 92 carbine in 38/357. It took a while to figure out how deep to set the bullets so it would feed smoothly. That worked fine until I got fast enough to cause it to hiccup when I racked it. I went to a '73 carbine in the same caliber and was able to go waaaaay faster with that. Not only can it take any speed I put it to, but I can feed .38 spl or .357 rounds with equal smoothness. Darn good design. Both guns had action jobs done to them and they were slick. My wife stayed with that '92 for a couple years until one time she borrowed my '73. LOL, I had to buy her one to get mine back. We sold the Rossi. Although the '66 looks great, I prefer the '73 because of the lever safety.

[Wymore Wrangler]

I tried the Rossi 92, then went to a 66, love that gun, have a 73 for a backup gun...

[Hell-Er High Water]

I shoot an original '73 octogon barreled rifle that has had the barrel shortened to 17" (No, I didn't shorten it, it was that way when I bought it years and years ago, long before CAS).  I had it re-rifled to 45 Colt as the collector value was gone anyway and the original 44-40 barrel was shot out.  It has held up fine for an 1885 production gun and I will probably use it as a back up gun when I get around to getting a new main match rifle.  It just has a classic look to it with a short, heavy octogon barrel and wood that has obviously been around a while.

Hell-Er High Water

[dangerranger]

I started with a 94 marlin for two reasons, spare parts[I have one in 44mag] and price [I found one new on a clearence sale for $250 ]. My next will be a 73 win cause I just like the look.

[Irish Red O'Toole]

I started with a Rossi 92 in .45 Colt.  Used it for a year and a half.  Finally decided to switch when I had three straight stages where I left 8 rounds in the rifle.  Stove pipe jams and having the cartridge slam into the chamber mouth.  Switched over to an 1873 rifle.  Got it's action worked on and short-stroked.  Since then, it's been a real joy to shoot.  Fast, reliable, and accurate.  Can't ask for more.

[Curley Cole]

Ya like I had ta drag Old Top real hard to have that much fun...When he got that old '73, it took us 2 days of hunting to find a half box of 44/40 ammo...and he still has some of the cases left.....

But for me I started this with a Rossi 92 SRC in 357, it shoots better'n me, then I saw this EMF Hartford '92 Rifle with brass frame and SS barrell, and it was just calling to me, and I love em both. All the rounds I have put thru both of them only had one stovepipe and it was my on fault...so will continue to shoot the '92.

cc

[Tensleep]

I started with an 1894 Winchester Trail's End in 45LC. Took a while to slick it up and break it in.
I moved to a 1873 Winchester in 45LC then to a '73 in .357.
The 357 is my main match gun now.

Have had 3 92s and 3 Fish guns that didn't want to function properly, they moved on.

As of now we have 2 '66s and a 73 and an original 92 in .25-20 that is slick as snot.

Oh yeah, Miz Annie has a Fish gun now for her "B Western" persona.

[Major E A Sterner]

Lets see now, I started in 1997 with a Win 94 Trapper in .45colt, used that fer a year, bought a 92 from a pard, slicked it up, used that fer about 5 years, Got a 73 in .357 with 24 inch barrel, short stroked it/action job Shot that fer a while, Still love that rifle. Got a  20 inch 66 in .38 special this year, Short stroked/action job. I've been using the 66 a lot more than the 73. If I could find a 73 with a 20 inch barrel I would probably use that more than the 66. I like the shorter barrel. Who knows, maybe some day I pick up a 1860 Henry to complete the "Winchester family" I really do love the toggle link actions

[Stoney Pete]

I alway found the '73 to be a gorgeous firearm.  I started with the carbine, but the but was too short for me and I traded for a short rifle.  It fits and function flawlessly.