Obviously Al Sieber knew what he was doing. (no clue how long his rifle barrel was how ever)
"Recent after action discoveries @ The Battle of Big Dry Wash, Dr. Sam Palmer alluded to tracking Al Sieber's movements by the unique weapon he was carrying. Sieber carried a .45-.75 Centennial Winchester and Palmer has been able to track him from tree to tree at the battle site, by the distinctive markings on the ejected shells." July 1882. Sieber killed 5 Apaches with his '76 in this gun fight
I'd been looking for either a carbine or a short rifle for a while now. Originally I wanted a 45-60 just because it would be easier to load for in every way possible and brass is cheap to make or buy. Even the load data is trivial to sort out by comparison. to the 45-75 or 50-95 once you drop BP.
So been looking for a '76 a while. A 45-75 popped up in Alaska for a reasonable price. Better yet is was a short rifle version. My favorite configuration. I asked the seller how long the barrel was and he tells me 19". Figured that couldn't be right! No matter, at the price being asked, I was going to buy it.
So the barrel was actually 20". Which I like. Likely a 22" would have been better for BP. I pulled the gun apart to check it out and do a trigger job. Turns out it wouldn't feed. The magazine tube was installed incorrectly. Easy to fix. Shove it up against the receiver and recut the mag tube for the retainer pin. Mag is now a full 1/4" short of the barrel end. Ugly but workable. New mag tube on the way. Trigger job done. Now it is a crisp 4# or just a bit less.
I really dislike Uberti's "red" wood. Took me an hour or so to strip the wood. Glad I did because the wood is great. But the red goop used as fill and cover was just a cheap fix. Three cracks in the factory stock are easier to identify now. Metal to wood fit is actually
dismal once the red paint is gone. New wood on order. Now I know why the gun sat so long unsold. Cracked stock to anyone willing to look. Selelr didn't bother mentioning it
Cheap gun just go a lot more expense. Still, I really like the 20" version Cimarron did here.
Too bad about the wood. As I really like the look of the gun now.
Interesting to know Mr. Sieber still had the '76 when he was killed in a construction accident in 1907.
Once I worked on and dry fired my '76 some, seems my '86s just don't hold the same appeal. I get why Sieber still had his in 1907. My bet would be it is the same reason I find some comfort with a 1911 in my hand instead of a Glock. Ya, I get it.