chaparral winchester 1866?

[nativeshootist]

I found a winchester 1866 replica that had a blued frame, Im pretty sure it said chaparral or something like that. but it was the 66 frame not a 73 frame. Does anyone know how these 66 rifles are? on par with uberti or something completely different.

[Mike]

They were made with steel frames but I would have to dig the info out. I belive there is something here about them.
I for one would like one but have never seen one up close.

[Fox Creek Kid]

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=37069.0

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[Abilene]

A few years back Cheaper Than Dirt was advertising it as the Chaparral "1866 Transitional" model (Yeah, right!).  A guy had one at a local shoot and at first glance I thought it was a '73 but then noticed it had no removable side plates.  Since their regular '66 was brass-plated steel, I guess they just took these and case-colored the frame instead of brass plating.

As usual with these guns, the recommendation would be against a purchase due to often poor quality and lack of spare parts, although there are a few people out there with one that works okay, just like the old ASM conversions.

[Cliff Fendley]

I know someone who had one for while. I think it worked fine till he sold it.

[Major 2]

I reviewed them @ the 2007 Shot Show in Orlando.
Charter Arms was the importer then ( short lived importer )

They had 40 x 60 ' booth space , and 98% was they Charter Arms offerings. Tucked down along the side aisle 3/4 of the way, they had two 8' tables  on that they had the "NEW"  Chaparral  a 76 and a 66.

I looked these display models over and handled them , Out of respect ( someone else's gun ) I did not cycle them....

These early show pieces were in my option , poor in fit & finish... large gaps  16th of inch  and the wood was some kinda mystery pallet wood, painted to look grained...
I mentioned this in my review, and was jumped on for my opinion by One fellow who was about Retail them.  His rebuke was they were prototypes and where rushed to Shot. I suggested " THIS is the Shot Show " would you NOT want to show your best ? , not what you can do so poorly...that shut him up....  

6 or so months later Charter Arms dropped the line, as did the retailer mentioned above...  Marstar in Canada imported them
  Sportsman Warehouse discounted some , Buffalo Arms did the same.
They've been belly up about 6 years or so now...  Popup on GB from time to time and don't get bid on....

[Coffinmaker]

For the most part, the Chaparral guns were/are garbage.  An expensive tomato stake if you will.  Poor quality control, poor fit, poor finish,
poor function, when replacement parts were available, the replacement parts were worse than the parts needing replacement.  Neither
the guns nor parts have been imported for years.  It's also my information, the maker (Old Armi San Marco) has also go belly up (again).
Unless you really want an expensive wall decoration or unique tomato stake, RUN away.

Coffinmaker

PS:  Most of their 76's were unsafe to shoot.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

I have the "66 in .357   Bought it from Marstar back in 2009, used it at the Canadian Championships and several other shoots since then and have not had any problems.  Mine was assembled at the factory rather than with sourced out parts from other countries.

It's good to go until it needs  replacement parts, then it will become a wall hanger.  The reason Chaparral went out of business was over a labor dispute.  I'm going to get a Uberti "66 and use the Chappi as a backup.