Uberti 1866 Issues

Moloch · April 6, 2019, 06:00 AM

Hey Guys!

I have a question about an old Uberti 1866 .38spc carbine (from the 70's or 80's I'd guess). When I shoot it the hammer goes into half-cock, even with very mild loads.

I disassembled the rifle and it seems to lock up fine and I cant see anything wrong with it. Brass also looks perfectly fine after firing and extraction is easy. No other problems whatsoever.

Could it be that the firing pin extensions gets so much momentum it half cocks the hammer? I compared it to a factory new 1866 and the hammer spring of the new gun was significantly stronger.

Any ideas? Is there a serious safety issue I am not aware of?

32-20 · April 6, 2019, 06:50 AM

Do you have one of the early hollowed out hammers? If you do it may be light enough to bounce back when fired. I had an early one that would do the same thing.

Moloch · April 6, 2019, 03:35 PM

Yeah it has a very light hollowed out hammer.

One thing I noticed though is it really takes veeeery little force to get the hammer into the half cock notch. However, the hammer does not bounce back when I dry-fire it. Is the tiny little recoil impulse of the .38 enough to cause that bounce?

What I am really afraid of is that the knee lugs move during firing and allow the bolt to partially unlock, but I took it apart completely and it does not look like this is possible without severe damage to the knee joint lugs.
Internally, the gun looks really good with only a little surface wear, there is no ''rattle'' and it shoots really well too.

April 6, 2019, 06:00 AM	#1
Moloch Senior Member Join Date: November 27, 2005 Posts: 1,419	Uberti 1866 Issues Hey Guys! I have a question about an old Uberti 1866 .38spc carbine (from the 70's or 80's I'd guess). When I shoot it the hammer goes into half-cock, even with very mild loads. I disassembled the rifle and it seems to lock up fine and I cant see anything wrong with it. Brass also looks perfectly fine after firing and extraction is easy. No other problems whatsoever. Could it be that the firing pin extensions gets so much momentum it half cocks the hammer? I compared it to a factory new 1866 and the hammer spring of the new gun was significantly stronger. Any ideas? Is there a serious safety issue I am not aware of?

April 6, 2019, 03:35 PM	#3
Moloch Senior Member Join Date: November 27, 2005 Posts: 1,419	Yeah it has a very light hollowed out hammer. One thing I noticed though is it really takes veeeery little force to get the hammer into the half cock notch. However, the hammer does not bounce back when I dry-fire it. Is the tiny little recoil impulse of the .38 enough to cause that bounce? What I am really afraid of is that the knee lugs move during firing and allow the bolt to partially unlock, but I took it apart completely and it does not look like this is possible without severe damage to the knee joint lugs. Internally, the gun looks really good with only a little surface wear, there is no ''rattle'' and it shoots really well too. Last edited by Moloch; April 6, 2019 at 03:50 PM.

April 6, 2019, 06:50 AM	#2
32-20 Junior Member Join Date: June 15, 2006 Location: Potter county Pa. Posts: 14	Do you have one of the early hollowed out hammers? If you do it may be light enough to bounce back when fired. I had an early one that would do the same thing.