Ubert 1866 Revolving Carbine testing with Hodgdon 777, Roundballs, and Kerr Conicals

[PastorB]

I wasn't sure where to post this, as a percussion rifle or handgun, but here it is.
Took my old and almost forgotten Uberti 1866 Revolving Carbine out back to the range today. It was almost, or in fact totally forgotten, until a recent post by another member about one. I decided to go fish it out of a dark closet and give it another chance. I have never liked shooting it, it blasts your face with debris (ALWAYS WEAR SHOOTING GLASSES, ESPECIALLY WITH A REVOLVING CARBINE!), and it has never been accurate with any powder or bullet combo I have tried. Just no fun at all. Anyways, got a Kerr Bullet mold recently (225 grain .44), and decided to run them thru my Carbine. Here are the results, using Hodgdon 3f 777, a Hornady .454 round ball, and the Kerr Bullet. Target was at 50 yards, the distance from my deck railing to the fence line. Round balls were not horrible, accuracy wise, they are the group high and left on the target. The Kerr didn't fare as well, they are the bullet impacts randomly scattered around the lower end of target. Oddly enough, the loads near max seemed more accurate. Anyways, here are my chrono results, copied and pasted from my notepad. I'll try and do some more testing using different powders soon. Caps were CCI #11's, and per usual with the Remington design, had zero failures to fire and no cap jams. Still not a pleasant gun to shoot, unless you just like hot cap shards and powder buffeting your face.

Uberti 1866 Carbine 18" barrel

.454 roundball

30 grain 777

1060
1034
1041
1052
1024

35 grain 777

1197
1263
1248
1191
1248
1274

40 grain 777

1351
1349
1320
1317
1345
1338


225 GRAIN KERR BULLETS

25 grain 777

861
885
880
859
877
869

30grain 777

989
987
1029
1005
1012
1007

 

[azmntman]

Nice of you to post. Though I never had an inkling to get me one I now know not to. That gun IMHO outta print twice as good a group at 50 yds. I have some revolvers that would near match that. It's a hoot though? excpt the shrapnel, gotta have fun!

 

[PastorB]

Nice of you to post. Though I never had an inkling to get me one I now know not to. That gun IMHO outta print twice as good a group at 50 yds. I have some revolvers that would near match that. It's a hoot though? excpt the shrapnel, gotta have fun!

My wife got the Uberti carbine for me decades ago as an anniversary gift. I thought it would make a nice truck gun, and give me a little more range/power over the 8" revolver. It has never been accurate, and while I am not a great handgun shot, I too can nearly duplicate that accuracy with a standard revolver. The carbine is slightly more accurate and a little more powerful than a revolver, but not nearly as handy. That is why it found its way into a dark forgotten closet for two decades. I did kill a couple of bucks with it years ago, but could have made the same shot (4 and 11 yards) and gotten those deer with any of my .44 cap and ball revolvers. Owning one, I now see why they were so unpopular in the 19th century.