Hi all,
Question? As you can see I blew it again by the next post down. PLEASE! Someone who knows computers please remove the other message! Now the question. I had a customer call form Kalifornis yesterday. Evidently he got a nice Uberti High Wall at a VERY good price. Now he is unhappy as the hammer doesn`t fully cock on the lever. He says you can work the lever, insert a cartridge and close the breech and the hammer falls to a "half-cock" position. It wont fire unless you physically cock the hammer and then all is fine. He wants to know if there is a fix for this as he prefers the Winchester 85 style where you close the breech and the hammer stays cocked. Any cures for this? I have worked a lot on the originals but never on the "Italian Stallions" so am in the dark. Anyone help me here?? Appreciate the help in advance.

Aloha, Mark

Are Uberti highwalls are DESIGNED not to fully cock on closing as a safety feature? Maybe someone that owns one will comment.
If you've worked on highwalls you know the seer engages the full cock notch on the back of the hammer upon closing the breech. Sometimes the seer will not engage either notch (usually half cock) when the gun has had lots of use, or when the link was not properly hardened. The link pins "oval out" the holes in the link causing all kinds of timing problems. I've never seen the insides of the Uberti but if it's like a Winchester some adjustments to the seer and link should allow it to fully cock on closing.

the ubertis are designed to do this and they are a little different on the inside than a winchester......on the outside too for that matter.

The Cimarron Arms website has a good schematic of the of the Uberti highwall action. Unless the drawing in incomplete or something I can see no difference from the origional Winchester/Browning (coil spring) design. The location of the full/half cock notches on the hammer and link timing may be different (to cause half-cock on closing) but otherwise it looks the same as the origional to me.
Can you describe some of the internal/external differences you see? I've been thinking of buying a Uberti Highwall and would like to avoid any "lawyer proofing" surprises.

The later Winchester High Walls were available with an option, and I believe some of the training rifles came standard, with a fly in the hammer that allowed the hammer to move to half cock when the action was closed. This was accomplished by replacing the standard hammer fly, which was installed for the set triggers, with a fly of a different configuration.

I was unable to locate the Uberti drawings mentioned, but suspect that the Uberti uses a half cock fly. If the rifle does not have a set trigger the fly could be removed to solve the problem. If it does have the set trigger, you will need to modify the fly to a standard configuration.

Glenn Fewless

the main enternal difference is that the uberti uses a flat spring to operater the lever and a coil spring for the hammer, the winchester used either or to operate both. the outer dementions of the uberti are a little larger. now all this is unless they've changed it since i had one, which was in '99.

For the diagram see Cimmaron website; single shot rifles, highwall, then scroll to bottom of page & click on "parts & diagrams".
The diagram is for a single trigger action which does not utilize a fly. It would not be difficult to time the action to go to half cock (instead of full cock) without a fly. Also, it should be possible to return it to the origional Browning/Winchester full-cock on closing with a new link and (maybe) hammer.
Agree, like the later Winchesters, the Uberti uses a coil hammer spring and a leaf spring to keep the lever/breech in the closed position.

I dont have any drawing to tell the difference, but my Browning Hi-Wall remains at full cock on closing. My original Winchester does not. I assume it remains at half cock. When I complained of this to the gunsmith I purchased the rifle from, he stated that this was the way REAL Hi-Walls were supposed to work. Perhaps this one had a "fly"(?) in the works...

I had (sold it) a Browning 1885 BPCR and they all come to full cock upon closing the lever. The other (non-BPCR) Browning's all come to 1/2 cock upon closing the lever. I think there's something wrong with your origional 1885 Winchester high-wall because it should come to full-cock upon closing...at least according to Frank de Haas in his description in "Single Shot Rifles and Actions". The geometry of the link-hammer-sear timing can change with wear over the years.

P.S... I gave up on buying a Uberti and ordered a High-wall (45/70) from C. Sharps Arms. Should have it sometime in Sept.

Jon

I bought a new 30-30 Uberti high wall on on line auction for cheap, with the intention to re barrel to 25-35.

Later that week at the gunshow, my freind had a 30-30 Uberti high wall for sale. He confided in me that he did not like the sights or the chamber. That was ok news with me, because I will not be using the chamber or sights.

A year later, I still have not fired it as a 30-30 or done anything for the project, but I can tell from handling it, that the Uberti is a finely made firearm, as is my Uberti 1873 Colt peacemaker clone.

You got exactly what I wanted...a cheap Uberti highwall to re-barrel. They ARE nice, especially for the money, but I never came across one for sale. I just could'nt bring myself to buy a new rifle (Uberti) and throw away everything except the action. You should end up with a very nice rifle at a great price!

Another p.s....
Got a call from C. Sharps on Sunday. My Highwall will ship in 14 days. The "90 day wait" was really only about 40 days.

Jon

howdy folks,
maybe this will be of some help. i purchased a uberti low wall and have been shooting it a lot. last month it broke a firing pin and was unable to locate one. it is 22 rf. had to do the repair myself. now to your question. since i have been into this gun it is my observation that the full cock notch is cut a little high on the hammer so that it will not go to full cock on closing the lever. if you lower the notch on the hammer it will cock on closing. other questions. do you need to heattreat? i do not know. how much do you need to cut the notch. ido not know but it is not a lot. if you are not into gunsmithing i believe any compitent gunsmith could do this for you. once i got usta cocking it i have no problem with it. this hammer does not have a fly in it. hope this helps with your question as to why it will not cock on closing. it is made that way.
good shooting
little doc

I have a C. Sharps 1885 and the hammer is fully cocked on closing. It's in 38-55 and a very fine rifle. I may get another in 45-70.

i have been to the c. sharps plant twice. last time got a tour of the mfg.facility. they build a verry fine rifle. enjoy it.
little doc

Leo/Little Doc...
thanks for the comments. Really looking forward to receiving the rifle and getting into BPCR shooting. Mine is a 45/70, 30" #1 oct. barrel, single set trigger, and PG stock. It will replace a Pedersoli 1874 Sharps that will soon be for sale. The Pedersoli is very nice but it's amazing how awkward the sidehammer is for a left hander trying to use a blow tube from the prone position!

Jon

Brought the rifle (C. Sharps Highwall) home yesterday. What a beauty! Fit/finish, etc. almost flawless and it weighs in at exactly 12 lbs. From order to delivery was only 5 weeks. I did not order any special wood and expected standard american walnut however the rifle arrived with "extra fancy " walnut..."complements of C. Sharps Arms", a $200 extra for free!
Loading some ammo today and if the temp. ever gets below 100 deg or so will begin breaking in the barrel.

Jon