Toggle Link Rifles

[RanchRoper]

How long do these rifle internals last? 1860's, 1866 and 1873 clones. They must wear out eventually. How do you know? Sloppy action?

When sorting out my old brass it looks like I have put several thousand rounds of 45 Colt through my Uberti Henry.

[JEBar]

that's a good question, one to which I have no clue as to the answer .... I suspect that the "clones" are made out of pretty much the same materials as their other rifles .... if so, it would seem to make sense that they should have pretty much the same longevity .... our Henry 44 Mag has fired thousands (realistically 10's of thousands) of rounds .... when it experienced parts failures, I sent it back and they replaced those parts .... my plan is to keep on sending all the rounds down range that I possibly can .... if / when some other parts fail, I'll send it back so it can be repaired and we can send more rounds down range

[North Country Gal]

I'd rate the current clones as likely better than the originals due to the huge advances in metallurgy and machining. Best place to check, though, is on the cowboy action shooting forums. Those folks shoot far, far more rounds through their rifles than anyone ever did in the old days and still way more rounds than us shoot for fun folks.

[PT7]

Here is an article titled "Winchester Toggle Link 101." Quite a "loaded" article!
http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/togglelink.pdf

It states that it is an "...introductory course on the Winchester toggle link rifles," with the premise that "The key to the functioning of the toggle link rifles is their ammunition."

Some of you may have heard of this forum, http://www.theopenrange.net, or possibly been a member. It is now closed, and all the discussions/info are only available for reference. Interesting readings about "Life on the Cowboy trail..."

PT7

[RanchRoper]

Well I will just keep on shooting until the block falls out on my foot....

[JEBar]

Well I will just keep on shooting until the block falls out on my foot....

then have a gunsmith install a new one and keep on shooting ...

[Mistered]

Maybe it's time for a complete tear down, cleaning and an inspection of the moving parts & bearing surfaces and see what's going on - if anything much.

[RanchRoper]

I do pull the side plate periodically for cleaning and it is surprisingly clean in there. Very little dirt. So I oil everything and carry on.
At some point though it should be dismantled and inspected but I would likely have my gunsmith do it. He tricks out guns for cowboy action shooters so he will know what he is looking at.

But I am a huge "if it ain't broke, don't..." guy.

[BigAl52]

Were you scared the first time u tried to remove the side cover. I havent had mine off yet. Ive seen how its done just chicken

[RanchRoper]

I was worried about going at it from the bottom of the block on the bottom of the rifle. I had read that there is a guy in Italy with gorilla arms that tightens them on the Uberti rifles. It's true, I messed up one of the threads. Broke a screwdriver on it. I bought aftermarket hardened screws to replace them if I ever get them out. But for now, they are ok.

However, I saw a video somewhere that you can just back out the lever screw on the left side just enough to take the right side plate out. IT IS LIKE A RAZOR BLADE. Be extremely careful. I'd like to get an edge on my knife like that. Once it's off I can get at all of the internals.

13:18 of the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuFZYfX4_Vc

[BigAl52]

Cool video. Maybe try a hair dryer on the screw next time and heat it up before you give it a twist. Got mine off last night. Watched another video of the 1873. It was a better wat to remove the cover and did the trick. Ropin those grizs up there like you do I would think RR arms are tougher that any gunsmith buildin rifles

[RanchRoper]

As long as I eats me spinach I'm good to go.

[fortyshooter]

I have had mine off several times for light cleaning and it's not to scary in there.
As far as wear I guess the main thing is any slop that might develop in the link pins since that keeps the bolt locked in place.
The amount I shoot mine I think it will last a good while!

[RanchRoper]

Cleaned my 1860 Henry today. Took the side plate off too and checked the linkage for any wear or issues. Looks like new in there. That's after several thousand rounds. Everything tight, no sloppy links. Not much dirt in the guts of the rifle so cleaned it out and put it back together. Rifle is good to go.