Winchester 1873 and M1911 at 2020 Desert Brutality 2-Gun Match

InRangeTV has a couple videos up showing Karl Kasarda's use of an Uberti 1873 Winchester Sporting Rifle and a 1911 in the 2020 Desert Brutality 2-gun match. They are fun, interesting videos which demonstrate what these old guns (especially the '73) can do.

Day 1: https://youtu.be/c23ViNFqi6k

Day 2: https://youtu.be/Q-vv2OOLS7M

Observations:

The videos do a good job of how to run a levergun in a fight. If you're not shooting, make sure your gun is topped off.

Karl's rifle is chambered for .45 Colt, which is not authentic for original Winchesters but he does address that. He makes sure to note that his cartridges are loaded to duplicate original .44 WCF ballistics at the muzzle.

In the first video he mentioned that he secured the sling to the butt with hobnails. I have the same sling and used in when deer hunting 2018 with my Cimarron 1873. It wasn't all that secure, but it's a Leatherman sling intended for use on muzzleloaders. Last year I found a better option in a universal sling from October Country, which is securely laced to the stock and more easily adjustable.

Karl also mentions more than once the problems he had with powder fouling in the bore hurting accuracy. His handloads used a lead bullet on top of Black Horn 209 BP substitute. How much fouling BH209 generates in comparison to real black powder I can't say.

Based on my experience shooting my .44 WCF black powder handloads, he would have been better off with a different bullet that carries more lube. I've fired up to 100 rounds through my Cimarron/Uberti 1873 Sporting Rifle in one session with no loss of accuracy, because I was shooting bullets cast in an Accurate Molds 43-15C mold. That bullet carries a lot of lube; John Kort designed it to prevent 24" barreled rifles from fouling out when using Goex black powder. After that long shooting session it only needed about 9 or 10 wet patches to get the bore clean.

As an aside, Goex black powder is pretty darn filthy. Swiss BP is a lot more expensive but is much cleaner burning and more energetic. Goex Olde Eynsford is cheaper than Swiss but almost as good.

My rifle launches the 219 grain 43-215C bullet at over 1300 FPS when loaded on 2.2cc (~35 grains) of Swiss 3Fg, measured with a chronograph.

For my environment -- SE PA -- my Cimarron 1873 in .44-40 WCF is powerful enough to handle anything that needs shooting. It's not legal to hunt big game with a semiauto rifle in PA. The rifle fits me perfectly, almost as if it was designed for me. It's the absolute last rifle I'd ever sell.