As of this year, my go-to hunting rifle sported a silencer, polymer stock, aftermarket raised cheekpiece, and a bipod. Everywhere I went, I toted a fancy GPS-based range finder on my smartphone that was being fed data by a slick little weather station. But there’s a part of me, probably dressed in some James Purdy breeches, that thinks I should hit the reset button and get back to the guns of my predecessors. You know the guns I’m talking about. Rich walnut, blued receivers, and cartridges that can’t spell the word bottleneck. Uberti, in an attempt to help me get into those breeches, has introduced the 1885 High Wall Big Game Rifle in .45-70 . . .
John Browning created the 1885 at the advanced age of 23, and its just oozes history. Uberti has taken an old horse and updated it every so slightly to keep up with the times, but the heritage really shines through.
The High Wall Big Game Rifle is a bit of a departure from the High Walls that Uberti marketed last year. They sport a slightly shorter barrel at twenty-two inches and (gulp) a Picatinny rail for mounting your favorite optic. To help you get your eye oriented with the optic, Uberti has reprofiled the stock with a bit more rise.
Typically, the High Walls are offered in the “buffalo” cartridges, .45-70, .45-90, and .45-120. The Big Game Rifle will be only offered in .45-70. And if you hate the rail, it can be removed in favor of a traditional dovetail rear sight that matches up nicely with the crisp front post.
Uberti claims a weight of 6.4 pounds. On the floor, it handled very well, and I’d imagine that any scope that gets fitted on this rifle will be a low power model that will help you snap the gun to the shoulder and put it on target quickly. I managed to cycle the action a few times and dry fire, and it seems to have a pretty decent trigger with a buttery smooth action. The wood and metal work looks absolutely fantastic. Did I mention that the front sight is set far enough back to get it allow the barrel to be threaded for a silencer? MSRP is $1119, but street prices should hopefully be a touch lower.