The Courteney, as I had originally planned it, was supposed to come in .303 British, 7x57, and .30-06. After a few back-and-forths with the factory, though, I was told that it could only be chambered in rimmed cartridges, without some substantial re-engineering.
Such re-engineering would have driven up the cost of the rifle considerably, and/or made the minimum order quantities way too high for projected demand-per-caliber. I had to therefore spike the idea of offering it in 7x57 and .30-06. And 7x57R is just too obscure to most Americans so I discarded that idea too after some consideration. My passion for rifles had to be tempered by lowly commercial considerations!
The amounts of orders we received after the .303 version was introduced were much higher than expected, which is a contributing factor (together with widespread supply-chain problems) for why they are so hard to find. In 2021 I also expanded the offering to the .45-70, of which they produced even fewer (even I as the designer/manager haven't seen one yet!).
@Red Leg - I have several hundreds on order and slowly but surely Uberti is filling the pipeline. They are, however, still quite backed up--something that is true of most gun-related products in this bizarre time.
Incidentally, as soon as the factory catches its breath, I will submit to them a new quarter rib designed to accept Talley rings, at first as an accessory, then if costs look reasonable, as the default rib on the Courteney. The Weaver design it has now, although perfectly functional, was a compromise that I green-lighted only in the interest of time, but a compromise nonetheless.
In the meantime, keep your eyes on the Chapuis line (the other line I manage) for something super-cool and super-African for 2022!
