1873 cattleman blackpowder revolver by uberti

[murph]

does anyone have some info on the uberti 1873 blackpowder convertion revolver.It's a cartridge revolver converted to bp.Looking for more info on the net and the best price i can find.Thanks,murf :front:

 

[Zonie]

I don't have any information on the Uberti model of a cap and ball 1873, but Pietta makes something similar.

It seems to be a .44 caliber 1873 Colt style gun with a Cap & Ball cylinder. Dixie has it with either a steel backstrap or a brass one. The 2005 Dixie Catalog prices it at about $295, but Dixie seems to be raising the prices of their guns faster than the Euro is increasing in US dollar value.

Because the revolver basically a cartridge style gun, you have to remove the cylinder from the frame and use a special loading tool to charge the chambers. (That tool costs about $40 extra).

This style of gun of course never existed in the 1800s so it has no "history", but if someone were really fond of the 1873 and wanted a cap and ball gun they might be happy with it.

Related thoughts:
If I can believe the Dixie data, this gun (the Pietta) has a .440 bore with a .448 dia groove. They recommend a .451 dia roundball. The cylinder bore size is not listed.

The Uberti 1860 Colt has a .440 bore with .452 dia grooves. Dixie recommends a .454 dia ball for a .449 diameter chamber (note this is smaller than the groove diameter).

The Uberti New model Army (Remington) has a .440 bore with .460 grooves. Dixie recommends a .454 dia ball for a .450 dia chamber (note this is much smaller than the groove diameter).

Some people (myself included) feel that if the groove diameter in the barrel is larger than the ball/bullet diameter, accuracy will suffer.
This makes me wonder, could the 1873 Colt with it's smaller groove diameter produce tighter groups than the 1860 Colt or the Remington??


::

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

does anyone have some info on the uberti 1873 blackpowder convertion revolver.It's a cartridge revolver converted to bp.Looking for more info on the net and the best price i can find.Thanks,murf :front:

Hate to dispute Zonie on this, but Uberti does indeed make the Cattleman cap-n-ball version of the '73 Colt Single Action Army centerfire revolver. Cabelas "used to" carry these, and back then they were the only place that I knew of, so price wasn't a factor for consideration.

Midway does show them in inventory and supposedly are on sale for $299 right now (regular price of $399!).

As far as the other details on the operation and what-not about this type of gun, Zonie is right on the mark.

I thought long and hard about one of these guns maybe 8 or 9 years ago... but I could but ANY of the replica cap-n-ball guns for the same price OR less... OR I could buy the Millenium version of the .45 caliber centerfire Uberti--which was actually lower priced by about $50-$60 at that time.

I've had several chances to buy them "used" and passed them ALL up. I just think it's a kind of neat gun choice--IF you can't own the metallic cartridge centerfire version for whatever reason. BUT then again, those replicas always beat the pricing and so, me being the thrify Mountaineer that I am, also opted for the replica guns.

As far as how they'd shoot or maintainance or what have you, I couldn't say. Uberti generally makes a good product. I just wouldn't want one myself personally.

Hope this helps you out some. Good luck and i may say too, that it's your money and your choice.

Choose Wiselym then Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly :front:

 

Have seen a couple at gun shows (don't remember if they were Uberti or Pietta) but I just couldn't see the point of making a cartridge gun into a cap & ball - especially when convenient loading was not included (absence of a loading lever). Might be cool to collect since they probably won't build many of these conversions but I'll stick to a regular C&B or '73 model for serious work, depending on what mood I'm in. eace:

 

The cowboy action shooters in our area, already used to the 1873 model revolvers, use these in the C&B phases of the match to score bonus points for using BP and caps.

They use multiple guns and never reload during the shooting strings anyway.

:front:

 

[Zonie]

WV: Your not disputing anything with me.
I didn't say they weren't made, I said I didn't have any information about them.

I didn't want to sound negative about the gun, but for me, I would rather have something which is based on history. This may explain why I have over 15 of them historic lookin cap an ball shooters. :front:

 

[bioprof]

I picked up one of the Uberti Cattlemans and Bisley C&B revolvers when Cabelas was closing them out. I also picked up a couple of spare cylinders in their bargain cave. I think I paid under $200 for them several years ago. I also have had a Pietta 1858 New Army and the Uberti's seemed to have a much smoother action and were more accurate. Soda cans at 25 yards didn't stand a chance. They may not be historically accurate, but they are fine shooting and a lot of fun. They do take a little larger round ball than the Piettas. I think I used a .457" ball if I remember correctly.