junk from Uberti

[Tight_Wad]

Had a Uberti Dragoon once that wouldn't bust caps new out the box. Sent it back to the importer who sent it back no fault found - except the barrel wedge wasn't tapped in far enough. Worth checking.

If the wedge isn't in far enough, you can get too big a gap between the cylinder face and barrel. When the hammer falls it pushes the whole cylinder forwards until it's stopped by the barrel. This absorbs the blow of the hammer and results in a mis-fire.

I had no more problems with mis-fires once I got the hang of driving the wedge in the correct amount. A gap of .003" - .005" between cylinder and barrel is about right.

Tight wad

 

[Old Charlie]

Well I got my hammer spring from Dixie and installed it. The 51 Navy is shooting great! I still don't think you should have to work on a new gun to get it to fire.
Old Charlie

 

[mykeal]

Yep. You're right. You shouldn't have to work on a new gun to make it fire. You should have sent the gun back to Dixie for a replacement or refund.

That being said, your experience does not put me off Uberti or DGW. If this happened regularly I would feel differently, but what happened to you is unusual in my experience. I've always had good experiences with Uberti hardware (I own several examples).

I'll remember your experience and consider it the next time I buy a c&b revolver, but unless I see more of this happening, I'm not inclined that it should make a significant difference in how or what I buy.

 

[Old Charlie]

I did not buy the gun from Dixie, I bought the replacement spring from them. I got the pistol from S&S.
I also just found while cleaning it that catch that holds loading leaver is sliding around in it's dove tail. Not the kind of quality I am used to from Uberti!

 

[TVG.75]

I've been watching this topic since the 26th as I bought a new Uberti 1851 Navy the day this was posted. I have a few Uberti's already and thought I could not go wrong with this purchase. I read your post that evening and got a sinking feeling. Sure enough, the next day it would not bust every cap the first strike, sometimes not on the second. I did not have trouble as bad as you, as I could at least fire the gun. The loading lever catch dove tail is also loose on mine also.

Check the two frame pins that extend into the barrel also. Both fell out of the frame while holding it down while cleaning after the second day of shooting (70-80 rounds total)

I am not as happy with Uberti's quality as I have been in the past. TVG

 

[Mulebrain]

We all now pay more for these guns new than ever before, yet the quality goes down :shake:

One of my dreams is a totally "US" made Cap and Ball six gun lineup, with parts that will interchange with the originals :thumbsup:

Of course in a decent price range we can handle. I thought about later generation Colt's, but even those have parts from Italy :shake:

I agree some of the quality is pretty good. My Walker from Uberti is a real well built gun. Some of the others may have a small issue.

Why cant these guns that originated here be produced here with quality and performance that is expected again?

Guns that don't fire out of the box, is :bull: When you buy a new unfired gun, nipples, and main springs should not have to be replaced! Where has the quality control gone?

Is anyone testing the spring rates, or miking the size of the nipples

 

[fatboy]

Well I ve seen some diff problems in factory's people dont get the proper training and things go to he!! in a hand basket. Parts don't get machined correctly and its not assembled right, QC needs to be done in steps to catch defects in process, not wait till you build a couple hundred or thousand and then find out you have a problem and god knows how many got out to suppliers. New employee's need close hands on training not just show them a part and give em 30 min training, usally it wont work out well. Maybe they are have employee turn over issues and or growing pains you would think Uberti would could do better just my humble opinion ! :shake:

 

[Wes/Tex]

The reasons we'll never see percussion line pistols that are U.S. made are skill and hourly pay. I've talked to a couple importers about just this very thing and their best guess is that U.S. made guns comparable to Uberti, et. al. would sell for about three times the prices we see now. Italian labor is the thing holding revolver prices below $1,000 to $1,200 or more.

 

[Zonie]

IMO, a quality replica revolver made in the United States would end up costing about the same as a Ruger Security 6.

Both guns are made using investment castings and the replicas would have a few less parts because they are single action.

Large numbers of sales would be needed to pay for the tooling costs because a tremendous amount of money has to be spent to pay for the special casting tooling and all of the machine tooling (jigs and fixtures).

Then, there is the competition from the Italian companies that are currently producing their versions of these guns.

The Italian companies have tooled up for these guns years ago and the tooling was undoubtedly payed for years ago so they are working on a simple material cost and man hours basis.
The material cost is probably similar to the cost in the U.S. however the hourly rates are (I believe) higher in the U.S.
This could be met by having the guns produced in Mexico or China but can you imagine the howl's and complaints with that idea by our fellow muzzleloaders?

When said and done, I think the possibility of producing these replicas at a cost that would compete with the current suppliers is slim to none.

zonie

 

[fatboy]

Zonie I think you hit it on the head! I cant see us getting a compitive priced good quality bp replica revolver made in the good ole US our labor cost per hr is to high plus as you said the tooling look at the price of the Ruger bp pistols. Start up would kill ya of course there are the Illegal's you could hire to be your work force :shocked2: I'm new to the bp rev thing but Im hoping the current manufactuers will improve Quality maybe letters of complaints would make them listen to there customers

 

[Mulebrain]

I know I hear ya :grin: But what the hell, Samuel tooled up for it over 150 years ago! We have come along way in the machining end of the business since then. I really think it is possible!

I actually just emailed Uberti customer service, and requested they chime in on this actual thread :thumbsup:

As quoted from their site

Uberti Black Powder Revolvers
Revolver will not consistently fire the powder charge.

1. Check that the correct size cap (#10) is on the nipple.
2. Check that the nipple is not fouled with debris.
3. To prevent oil or water from contaminating the powder, make sure that the chambers are clean and dry prior to loading.
4. If you are using Pyrodex instead of black powder, you may have to change to a hotter percussion cap in order to get reliable ignition.


A 10 cap :shocked2: :hmm: What

 

[Zonie]

Ya, Samual tooled up for his pistol, but the first time he went broke.
The second time, it took a small war in Texas (and some major design improvements) to get his company going.

I'm afraid that the one quality black powder pistol that is currently made in this country represents the typical cost one could expect and most of us don't want to spend the $400+ that a Ruger Old Army costs.

zonie

 

If it was a better product and made in the good ol' USA, I would pay that in a heart beat. The only reason I don't own a 400 dollar USA made revolver now? That revolver doesn't look like an original anything. Give me HC and quality and I don't mind paying for USA made products.
Ruger could have done it right and didn't. :shake:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I guess I've had to tinker a bit with all my C&B revolvers but then I enjoy tinkering and will find something that needs improvement on any gun.
I think we expect too much for our money. When you buy a C&B revolver for $100-200 you really can't expect the same quality as a Smith & Wesson cartridge gun which costs three times as much money.
Why should a C&B cost less than a similar cartridge revolver? After all the cylinder of a percussion revolver is much more complex to machine than that of a cartridge revolver and all else is pretty similar. As mentioned, the Ruger Old Army costs more than twice as much as the imports and actually more than a .357 Blackhawk.
There is nothing in the design of a percussion revolver which makes it inherently less costly to produce, quite the contrary. The percussion guns being imported are cheap to buy because they are cheaply built. What can you expect?