My first Pietta…issues

[TDM]

Hope so.

 

[Old-Duckman]

Is it just me or does the blue look more "matte" than normal?

The polish on the barrel and cylinder are normal (since this is my first Pietta that is a bit of an assumption but a similar finish to that on my Ubertis). The hammer is a matte finish, not polished at all. The photo on Midway’s site shows the rammer parts as blued, mine are color case hardened.

As someone posted earlier, these are probably parts bin guns. If that is the case anyone you get could be different from the photo in any number of ways I suppose. The non-engraved cylinder is nice, I prefer it vs the engraved one. The rough finish on the brass is simply a cost cutting measure IMO as is the plastic grip as someone else noted.

I wasn’t happy having to deal with the issues that mine had but all is well now so “all’s well that ends well”.

Oh, BTW mine is stamped 2022.

 

[Ed C.]

The polish on the barrel and cylinder are normal (since this is my first Pietta that is a bit of an assumption but a similar finish to that on my Ubertis). The hammer is a matte finish, not polished at all. The photo on Midway’s site shows the rammer parts as blued, mine are color case hardened.

As someone posted earlier, these are probably parts bin guns. If that is the case anyone you get could be different from the photo in any number of ways I suppose. The non-engraved cylinder is nice, I prefer it vs the engraved one. The rough finish on the brass is simply a cost cutting measure IMO as is the plastic grip as someone else noted.

I wasn’t happy having to deal with the issues that mine had but all is well now so “all’s well that ends well”.

Oh, BTW mine is stamped 2022.

The non engraved cylinder would be a game changer for me...along with the plastic grips. Might be OK to shoot but I wouldn't consider it much of a replica. But that is just MPO.

 

[Tim_IA]

How are these .44's with a non-rebated cylinder???

I just went to Midway to look at these, and they show what looks like a .36 , but they are described as a .44

I came here to look and the barrel is marked .44 but they have what looks to be the cylinder from their Dance & Brother .44?

Interesting. These might be "cleanup" guns with a run of blemished or 2nd brass frames and leftover Dance cylinders from the run of those they just did.

I think you are spot on regarding the frame and cylinder.

 

[Stantheman86]

I think you are spot on regarding the frame and cylinder.

I had to do a double take after seeing that cylinder.....

These are something different from the usual rebated cylinder "Reb Navy" and they should be good range blasters for that price.

 

[Bunk]

Years ago I had an old time Cow Man once explain quality to me this way
If you want good, fresh; clean, bright, high quality oats you just have to pay the price
Now second hand oats that have been run through the horse are a lot cheaper.
Respectfully
Bunk

 

[TDM]

Years ago I had an old time Cow Man once explain quality to me this way
If you want good, fresh; clean, bright, high quality oats you just have to pay the price
Now second hand oats that have been run through the horse are a lot cheaper.
Respectfully
Bunk

Appears we are in different times now Bunk.

 

[Old-Duckman]

Years ago I had an old time Cow Man once explain quality to me this way
If you want good, fresh; clean, bright, high quality oats you just have to pay the price
Now second hand oats that have been run through the horse are a lot cheaper.
Respectfully
Bunk

Funny…however as I noted earlier the inexpensive Ruger .22 handgun I recently purchased was $194 out the door, and no issues, functions properly, finished well and shoots great too.

I should expect no less from any manufacturer irrespective of country of origin, so called “pandemic“ or any other excuse for that matter. A quality assurance inspection was nonexistent at the Pietta factory on this firearm. If you are okay with that…well buy all the Piettas you want but for me this is my last one, at least one that is sight unseen.

 

[Stantheman86]

Funny…however as I noted earlier the inexpensive Ruger .22 handgun I recently purchased was $194 out the door, and no issues, functions properly, finished well and shoots great too.

I should expect no less from any manufacturer irrespective of country of origin, so called “pandemic“ or any other excuse for that matter. A quality assurance inspection was nonexistent at the Pietta factory on this firearm. If you are okay with that…well buy all the Piettas you want but for me this is my last one, at least one that is sight unseen.

Piettas and Ubertis have always been a manure shoot

That said, 10 years ago I bought a brand new $1200 S&W 629 that jammed up solid after 6 rounds

S&W basically told me to go pound sand, so I fitted new parts myself and it works fine. I still have it

I had a Ruger SP101 blow a barrel off, they sent my dealer a brand new gun after I sent my now 2-piece gun to them and Ruger didnt want to talk about it

Turds exist at every price level and even for American made guns

The customer is the final QC now

Pietta and Uberti sell product and they put the least effort into their percussion revolvers because most people view them as "mail order toys" . I have 2 Uberti cartridge revolvers and they're perfect. They also cost 2x as much as a cap and baller.

I'd rather keep the $250 Pietta on the market than have to pay $500 for a
.44 Brasser that's "better" and then they've priced themselves out of the market.

 

[Old-Duckman]

I'd rather keep the $250 Pietta on the market than have to pay $500 for a
.44 Brasser that's "better" and then they've priced themselves out of the market.

I see your point but...what about the buyer who has neither the skill, tools and mechanical aptitude to fix a brand new Pietta?

As one poster said earlier in this thread something like "...they will need about $150 in gunsmithing to get them right". If his point is anywhere near valid, your $250 Pietta is now $400. I'd rather pay a bit more (not double) to have the gun come to me serviceable and ready to shoot than to rely on a "manure shoot". Is that the way we are supposed to look at other products that are on the lower end of a price range? "Oh well I didn't pay much for this, how can I expect it to work." Remember we are talking about a firearm here, a dangerous deadly weapon. I think the intended use of any product, especially one that can kill someone, should have the utmost quality assurance review before leaving the factory.

I do agree that in my experience I have also sent brand new "quality" firearms back to the manufacturer but that does not excuse poor quality assurance for any manufacturer. I remember reading a post on a motorcycle forum. The owner had taken the bike to the dealer for some problem and the dealer told him, "Oh, they are all like that.? I loved the owner's reply. He said, "then they are all broke and they all need fixed."

 

[Stantheman86]

I see your point but...what about the buyer who has neither the skill, tools and mechanical aptitude to fix a brand new Pietta?

As one poster said earlier in this thread something like "...they will need about $150 in gunsmithing to get them right". If his point is anywhere near valid, your $250 Pietta is now $400. I'd rather pay a bit more (not double) to have the gun come to me serviceable and ready to shoot than to rely on a "manure shoot". Is that the way we are supposed to look at other products that are on the lower end of a price range? "Oh well I didn't pay much for this, how can I expect it to work." Remember we are talking about a firearm here, a dangerous deadly weapon. I think the intended use of any product, especially one that can kill someone, should have the utmost quality assurance review before leaving the factory.

I do agree that in my experience I have also sent brand new "quality" firearms back to the manufacturer but that does not excuse poor quality assurance for any manufacturer. I remember reading a post on a motorcycle forum. The owner had taken the bike to the dealer for some problem and the dealer told him, "Oh, they are all like that.? I loved the owner's reply. He said, "then they are all broke and they all need fixed."

The weak link is not having an easy way to send them back for replacement or repair. Get a bad gun from an "unmentionable" maker there are warranties or options for repair. Lemons exist and most gunmakers will rush to make things right so they don't have customers bashing them all over the internet. Ruger fell all over themselves to make things right for the SP101 plus 3 other brand new revolvers that were fitted too tight, all made during the same time period. I had my guns back in days, with free grips, a T-Shirt and a bumper sticker

The Italian gunmakers don't seem to really care. They have a different business model than Americans are used to. I had a Pietta shoot loose in one day, in 2008 and I emailed Pietta and they pretty much laughed at me and told me new barrels were available from Taylors or in so many words, buy a new gun and try again......I had no recourse, I was beat. I just parted the gun out and took at as, this is the game if I want to shoot percussion revolvers I get over the mail for (then) $150 .

Keep in mind, how repro percussion revolvers came to be.......Spaghetti Westerns, the Civil War Centennial and the fact that American gun laws didn't even view these as "guns" spurred a chance for Italian gun makers to make big $$ in the 1960's. The brassers back then were junk, and were pretty much intended for blank firing. The new Italian cap and ballers are light years ahead of the old 1960's-70's Ubertis and others. Even today the percussion revolvers don't have to meet any SAAMI specs or any other specs, like their cartridge guns do and those are regulated by law to need to be able to handle modern ammunition to be sold in the US as Firearms. The percussion guns exist in a gray area where they are regulated by nothing, Pietta doesn't need to guarantee anything. You're buying a "non gun", you may get a good one, you may get a Friday afternoon special. In a weird way, we want it to stay that way so we can continue to just buy them and shoot them with no hassles. Grey Area is a good thing. I'd rather have to try my hand at gunsmithing here and there than have to do paperwork and transfer these as "firearms". I probably wouldn't bother with them at that point.

We see them as "weapons", Pietta sees them as "product".

Cimarron and Dixie have good Customer Service and will take guns back if they arrive out of spec, Midway won't, Taylor's and EMF I hear are good. It depends on if you bought it from a place that specializes in Western or blackpowder guns or a box store.

That said, about an hour ago I just purchased a pair of these $230 brassers, I couldn't resist. 2 Piettas for less than $500.....we won't see these prices for long. I have a take off pair of wood grips laying around and I think them being .44's with the non-stepped cylinder just looks cool.....they will make good range poppers. It felt good to just hit "Place Order" and roll the dice. I'll see what I get in a week or so. It's Italian Roulette time once again

Basically , the way it was explained to me , was that Pietta and Uberti make their revolvers within a functional standard , and they know most people rarely shoot them. If some lemons come back from distributors, oh well, it's cheaper than doing better QC. I've never, in the dozen Piettas I've purchased recently, had one that was unshootable out of the box. Some developed issues after several hundred rounds, some stayed tight through lots of use, some were sloppy out of the box, but all of them were able to be loaded and fired before I did any "tweaking". That;'s all Pietta is concerned about. And most buyers really just know or care as long as it goes bang. if the chambers don't line up perfectly but the gun still shoots, it's within spec.

I don't know what the $150 in gunsmithing thing is about, the most I've had to buy is 2 new hammers for a pair of Pietta .36 Navies that had cams that went soft. $50 later I was back in business and they're still shooting. I've spent $0 on gunsmithing and I've got a pile of both brands. And the gunsmithing skills of an untrained ape. All my Piettas shoot and I shoot them regularly. Some needed some break in, some were just fine. I've stuffed tin foil in Uberti armors, used washers also, I have Piettas with "crunchy" actions, some have sloppy cylinder lockup but they all safely shoot.

When I was in my late teens early 20's, I knew nothing about anything mechanical , I used to buy cap and ballers at Gander Mt, drive out into the woods and shoot them with Pyrodex, whatever caps they had and balls. They all fired, I didn't know what good accuracy looked like, or cared, the guns went bang and I put holes in cans and trees. I was the "average buyer" at that time. I wanted cool Civil War guns and they went bang, life was good. If they were off mechanically I couldn't tell it. Now I find all kinds of "faults" that I never knew were "faults" years ago.

 

[Ed C.]

Piettas and Ubertis have always been a manure shoot

That said, 10 years ago I bought a brand new $1200 S&W 629 that jammed up solid after 6 rounds

S&W basically told me to go pound sand, so I fitted new parts myself and it works fine. I still have it

I had a Ruger SP101 blow a barrel off, they sent my dealer a brand new gun after I sent my now 2-piece gun to them and Ruger didnt want to talk about it

Turds exist at every price level and even for American made guns

The customer is the final QC now

Pietta and Uberti sell product and they put the least effort into their percussion revolvers because most people view them as "mail order toys" . I have 2 Uberti cartridge revolvers and they're perfect. They also cost 2x as much as a cap and baller.

I'd rather keep the $250 Pietta on the market than have to pay $500 for a
.44 Brasser that's "better" and then they've priced themselves out of the market.

Ditto. I purchased a Uberti cartridge revolver and paid extra big bucks to have it tuned by Cimarron. Right out of the box it would randomly miss cylinder lock up at full cock due to the hand coil spring being only half as long as it should have been. Like if it was broken but I couldn't find the other half. Anyway, I replaced it and have to say the rest of the tuning was done very well.

 

[Stantheman86]

Ditto. I purchased a Uberti cartridge revolver and paid extra big bucks to have it tuned by Cimarron. Right out of the box it would randomly miss cylinder lock up at full cock due to the hand coil spring being only half as long as it should have been. Like if it was broken but I couldn't find the other half. Anyway, I replaced it and have to say the rest of the tuning was done very well.

I paid $1400 for a brand new Pedersoli CS Richmond and the hammer hits the nipple off-square. It still pops the cap but it still irks me.

I'm sending it off to Lodgewood for a defarb and I'll just have them fix it while it's there.

The rifle is a tackdriver otherwise, it's like the Italians have to throw in at least one quirk in every gun to keep it interesting

 

[45D]

A company ( USFA ) started with Uberti revolvers/ parts and assembled some of the most sought-after SA revolvers today. They eventually transitioned them to American made revolvers. The point is, the foundation is there to make these revolvers into extremely accurate ( mechanically) examples that rival $2,000 revolvers. It'll cost more than $150 but it can be done and is done on a regular basis.

Mike

 

[Ed C.]

I paid $1400 for a brand new Pedersoli CS Richmond and the hammer hits the nipple off-square. It still pops the cap but it still irks me.

I'm sending it off to Lodgewood for a defarb and I'll just have them fix it while it's there.

The rifle is a tackdriver otherwise, it's like the Italians have to throw in at least one quirk in every gun to keep it interesting

Lol! Yes, true...every time!

 

[Trot]

I just received a steel framed Pietta 1851 Navy from EMF. Other than the usual not quite perfect grip to frame fit, I see no real issues. It does have the black hammer which I am not totally thrilled with but guess I can live with that.

 

[Rebel jim]

The plastic grip is just a way to make the guns cost less

I have a few sets of the Get a Grip on It guys grips, he sells on Ebay

I to have the same grips from Get a Grip, they are not as slick ( when oily or sweaty) as the cheap grips from pietta.

 

[Rebel jim]

If Pietta is cranking out mishmash Frankenguns made of parts from 3 different models , they must have rushed to fill built up orders during the Pandemic, and rushed together bunches of guns. Now they're cleaning out the parts bins to put together saleable guns with plastic grips to sell as cheapies, while they , I assume, gear up for the next batches of various models.

Midway is slowly selling out of some stuff and the backorder dates have come and gone, and they are still sold out. So it could mean the sloppily assembled batch is already out . Prices will probably be higher for the next batch though.

Hopefully things settle down, and they can make guns with some QC now

Supply from Europe is in bad shape and guns that were cheap are now getting more expensive.
And Now the popularity of brass frame revolvers has increased. Which is making it harder to get new shooters involved in our sport.
If the world doesn't come to its senses soon, "We The People" may end up with no new guns at all.

 

[Stantheman86]

Supply from Europe is in bad shape and guns that were cheap are now getting more expensive.
And Now the popularity of brass frame revolvers has increased. Which is making it harder to get new shooters involved in our sport.
If the world doesn't come to its senses soon, "We The People" may end up with no new guns at all.

I had heard, whether it's true or not, that wood is very expensive in Europe. It is here so it makes sense. So, this may be why all these "Marshall " and "Sheriff" Navies with plastic grips are coming out

If Pietta can't offer cheap brassers then it will definitely hurt their bottom line, because people aren't paying $4-500 for a brass frame cap and baller

Basically, that's why I advise people to just be happy with what he have, and can get because someday , being able to just buy percussion revolvers whenever we want will feel like when older guys talk about getting bolt action rifles from the Sears catalog

 

[Stantheman86]

I to have the same grips from Get a Grip, they are not as slick ( when oily or sweaty) as the cheap grips from pietta.

I like them, they look and feel great on my Uberti Dragoon. They're almost a little "tacky"

I have a set of his "Pearl " grips for a pair of Pietta navies I need to fit