pietta or uberti??

[M. De Land]

damn thats some good shootin

Truth is most of these guns fresh from the factory with no tweaking have far more accuracy potential than will ever be realize by their owners, me included. A good pistol shot can take advantage of any available accuracy , the tuned guns make it easier for him to do so.
The tuning makes them more manageable and easier to extract and experience the accuracy potential available in the arm.
The stuff we gun mechanics do to them does enhance accuracy to some degree but if the potential is not their to begin with the gun will never be really accurate.
A very good and old friend of mine relates an event he witnessed as a young shooter at a pistol range in Texas many years ago.
A new pistol shooter had just purchased a revolver in cartridge persuasion and was having trouble hitting anything with it and proclaimed the gun inaccurate. An old timer asked if he could have a go at it with the new pistol and the owner obliged. He set out a Shlitz beer can on a nail in a post with a red globe on it about the size of a 50 cent piece my friend said, at about twenty five yards and proceeded to empty six rounds through the red globe on the can in one ragged hole. He hands the gun back to the owner who was awe struck and said "Son , ain't nothing wrong with your gun" and walked away! Later it was learned the shooter was a member of the 2600 club which is comprised of the best target shots in the country. True Story !

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Truth is most of these guns fresh from the factory with no tweaking have far more accuracy potential than will ever be realize by their owners, me included. A good pistol shot can take advantage of any available accuracy , the tuned guns make it easier for him to do so.
The tuning makes them more manageable and easier to extract and experience the accuracy potential available in the arm.
The stuff we gun mechanics do to them does enhance accuracy to some degree but if the potential is not their to begin with the gun will never be really accurate.
A very good and old friend of mine relates an event he witnessed as a young shooter at a pistol range in Texas many years ago.
A new pistol shooter had just purchased a revolver in cartridge persuasion and was having trouble hitting anything with it and proclaimed the gun inaccurate. An old timer asked if he could have a go at it with the new pistol and the owner obliged. He set out a Shlitz beer can on a nail in a post with a red globe on it about the size of a 50 cent piece my friend said, at about twenty five yards and proceeded to empty six rounds through the red globe on the can in one ragged hole. He hands the gun back to the owner who was awe struck and said "Son , ain't nothing wrong with your gun" and walked away! Later it was learned the shooter was a member of the 2600 club which is comprised of the best target shots in the country. True Story !

That's a awesome story.

My most accurate gun is a Pietta that started it's life out as a brass framed 1851 44 Navy. It was super accurate even at 65-100 yards. But around 20-30 yards it really shined.
This year I bought a new steel frame off eBay for the ol brasser. Once it got here and I put it together I darn near had to tap it together with a red a rubber hammer to get it to attach to the barrel. The fitment is so spot on and tight the wedge is just there and all the tight fitment seems to be from how well and precise the CNC machined Pietta tolerances are .

I'm not the best pistol shooter in the world but with this particular gun I ain't half bad.

Attached is a photo of the gun in this story.
1 dead pumpkin /15 shot group / 30 GN Olde Eyensford / .454 Round ball / 18 - 25 yards offhand duelist style

 

[ZUG]

Good handgun accuracy is attained by practice and more practice. Once you get that down then you get the gun up to IT'S best potential. They work as a team - you and the gun!

 

[No second place]

Good handgun accuracy is attained by practice and more practice. Once you get that down then you get the gun up to IT'S best potential. They work as a team - you and the gun!

Regrettably for some match shooters this old tale is all to commonly considered the best way to improve their scores. Most competitors fail to give learning what techniques work best for them are at least as or more important than practice. Practicing poor technique over and over is what I observe the most from shooters in the lower levels. The average range plinkers tech. is so minimal it may only take 10min. to improve their scores 25-100% when taught by a higher level shooter. Practice your good tech...Improve your good tech... Or don`t, we need people filling out the lower levels also who like to say they just come to the matches to socialize and have fun...c

 

[ryoung14]

FWIW I have two late model Pietta 1858 Sheriff's models (short 5" barrel). POI for both is about 4" left of POA at 50'. Both will need sight work

I have two late model Pietta 1858 standard models (8" barrel). POI for both appears to be same as POA at 50'. Both are older than the Sheriff's models but 2016 or newer.

All seem to group well, considering my capabilities. Lockup is good to very good. Cylinder interchangeability between guns is no problem. Have never owned a Uberti.

 

[mushka]

I have the 51 Pietta in .36 cal and the Uberti 60 in .44 cal. They are both of recent manufacture and function and shoot well. I can't find fault with either of them but I did put slikshot nipples on both though they did not need them to work well. The slikshots were suggested by those on this board so I just put them on. Both are excellent revolvers in my opinion.

 

[Zapadach]

1858 revolver which is bestest ???

I have a Uberti 3rd model dragoon which is about three years old, excellent shooter, very good quality in fit and finish. I also have a Pietta Remington 1858, with a larger frame and grips from dixie gun works that is about 18 months old, it is a excellent shooter, very good fit and finish. I also have a 1860 army colt from Pietta that is about 30 years old, it is a total piece of garbage. Pietta has definitely improved over the years.

 

[wb78963]

All this talk has me going to get my Pietta 1861 Navy revolver out and do some serious shooting tomorrow. i just broke into a pound of FFFg powder which is KIK brand. Round ball and CI#11 caps and away we go!
Holding center
we shall see
Bunk

 

[M. De Land]

An interesting side note on accuracy I discovered many years ago concerning revolvers had to do with miss alignment of cylinder and barrel. I was doing a tune up on said revolver and found this misalignment consistent in each chamber.
I always test fire any gun I work on and had it in my mind that this particular gun would probably spit lead and be horrible inaccurate.
I found I was wrong on both accounts when testing it from a bench over sand bags. Yes it was slightly misaligned but it was consistent in each chamber and the gun simply did not care about my gun school technical theory as it proceeded to stack the bullet holes in nearly the same place on the target and gave no hint of lead spitting.
Having said that I absolutely believe in line boring as a major accuracy enhancement in custom guns.
What has surprised me on most of these Italian guns of early vintage is the inconsistency in chamber mouth diameter and roundness. That makes sense when chambers are gang reamed and each reamer will have a plus/minus sharpening tolerance.
Most have tight and loose spots in the bore as well when checked with a plug gauge.
Also, CNC driven or not all these machines have to be calibrated regularly or they will not turn out any more accurate work then before. Computerized Numerated Control (CNC) is not magic but is very useful for repeat work accuracy if kept calibrated in the machine it is directing.

 

[bang]

I've never had any issues with any CNC. Made Pietta right out of the box. Even the older 1858 ( can't remember producer off hand, has dove tailed front sight) works great. Even milled the frame to take the Pietta cylinder since no spare cylinders are available for it. In the end it has a superb low end cylinder gap. My old ASM Walker functions just as well as does my one Uberti. I did have to fix the short arbor on the Walker, dress the crown and I reamed the cylinder bores to .451, just my preference, but it is old after all and not CNC made.
But any of the modern manufacturing generally have very few issues. Still it never hurts to disassemble, make sure every surface is smooth and debured then lube with good lube
Is warranted. Any can have a fluke. I use Aluminum anti sieze compound for its good cohesive and high temperature quality plus it is smooth as silk.
My Pietta 1858 target model are my go to pair.
Only had to move the windage just a tad and they are accurate all day long.

 

[necchi]

1858 revolver which is bestest ???

Well, threads 10 days old with great responses.
So I think it's safe to say, that to honestly answer your question we need a little background information.
Do you prefer Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, or Foreign models?

 

[CyrusP]

I have one of the first 500 1858 Remington NMA that were made by Uberti for Val Forgett's Navy Arms. At the time Navy Arms was still in Bogota New Jersey at the time and the barrel is so marked. The date code is 1960, both the fit and finish are superb but I'm sure the new ones are better with CNC machining.

I had the pleasure of seeing Val a few times in the Navy Arms Ridgefield Park location. That was a great shop back then! I lived pretty close and visited/purchased often.

 

[springfield art]

Your OP is sure to get attention. Aldo Uberti was the first to make Reproductions. I
think Val Forgett of Navy Arms smuggled black powder pistols into Italy to use
as patterns. Forgett died in early 2000s or so. He was the Father of Reproduction
Black Powder Arms. Knight Pietta made shotguns and turned to Reproductions
as the market developed. The Bernadelli/Beretta people bought out Uberti leaving
Pietta as a Family owned independent Firm. Italy and Spain are known for gun-making
families and regions where gunsmiths historically produced guns for the Market.
To answer the quality question you must know the years of production. Today both
revolvers are being made by computer milling machines to a high standard. However,
Reproductions of any year or brand could benefit from a final inspection and tune
by pistolsmiths---some who are members here. I love Ubertis--but Piettas have been more
accurate for me.

I have a single-action unmentionable 1870's type revolver made by Uberti after they were taken over by Beretta. It's a very nice piece!

 

[springfield art]

I had the pleasure of seeing Val a few times in the Navy Arms Ridgefield Park location. That was a great shop back then! I lived pretty close and visited/purchased often.

I went up there in the 1970's determined to buy ( I think ) a Navy revolver. To my surprise they had none there! It was many years ago, but after a long drive, etc., they guy at the counter seemed surprised I wanted to actually buy one in person. Boy, the stuff we all may have done as young, unseasoned guys. It was a heck of a drive, and today the North Jersey area is sobering to drive.

 

[Jcasey]

Uberti all the way

 

[Gee Dog]

Pietta, all the way.

 

[Erwan]

Well, I've three Pietta and all are good with them, I'ave one Uberti and an ARTAX. I had to rectify the arbor (or cylinder axle) of the Uberti, and all is expensive for that brand...
Before, long time ago the Uberti's were the bests Italian handguns, but it was before, now Uberti is a little brand in the Beretta galaxy and you can't make good weapons by a board of directors...
Now the Pietta's are fines and reliable...

 

[borne2fly]

An interesting side note on accuracy I discovered many years ago concerning revolvers had to do with miss alignment of cylinder and barrel. I was doing a tune up on said revolver and found this misalignment consistent in each chamber.
I always test fire any gun I work on and had it in my mind that this particular gun would probably spit lead and be horrible inaccurate.
I found I was wrong on both accounts when testing it from a bench over sand bags. Yes it was slightly misaligned but it was consistent in each chamber and the gun simply did not care about my gun school technical theory as it proceeded to stack the bullet holes in nearly the same place on the target and gave no hint of lead spitting.
Having said that I absolutely believe in line boring as a major accuracy enhancement in custom guns.
What has surprised me on most of these Italian guns of early vintage is the inconsistency in chamber mouth diameter and roundness. That makes sense when chambers are gang reamed and each reamer will have a plus/minus sharpening tolerance.
Most have tight and loose spots in the bore as well when checked with a plug gauge.
Also, CNC driven or not all these machines have to be calibrated regularly or they will not turn out any more accurate work then before. Computerized Numerated Control (CNC) is not magic but is very useful for repeat work accuracy if kept calibrated in the machine it is directing.

I've seen this sort of misalignment in a Uberti Dragoon, and a Uberti Walker. Maybe .020" or so. Sighting down the barrel, the out-of-alignment was both vertical as well as rotational, so modifying the indexing would only be a partial solution. Is there any standard procedure for fixing this?
All I can think of is to remove the cylinder, overbore each chamber, press in sleeves, and re-bore each chamber to it's corrected centerline. But I'm reluctant to remove that much metal from a cylinder, seems like a dangerous proposition.

 

[M. De Land]

FWIW I have two late model Pietta 1858 Sheriff's models (short 5" barrel). POI for both is about 4" left of POA at 50'. Both will need sight work

I have two late model Pietta 1858 standard models (8" barrel). POI for both appears to be same as POA at 50'. Both are older than the Sheriff's models but 2016 or newer.

All seem to group well, considering my capabilities. Lockup is good to very good. Cylinder interchangeability between guns is no problem. Have never owned a Uberti.

I have an 80's version Pietta 58 target model that I've gone completely through to accurize and it is my most accurate percussion gun even beating out my ROA centennial model in blued steel,which is plenty accurate. I ordered a spare cylinder for it that fits up and groups well but shoots to an entirely different point of aim. Apparently the chamber alignment is different from the cylinder that came in the gun.