Price of Uberti worth the expense?

[mb3]

I think the Cap'n has it right. Functionally they probably shoot the same. Fit and finish differences may be in the eye of the beholder. so the real question is whether one is willing to pay more for Uberti (retail) than Pietta.

I think this is well said.

 

[Poor Private]

I usually don't buy a particular brand/manufacturer. I buy for a particular gun or style of gun. A gun has to speak to me before I'll purchase it. Sounds funny, I know, but when I pick up a gun sometimes it just says to me I am what your looking for. I don't buy just to buy cause I don't have one in my gun cabinet. I bought a Tradtions pistol that originally was a kit gun (.36 cal Spiller&Burr brass frame) because it was just right. It is one of my favorite pistols. Then I bought a Uberti/Cimerron .44cal Remington with a 5.5" barrel(I use with a conversion cylinder also). It's a great shooter and 3 times the price of the Spiller&Burr but to me it's not the cost it the function and feel. I have bought 100 buck gun show pistols to $700, they are what they are to me. Wether brass framed, steel framed, case hardened framed I am happy to own each one . I currently have 15 BP pistols and always look for another- but there is that something that just speaks to me-- I can't put it in words it's an internal thing.

 

[msarver]

A gun has to speak to me before I'll purchase it. Sounds funny, I know, but when I pick up a gun sometimes it just says to me I am what your looking for.

I don't think anything about it is funny. I know exactly what you mean.

I was at an antique show today and came across what might have been a Missouri River Hawken. It was really rough. Someone had painted the barrel at one time and the action was froze. "Please save me" it cried out when I picked it up. I don't know enough about them to really know what it would have taken to restore or what it was worth. It was still crying out to me when I left it behind.

 

Fit and finish differences may be in the eye of the beholder.

I disagree. Fit and finish is not subjective at all. It is a very quantifiable, tangible thing. What role it plays in your decision making process is completely up to the individual but there can be no differences of opinion when it comes to fit and finish. It is what it is. You just have to decide how much it matters to you, as a matter of preference.

A gun has to speak to me before I'll purchase it. Sounds funny, I know, but when I pick up a gun sometimes it just says to me I am what your looking for. I don't buy just to buy cause I don't have one in my gun cabinet.

I agree, doesn't sound funny at all! When I walk into a gunshop and they ask me if they can help and I say "just looking", when they ask me if I'm looking for anything in particular I always tell them, "I'm looking for what I never knew I always wanted". :thumbsup:

 

[CaptainKirk]

I understand completely.
I'm a "save-the-kittens" kind of guy, and when an abused, misused/mistreated gun appears & appeals to me, I rescue it.
Somewhat in the manner of this "brass-framed Colt" (which turned out to e a Schneider & Glassick" repro) after a week of cleaning, polishing and tuning........I set it's spirit free.

 

[arcticap]

If I came across a perfectly fitted Pietta Colt for the right price I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.
A friend let me fire his Dragoon and I didn't like the trigger pull because it was much too light.
So what's desirable for one can be undesirable for another.

 

[mjulihn]

I disagree. Fit and finish is not subjective at all. It is a very quantifiable, tangible thing. What role it plays in your decision making process is completely up to the individual but there can be no differences of opinion when it comes to fit and finish. It is what it is. You just have to decide how much it matters to you, as a matter of preference.

I agree it is easy to determine between two specimens which one may have better fit and finish. Depth and consistency of bluing, grain and finish on the grips, wood-to-metal mating surfaces, and cylinder timing are all pretty objective measures. Firearms at a generally lower price point MAY have less quality in these areas or the higher-priced version may just have a higher profit margin. :thumbsup:

 

[Flinchlock.50]

Hello,
I have a 1858 Rem. by Uberti and I love it. I have a couple of other cap and ball brass framed revolvers both Colt and Rem repos. The Uberti fit and finish is as good or better than my Smith and Wessons. It has the best timing of all my revolvers with the exception of my S&W Performance Center 645. The locking sud drops into the notch with no drag. The cylinder doesnt have that ring around it from the stud dragging. I recently installed a R&D conversion cylinder in .45 colt. Most importantly its very accurate with round ball or .45 colt cowboy loads.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I got a Colt Navy recently and will have it out Sunday for the first time. It's an Uberti and I'm looking forward to having a little fun with it. I doubt I will hit much.

They need to tell whoever is tightening down the factory nipples to go easy. I wanted to do a swap straight off the for the Track #11 conversion nipples (as opposed to the smaller size that came stock). I found that the standard #11 did not want to fit the nipples, but since the better half's gun uses them, I figured I'd convert to #11 straight off.

After using heat, oil and time only 2 nipples came out. The rest had such small shoulders that I rounded them off, even with a revolver nipple wrench. I ended up having to drill those four out, run a square spike into the middle, twist and get them that way. Nipples should not be anywhere near that tight from the factory.

After a couple hours of struggling with it, the track #11s are in. They have MUCH larger shoulders than the stock stuff. The nipple wrench grabs right onto those and holds tight. I look forward to giving this a try now that I (hopefully) am ready to roll.

 

[CaptainKirk]

You DID use anti-seize on the threads of those new Track nipples....right?
If not, take 'em out and do it before you shoot it.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I put on Birchwood Casey "Choke Tube Lube". Track suggested it as a companion for the nipples. Is there something better I should try?

 

[Bob Riegl]

Basically, if Uberti falls to the level of Piettas the market for C&B is dead. I use Kroil to unstick nipples and then to get of rid of the rust a through cleaning with a small brass bristle brush. Use anti-sieze goop on the nipple threads and tighten. If nipples are too large to fit the caps---then the nipples should be reduced in diameter carefully by chucking the nipples into a variable speed drill and using a sharp small file reduce the diameter until the caps fit more easily and can be removed without using an instrument or force. Some people will scoff at this, I know better, don't push on the nipples with any tool, dowel etc. including your fingers. Contrary to the nay sayers on this forum---the nipples can and do detonate with such pressure. The result can be devastating to you and/or spectators, with such a detonation IMHO. "Doc"

 

[USMA65]

Some people will scoff at this, I know better, don't push on the nipples with any tool, dowel etc. including your fingers. Contrary to the nay sayers on this forum---the nipples can and do detonate with such pressure. The result can be devastating to you and/or spectators, with such a detonation IMHO. "Doc"

I was wondering about that the other day as I was loading an Uberti 1851. I too am having trouble with #11 caps fitting and was putting pressure on the cap to "snug" it up. Then I thought, "I wonder if just hand pressure could ignite the cap?" I decided to never do it again. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

That's why I swapped nipples straight off. The Track nipples seem to snug much better with regular #11 caps (I use Remington). There's still the problem of the used caps falling about, but when I compared the stock nipples to Track's, the Track ones were visually bigger both in terms of shoulder for the wrench to grab, and nipple top for the cap to fit.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I mean for the unused cap to fit above.

 

[CaptainKirk]

I have read reports by members who have put caps in a vise and squeezed the living daylight out of them with no ignition. Never tried it myself.
Best to use a capper or push stick to seat them, but I suspect, much like cartridge primers, there is a lot of misinformation going about.

 

[Zonie]

That was probably me that did that.

I totally squeezed a Dynamite Nobel (RWS) 1075 cap down from the sides so it would be sure to crush the priming compound until it was nothing but a flat copper disklike shape.

There was no way that the priming compound was not severely crushed when I did this. No explosion.

Laying the crushed disk on the flat anvil surface of my vise I then took my hammer and gave it a whack. BANG!!!!! It fired just like it would have in a gun.

Just out of curiosity and to see if perhaps a different phase of the moon might have a baring on this I just repeated the same experiment only this time I measured it.

After crushing (with no bang) the mouth of the cap was totally closed with a slightly larger thickness towards the rear where the priming compound exists.
I might have been able to crush it more but I didn't want to break the handle on my little 4" Pony vise.

After crushing it I measured the thickness and found it to be .041 (41 thousandths).

I then placed it on the flat anvil like I did before and hit it with a 16 ounce hammer.
BAM!!!!!!!, . It fired just like it is supposed to.

After firing the cap with the hammer I again measured its thickness and found it to be .021 thick.

Now that I've done this twice with the same results I feel pretty confident in saying that installing caps on the nipples with ones fingers or with a capping tool is a relatively safe thing to do.

Even seating the cap with a small wooden rod or dowel will not cause the cap to fire unless the block is hit with something like a hammer which will cause an impact on the priming material.

I know that in 41 years of shooting percussion guns I've never had a problem with it.

 

[CaptainKirk]

It very well may have been you, Zonie.
I think the exploding cap theory (and the picture floating about the internet of a thumb with the corner blown off) may well be one of those "urban legends" we all hear about.
Just like the one about decapping live primers in your press. I've done it many times with no problems.

 

[Cowboy2]

I ordered a Pietta 1860 from Cabelas during the last sale and it finally arrived the other day and its gorgeous. In fit and finish, it is every bit as nice, if not nicer, than the Uberti Navy and 2nd Model Dragoon I picked up a while back. The grip even has a good bit of figure, especially for a pistol. The only difference is the Army has just a little bit of creep in the trigger, whereas the Ubertis break clean. I'm hoping that might work itself out with a little shooting.

Which is a long way of saying, I really hesitated to buy a Pietta instead of an Uberti. I won't hesitate again.

 

[LRB]

One point not yet mentioned, unless I missed it, is that Uberti's used to come in at least 3 different grades depending on who is buying for resale. The Cimarrons used to be top of the line. They payed a bit more, then the customer payed a bit more in order to get more. The Cimarrons used to be fitted, polished, and finished much better than the average or lower grade Uberti. I suspect that still holds true.