Uberti vs Pietta 1851 Navy

I'd rather fix the Uberti Arbor.

Pietta. I'd rather actually get what I paid for. Pre CNC versions respond really well with just minimal 'attention' and the late mods work great - straight off the truck.

I’m an Uberti guy. Thousands of opinions. My opinion is buy the Uberti and immediately ship it to Goons Gun Works. Turns it into a unbreakable family heirloom.

Get both.
You're not likely to regret it.
If you had a brace of each C&B iteration currently available by each manufacture it would not be too much.

I've had great luck with Pietta. The only Uberti I have is a Walker and it is very nicely finished, but apparently needs work to fix the short arbor. Which is a PITA IMO. There's no reason they shouldn't have this figured out by now.

I haven't owned a Pietta since the 70's, when they were selling brass frame '51 copies at the LGS for about $50 (if memory serves). At that time I had zero experience with C&B's and shot and learned as I went. I did have some issues with them, notably they tended to break bolt and hand springs and wedges would deform over time. No one had .375 RB's near me at the time and I would load undersized 00 buckshot pellets and hold them in place with newspaper wads, which resulted in a lot of chain fires, and ballistic performance was non-existent due to insufficient gas seal.

I'd be curious to try one today, but would probably want to get their NMA copy. In comparing photos of original NMA's, it looks like the loading lever plunger on the Pietta is a closer copy in length to the original (very slight protrusion into the frame opening) compared to the Uberti. But overall I understand Pietta's are farther from original dimensions in other aspects. One thing I do like to see in a modern C&B is nice, deep rifling. All the older C&B's I bought had very, very shallow rifling. Not sure if they've increased in depth in current production, but the Uberti's I've bought have.

I own 2 Piettas and 1 Uberti. It’s a personal choice.

red rick said:

Would you rather fix the short arbor on the Uberti and not see the billboard on the barrel that Pietta has , or is the Pietta better all around with less fixes needed out of the box .The Uberti cost $50 more . Midway has both of them now .

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Once you get the Ubertis tuned, they can be tack drivers. Same thing with Piettas, but I hear about their internal parts breaking sometimes and their dimensions are too dissimilar to the originals for my taste. I examined a number of their 1851’s at a gun show and when compared to my Uberti, they handled more like 1849’s. A hair too small and perhaps less durable.

Pietta's are bigger than Uberti's. Uberti's are bigger than originals. I prefer Uberti's but because of the price point I buy Pietta's. I've had no problems with them.

Used...ASM, but OP didn't ask... his loss
Used next... Pietta...newer models 2018 abd newer...really nice out of the box
Used next...Urberti...honorable mention

New...Pietta...works better out of box
New Next...Uberti...only thing left...send to goon immediately

I'd rather have an Uberti. What can I say, I've always been one that was more attracted to the prettier girl that cost me more over the less attractive girl that was cheaper and maybe had more substance. I'm just a sucker like that.

Dang!!!

I like them both but in the end, my personal revolvers are Uberti's. The finish is usually superior, the parts are the best parts ever in a cap gun ( that's where the price difference is). The short arbor is the obvious negative but is easy enough to fix. Also, Uberti barrels have fast twist rifling making conversions (45C) much more compatible. Not to mention, I'm a Dragoon fan so Uberti is the only game.

On the other hand, Pietta's are less expensive and Don't have the short arbor . . . 2 big pluses for the average shooter! They and Uberti's can be made into the same "tough as Ruger" , fast and reliable revolvers. So in the end, they are the same animal in that respect. The parts in the Pietta are modern production (injection) close copies of 70's type parts which means they take more work to get to spec. or for the out of box user, a heavier main spring is needed because of the parts mentioned. Uberti's mains are lighter because of the higher grade parts.

This goes across the Remington models as well but again, either can be made into the 19th century Ruger equivalent!!

So, whichever you prefer, it's all good and definitely can be made better!!

Mike

red rick said:

Does the Uberti use .375 balls or .380 ? That could make my choice because I just picked up 1000 .375 round balls last week . If the Uberti takes .380 , I will probably go with the Pietta .

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I'm sure someone will answer that for you! I don't shoot um, I just make um run!! Lol

Mike

Uberti seems to be better finished in my experience. Both brands typically need a little help out of the box. I say Uberti and send it off to the Goon ^^^

red rick said:

Does the Uberti use .375 balls or .380 ? That could make my choice because I just picked up 1000 .375 round balls last week . If the Uberti takes .380 , I will probably go with the Pietta .

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My Uberti uses .375 without any problem, but my Uberti is a 1858.

Every time this topic comes up the Uberti short arbor is noted but no one seems to mention the Pietta bolt head/cylinder notch issue. So, fix the arbor(Uberti) or bolt(Pietta). I am greatful to both manufacturers but lets face it, right out of the box every percussion pistol will need attention if you intend to use it .

Navy Six 2 said:

Every time this topic comes up the Uberti short arbor is noted but no one seems to mention the Pietta bolt head/cylinder notch issue. So, fix the arbor(Uberti) or bolt(Pietta). I am greatful to both manufacturers but lets face it, right out of the box every percussion pistol will need attention if you intend to use it .

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Ummm, I've never had a bolt/cylinder notch issue with Pietta.

Haaaaaa!! Hawgie !!! Another example of the "charmed life" lol!! It's not "across the board" but there's been more than a few Pietta revolvers leave the factory with ill fitting bolts. I don't necessarily check it all the time as I "clean up" the sides of bolts with 320 paper on a slab as a rule. Not a lot, just to establish a flat surface (for the most part). This is done because after the bolt block is fitted, the Bolt's flat sides increase its mechanical accuracy.

Mike

red rick said:

Does the Uberti use .375 balls or .380 ? That could make my choice because I just picked up 1000 .375 round balls last week . If the Uberti takes .380 , I will probably go with the Pietta .

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Ah man....I usually buy the gun first so I can measure the chambers.

The only Uberti I have in that caliber is a 1862 Pocket Police which has chambers measuring out at 0.372 and I use 0.380 balls for it. My Pietta 1851 chambers measure out at 0.367 so I use 0.375 for it.

I've seen some peening on the cylinder notches from late bolt drop and throw by. Not very often.

The fit and finish on Ubertis is generally better. The arbor problem is an easy fix.