Uberti vs Pietta 1851 Navy

Yes it is, what Mr. Hawg is talking about is the short arbor problems with current Uberti revolvers. If the barrel/ cylinder gap closes when the wedge is driven In with a mallet the arbor is short and needs to be fixed. Uberti seems to believe you should use the wedge as an adjustment for barrel/ cylinder gap which is 100% wrong. It needs to be corrected as it will cause damage later on. This is especially true of the big Dragoons and Walkers. These big horse pistols will try to self destruct with a short arbor. The smaller ones aren't as time critical but still need the problem fixed.

red rick said:

Would you say the cylinder gap that mine has is to much ?

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It's not that it's too much but it will change depending on how deep the wedge is. That's why you need to fix the short arbor.

red rick said:

What is the cylinder gap on a fixed Uberti ? My wedge is just in by hand .

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2 thousandths would be good.

My Uberti London 1851

It seems a bit nicer made than my Pietta 1860 and NMA

red rick said:

I don’t think that you would be able to cock it if it were .002 . Mine goes from .005 to under .002 when cocked .

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You don't have a "gap", you just have " endshake " (or bbl/ cyl clearance).
Fixing the arbor length defines the "endshake" and it will be the same . . .

Mike

red rick said:

I don’t think that you would be able to cock it if it were .002 . Mine goes from .005 to under .002 when cocked .

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. 002 when it's cocked, silly.

red rick said:

What is the cylinder gap on a fixed Uberti ? My wedge is just in by hand .

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You're supposed to "drive " the wedge in so that it creates a good amount of tension. Hand tight is no good. The wedge will then be pulling the barrel assembly hard against the arbor. That will allow the revolver to be the same revolver each time you reassemble.
I set them between .0025" - .003" .

Mike

red rick said:

My tightest modern revolver has a .003 cylinder gap when it is fully locked up . This bp revolver has less than .002 locked up .

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You have got to fix the short arbor. The numbers you're throwing out are meaningless until you do.

I like your new Uberti red rick. It looks really nice. Take her out and give her a go. Have some fun. ain't Nothin' like gettin a new gun!!

red rick said:

My tightest modern revolver has a .003 cylinder gap when it is fully locked up . This bp revolver has less than .002 locked up .

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red rick said:

How do you determine that it is short if not by the cylinder gap measurement ? Do I remove the cylinder and see if the barrel hits the frame before it bottoms out on the arbor ?

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Your modern revolver has a gas ring / bushing that won't allow the cylinder to contact the barrel. Your open top doesn't. That means your o.t.'s cyl will contact the barrel each time you cycle the action which means it is (in effect) "self cleaning" . . . which means you can allow a small amount of endshake ( .0025" - .003") . . . which will be more efficient and leave you a much cleaner revolver after a range trip.

The easiest way to detect a short arbor is whether it's a Pietta made in the last dozen or so years (or if it's an original) or not. All other reproductions ever made have short arbors. The next easiest way is to look at the bottom of the arbor hole and see if there a witness mark (shiny ring) where obvious contact of the arbor can be detected. Or, drop a small washer down the arbor hole and assemble the revolver. You can because the arbor is short.

Fixing the short arbor will keep your revolver from self destruction, allow a more precise revolver by being the same configuration each time you assemble it. The wedge isn't a barrel/cylinder clearance adjuster.

Mike