Best Quality Cap & Ball revolver?

[tex_n_cal]

I know the Ruger Old Army is one well made revolver, was wondering who makes the best Colt copies. I have heard that many of the repros are not so hot, lots of machining flaws, etc.

Anyone try any of the LeMat or other unusual reproductions out there?

Thanks!

 

[Lone Star]

I don't have a whole lot of experience here, but I do own a Colt M1860 .44 made by the outfit they license to build them, in New York. The action is smoother than on Italian brands, and the bluing is definitly better, but the fit of barrel to frame isn't as good as on Dixie and Cimarron copies that I've handled. Frankly, if the Colt wasn't a gift from my son, I'd return it and get something else.

I think my next "Colt" will be the Cimarron or the Uberti. Cimarron supposedly pays Uberti a little extra for better finish and smoother actions, but I suspect that much depends on the particular gun...

Mike Venturino, who should know, says that the best are the Colt brand made in the 1970's and '80's.

Lone Star

 

[ruger357]

I heard Uberti was good.

 

[Mike Weber]

The Uberti's and Navy Arms Revolvers are up there in terms of quality. I've got a pair of Navy Arms 1860 Armies and a pair of Navy Arms 1851 Navies. I've been happy with these revolvers Although these aren't as expensive as the Navy Arms Revolvers I recently bought a pair of Pietta Remington New Model Armies from Cabelas and I have been happy with their quality. I've converted these to .45 Colt with R&D conversion cylinders. From what I have been hearing from the other Cowboy Shooters that I hang out with. The best source for quality replicas is to buy them from Taylor & Company. Especially with their lever action rifles. One of my friends toured their shop and discovered that Taylor & Company has such high standards of quality that they will return any guns that don't meet those standards to the factory. Their guns seem to have a custom tuned feel to them, mainly because they are all given such a rigorous inspection when they arrive. Any guns with rough actions of other flaws such as poor fit and finish are immediately returned. Their prices are about $100.00 more than from the other sources out there, but money well spent. I would suspect that they also carry these tough quality standards on to their C&B revolvers. With my Navy arms revolvers the only work that I've had to do to them was to camfer the nipples on three of the four revolvers to get reliable ignition from them. The factory nipples were too square cut with no taper to them. I could have just as easily have fixed this problem with replacement nipples. This was my only complaint with Navy Arms overall quality all other fit ,finish and performance on the Navy Arms revolvers was quite good.

 

[gunsmither]

Thanks for the heads up on Taylor and Co's. quality stuff, Mike. I'll give them a try someday. I bought a Cimarron 1860 Army a few years back, and was very disappointed in their supposed hand selected higher quality. Had to rebuild it from the ground up! Safe Shootin! Joe

 

[Dr.Rob]

The Colt signature series are by far the best fit and finished ones I've seen and fired. No comparision to the lower cost models.

Now I know they aren't REALLY made by Colt, but just price them on any firearms auction.. they keep thier value thanks to the Colt name.

Comparing my Colt Navy to my Pietta Army is like comparing a silver spoon to a pitchfork.

But both shoot well.

 

[ed dixon]

I have a '58 N.A. Uberti and I've been real happy with it. Cleaned up, with new nipples, it looks like new after almost 10 years of use. The word is Uberti makes quality stuff. I couldn't argue with that.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Ubertis are nice. I have Uberti replicas of the Colt 1851 Navy and a Second Model Dragoon, both of which exhibit very nice workmanship.

 

[Coltdriver]

Who does make the Colt Signature Series??

 

[sgtredleg]

Not positive about who made the "New Colts" but I seem to remember that it was a confederation of two Italian Gentlemen, one of them being from the Uberti family.
Can someone elaborate?

 

[Jim K]

The Colt "Signature" series seems to have problems in consistency of QC. I had one that was such a POS (loose, poorly fitted, threw by) that I didn't even want to send it back because I didn't want another one. I unloaded it at a loss. But I have seen a couple owned by friends that are well made and properly fitted. So I can only say, buy where you can see the gun.

They do tend to be overpolished with rounded corners and dished screw holes, which may or may not bother you as it does me.

Jim

 

[mainmech48]

Cap & Ball Replicas

I have several from both Pietta and Uberti. IMO, both represent good value for their respective prices. In my limited experience the Uberti's seem to run a bit better in fit and finish. The lockwork parts also seem to last longer, perhaps due to better heat treating.

The exceptions would be my Pietta-made Le Mat "Navy" replica and Starr DA Army. The Le Mat exhibits a very high order of craftsmanship. Fit and finish are superb; on a par with anything that I've seen from anyone but the most expensive custom makers.

The Starr isn't quite at the same level, but still a couple of cuts above the average for replicas that I've seen.

Some of the very nicest replicas, IMO, come from Davide Pedersoli. Relatively expensive, but historically accurate and beautifully made.