I'd like to ask DENSTER a question. You described Uberti having tapered arbors and tapered barrel arbor holes. Have you seen a good random sampling to make the assumption that all the Uberti's coming out of the factory are like that now?
What you described is what I've found ,and became quite fond of, on/in the Belgian Centaure 1860 Colt Army Centennial Trade Mark revolvers. Found that tapered arbor and arbor hole in a few "rare birds" in the Belgian Colts. The machining was impeccable and very precision. Other Belgians had loose fit straight arbors and holes. I've "fixed" a few of those Belgians from the 1960's.
Anyway I'd hope the Uberti's are as you described but.......I haven't examined any new Uberti's for a good long while. That's why I ask about them and what you have described. I'd hate to have to buy some new Uberti's to examine them.
I'd hope you'd answer my question about them and I'd be hoping they(new Ubeerti's) are as you described. The older Uberti's I have have loose fit arbors in the holes and I use the "pie pan aluminum shim" in those. When I cut a new shim(they do flatten out after awhile) to fit atop the arbor to enter the hole in the barrel with the arbor I tap the barrel on with a rubber hammer to "form fit" the softer than the barrel and arbor metal shim. Once I do that and the barrel is mounted on fully it doesn't move anywhere at all even with the wedge not in the gun yet. I tap in the wedge till I can tell it's tighjt ans away I go to shootin. I don't carry extra cylinders where I have to dismount the barrel while shooting.
Anyway that's a quick fix for the Uberti's with a loose arbor fit and where the arbor isn't bottomed out in the barrels hole. The barrel being tight on the arbor is as good,I consider it better, than a bottomed arbor. I do go ahead and bottom some arbors in my cap&ballers but not all. A few I just ,out of habit, keep the shim in the arbor hole with them. It's easy. I've been doing that awhile and to cut a new shim with a pair od scissors takes but a coupla minutes any more.
Anyway I like to find out how the newer Uberti's are in the arbor fit area and ask about them when I can. Like I said I'd hate to buy some new Uberti's to examine and it's cheaper to ask someone with them.
I go for the Pietta's anymore because of being a great fan of the "Pietta bottomed arbors". They aren't all perfect but a good many of them are. The machining can be impeccable with a good number of them. I've tuned a few of those fer people. The arbors hole in the Pietta barrels are holding a good fairly tight tolernace. There's a little space but it's minimal and...when the wedge of a Pietta is inserted and taped home I can feel the arbor bottom out and the wedge bottoms out with it. Just light taps with a small metl hammer gives me the "tone" of the little hammer that is distictive when the arbor hits "bottomed and tight". I only wish Pietta would put that stamped writing "under the barrel" like Uberti does. I still consider the Uberti the ,"Purty ones", even thought the Piettas ain't that shabby. They do have their good points in the looks department.
Anyway I'd like to hear from DEMSTER and or anyone that has a newer Uberti to get a description of how thge arbors fit the barrels and how the barrels fit the frames and all. I'd hope it isn't still that loose arbor hole with the wedge driven in that causes the top of the cylinder gap to be smaller than the bottom and you can pinch the cylinder with the barrel when the wedge cants the muzzle of the barrel up and the breech end back and down(due to the non bottomed arbor and the loose fit to the barrel on the arbor) and the barrel can pinch the cylinder.
The Pietta with the bottomed arbor does the same thing but......it's so minimal due to the tighter fit of the arbor in the barrels hole that...it doesn't get me aggavated like the Uberti can.
Any Colt open top revolver will have that tiny space at the beginning and at the top of the barrels arbor hole close and stop closing when the parts meet at that point. Even a bottomed arbor type fit gun will do it. That makes the end of the arbor not quite a flat bottomed fit in the barrels hole like one would imagine. If there is color like machinists ink put down in there it'll show that the top 2/3rds of the arbor is bottomed and the bottom third(approx.) is not against the bottom of the hole. There has to be at least a tiny space between the arbor and the barrels inside of it's arbor hole so the dang barrel isn't real difficult to come off. The reason I think why the Belgians Colts(at least a rare few) have that tapered arbor and barrels arbor hole.
I've taken that into account at times when I'd want the "perfect bottomed arbor in a gun I might be tuning for someone. I'd want a 100% flat bottomed arbor so.....I'd use the machinists ink and find what is bottomed in the hole on the arbor and carefully diamond file the end of the arbor off a little where it is initially touching like that is a "high spot" till I get...the whole 100% end of the arbor touching and bottomed in the hole when the wedge is driven in and that tiny space at the beginning of the barrels hole at the top goes down to meet and press into the top surface of the arbor. That's taking it to extremes but....sometimes I do things like that.
That means that the end of an arbor to fit perfectly flat in the bottom of the barrels hole and be 100% against the bottom of the hole the end surface of the arbor will have a very slight angle to it and not be perfectly perpendicular to the centerline of the arbor.
I'm getting carried away. :banghead:
