Opinions/Thoughts on Uberti SAA style revolvers

[BCRider]

Anything mechanical can break down. And it can happen within moments of opening the box it may take many years and many thousands of rounds.

But all in all I've been extremely happy with my Italian clone guns. I'm basically a once a month cowboy action shooter that takes them out a few other times a year for some basic target practice or the rare cowboy action practice session.

Pietta used to be a second class choice compared to Uberti. But they pulled up their socks some years back and these days there's precious little difference in quality between these two clone makers. So don't be afraid of buying either a Uberti or Pietta. They are darn fine guns and will do just fine for your intended use.

The link you provided is for a "stubby" version. A more classic model would be the 4 5/8 or 5 1/2 inch versions.

For what you're intending it to be used for any will/should last for many thousands of rounds over the next decade. Or they may need a part swap here and there as something lets go.

The slick detail is that the Uberti and Pietta guns are a more faithful replica of the old original 1873 than the Ruger. The Ruger has the look but it's been modernized inside. So this means that you and your girl friend can enjoy all the same manual of arms and other factors of the old west. For example, if you should choose to carry the gun in the woods you'll want to load 5 and lower the hammer on the empty chamber for safety. You'll also need to get used to moving the hammer to half cock to load the cylinder. The to full and back down onto the empty chamber. These Italian clones require all this because of being faithful copies of the old Colt "four click" action.

 

[bergmen]

Yes, Driftwood, they are rough inside (mine is a Cimarron). But they are worth spending the time to disassemble, smooth out and refine all of the interface surfaces. Mine was rough and inconsistant from 1st through 6th if you just cocked it and lowered the hammer manually. After I got through it is butter smooth and consistant throughout the cycle.



This took me an afternoon but what a wonderful, fun revolver this is. Exceptionally accurate as well. I only shoot low powered .38 Specials in this so I expect it to last a long, long time. I hand polished the brass to a mirror finish and it really dresses it up.

Good advice on the springs and their weaknesses. I can see how some of these are prone to fail. I like the idea of a wire spring replacement for the trigger/bolt spring, I'll have to get me one.

Dan

Dan

 

[45 Dragoon]

There are things you can do to minimize/ eliminate these parts from breaking. It is a "do it yourself" tuning if you have any skills at all. The wire springs are a fix but take away a lot of feel and "crispness" of the orig. setup ( and,they break too). You can tune the flat hand spring to a better performing spring than a coil (even though I changed my 1860 into a coil/plunger for experiment sake after a .45 Colt conversion). It's easy to "dial in" the flat spring as to how much free spin before "enough resistance" to prevent throw- by or over travel (also will extend the life of the spring for a loooooooong time). I will say the 1860 works well with the coil set up but my Dragoons are amazing performers with tuned flat springs !!The old timers had a well thought out system with what they had to work with and in many cases, there system works better.



45 Dragoon

 

[rodinal220]

I have two older Uberti Cattleman's 5.5" 45 Colt and they are both very accurate. I have the older models that have the leaf spring on the cylinder hand/pawl,not the current coil type. I have broken two of these,seem to last around 3-4K rounds,I do not abuse them,no fanning or shenanigans. I only shoot lead 250gr LRNFP at CAS velocities,about 715fps average.

They are not a Colt or a USFA,but both of mine out-shoot and shoot point of aim compared to my Ponies and USFA guns. If you are going to shoot gobs of ammo buy a Ruger like Tuner suggested. I would buy Uberties again.

 

[Jaymo]

.45 Dragoon, I'm interested in anything you can tell me on how to tune the leaf springs.
I have 5 Italian BP revolvers, 1 Uberti 1862 Colt Police, 2 Pietta 1858 Remington, 2 Pietta 1851 Navy.
Anything that will make the pawl/hand springs and trigger/bolt springs last longer is information I'm interested in knowing. Especially if it means I don't have to replace springs as often.
Thanks

 

[peacemaker45]

Ubertis aren't Rugers, true, but they're not made of glass either. For light duty plinking, they're dandy.

They do have several known issues, though. The internals tend to be kind of rough, and they generally aren't timed all that well. Because the guts are rough, the factory uses springs that are heavier than necessary, just to make them work. This combination leads to accelerated wear.

All of this is fixable, though. For fifty to a hundred dollars, one of the cowboy gunsmiths can smooth out the guts, lighten the springs, set the timing, and install hammer stops to prevent it over rotating. Then, for about the same money as a stock Ruger, you can have a properly tuned Single Action that's a joy to shoot.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

 

[CraigC]

The later guns have gotten better on the inside but still benefit from an action job. Although all of mine from the last 10yrs or so have been perfectly timed. Better than some Colt's and USFA's.

 

[45 Dragoon]

I agree with Mat pretty much, you can pay someone or do it yourself. I differ with him though with his final thought. I like Colt style guns with Colt style insides. Rugers aren't Dragoons!! Dragoons aren't Rugers. I have more company than you !!!! LOL

Jaymo,
The hand spring (where it attaches) is most of the time right up against the backside of the hand and usually bottoms out about half way up the hand when compressed.This is where the most stress is in the cycle. If you stick a small screw driver (or feeler gauge) between the hand and the spring where it attaches to the hand and carefully create some space there, that will allow the spring much more working area and reduce the stress. You can follow the curves with small needle nose pliers and ease the curve and lessen the tension overall. Play with this till you get just the feel you are looking for. Remember, it only takes a little bit to make a big diff.! Don't kink the spring.
Same with trig/bolt spring. If you start with a thin washer/spacer under the spring first, you can "dial in" the trig. tension (weight) you want with less spring movem't. The bolt tension should be changed by bending (slightly) the end tail of the spring. Keep the sides of the spring from touching the frame. You can thin them if you need to ( I try not to).

Remember, leave no scratches and use no power tools. Stones and sand paper/cloth only. Springs need only move enough to do what's needed, any more reduces their life.

The bolt arms can be helped with some filing where they join at the bolt. When they cut the space between the arms, it is usually left square ( ] ). You need to round the notch with a small round file to make it U shaped. This will spread the tension over a wider area and reduce breakage.


45 Dragoon

 

[45 Dragoon]

In bergmens photo, notice the hand. I'm not picking on you but, for illustration purposes, the spring is very far from the hand at the top. This suggests that there is a LOT of tension here. You only need enough tension for the hand to engage the ratchet and prevent throw by or over travel of the cyl. by inertia. This also surprisingly eases the felt friction and creates that butter smooth operation we all seek. You will also notice the free-spin of the cyl. as well ( the cool factor just increased!!!). Don't get carried away !!!! Opening the gate and rolling the cyl. down your sleeve isn't the safest way to see that your cyl. is empty (you can miss seeing one!) !!!


45 Dragoon

 

[35 Whelen]

I own three Uberti's all '73 copies. One in 45 Colt and two in .44 Special. One of the .44's I shoot several times a week and do NOT baby it. I just took my last box of 100 primers out of a carton and most of the first 900 were fired through this particular .44 with over 1/2 of those being 7.5 grs. of Unique with various 248 - 260 gr. SWC's. This load is well over SAAMI specs yet the pistol is as good as it was when I bought it used almost a year ago. It's also quite accurate typically grouping 5 shots into 8" @ 100 yds. with an occasional group down to 7".

I've slicked the actions and lightened the springs on all of my Uberti's as well as two or three for my Dad. After doing a couple and getting the hang of it, it became about a 1 hour job. I'm sure the Colt's and USFA's are slicker out of the box, but for the difference in price I can buy TWO more Uberti's and slick them up myself.

After I bought my Uberti's I picked up a 5 1/2" Flat Top Ruger in .44 Special thinking it would be my utility type, carry-and-shoot-all-the-time pistol. I enjoy the pistol and it's a bit more accurate than the Uberti's, but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as the '73's. I keep it set aside for full-house, near .44 Mag level loads.

Good luck with your decision,

35W