Howdy, I'm a Pietta owner also. I own Uberti and San Marcos too. All the cap&ballers have some quality inferiority problems. That makes them economical so they don't cost what a cartridge revolver costs. The cost savings,I believe, are in materials and somewhat lower quality inspections where tolerances are concerned. It's something we have to live with until we convince the manufacturers that we would buy a cap&baller that cost a good bit more but is made of superior materials as the cartridge revolvers are made.
The cartridge revolvers from the companies that sell percussion revolvers also are made of a better quality steel and the tolerances in certain areas are kept to a more stringent quality control.
What bothers me is the fact that it's harder for me to buy cap&ballers to add to my collection(I have more than I can count allthough I'm intimate with each of them and know every little indioscyncrosy of each individual piece) because of the rising costs. I want more of them though. I'm an addict.
There have been improvements I have read of,allthough the published accounts of improved matreials and tolerances usually is religated to an advertisement imbellishment of gun magazine articles. You know where you read things like,Uberti has been improving the product ect.ect. without specifics. That erks me. I want specifics. If there has been an improvement I want it specified if it is noted in some published account.
Some of the improvements I've noticed are in the parts I've bought to repair guns. Uberti hands fit the hammers more snugly. Uberti barrels are sized a little smaller it seems to be closer to the chamber diameter and visa versa it seems. I could be wrong. People have measured they're guns for me and I've noted the newer Ubertis seem to have chambers that are a couple of .001's bigger than the grooves of the barrel.(if they measured correctly) Could it be? After all these years of undersized chambers that they are finally making them a better size? I have to investigate more.
I know the Uberti Cattleman caliber 45Colt has chambers that are not as big compared to the grooves of the barrels as in the past. Measured that one myself in a gun store. That's an improvement.
Anyway I know one thing for sure. Pietta has improved vastly and the tolerances are pretty dang consistant. Unless a blem comes thru the inspection line(always happens with the cap&ballers) the cylinders are right to the .001's consistantly the same. The tolerances in the fit of the arbor into the barrel where the arbor is bottomed in the barrels hole seems pretty dang close from one Pietta revolver to the other from what I've seen. Every Pietta 1851 Navy I've checked has the arbor bottomed in the barrel such that the bottom lug of the barrel meets the frame when the end of the arbor has met the bottom of the barrels arbor hole. That is a difficult thing to do on a mass production scale. Pietta does it from what I see.
The arbor bottomed in the barrels hole is the way it is supposed to be. The Ubertis are known for the wedge being able to be inserted a little too far and pinch the cylinder so it doesn't turn. The bottomed arbor stops that and when the wedge is inserted in a Pietta it stops where it should and the cylinders don't get pinched because of the barrel bottoming in the barrels arbor hole. That is a really good thing fer a cap&baller. It was unheard of until a little more than a few years ago. That is one nice improvement that I can praise.
Pietta seems to have less tight spots in the barrels too from what I've noticed in the ones I've seen and measured. That's good for more consistant accuracy.
Uberti seems to have improved the accuracy of the cap&ballers by tightening the barrels arbor hole on the arbor and changing the size of the chambers to be closer to the barrel groove diameters. That is good too. Tightening the arbor in the barrels arbor hole can diminish the cylinder being pinched when the wedge is inserted.
Anywhoooo, not long ago I would have said that I'd take the Pietta over the Uberti but now I'm undecided. I have to measure more guns.(Just sent for an 1860 Army from Cabelas since I figure I'll look at a few before I get a good one)
There have been improvements in the Ubertis I suspect since the Benelli family bought Uberti and have Beretta overseeing (it's rumured)the operation since Ubertis are now made in Berettas factory that was next door to Uberti.
Maybe some of you could post about the measurements you find on your new guns? If they are marked "Stoeger" they are new ones. Chambers compared to barrel grooves and size of arbor compared to barrels arbor holes? The fit of parts on thier screws? Fit of hammers to the frames hammer recess? You know things like that.
Springs have always been a problem in the cap&ballers. I think the springs in cap&ballers are inferior to the same companies cartridge revolvers springs. That should be improved upon. The "home improvement" mentioned about/with wire spring stock is a good one.
One improvement I would really like to see in the cap&ballers would be a hardening of the barrel and cylinder steel. Having to loosen the trigger/bolt springs on new guns before they are cycled so the bolt doesn't peen the soft steel cylinder is a crime inflicted on us by the manufactures. Having the soft steel barrels rear of the wedge slots deform so fast from normal shooting(Pietta) with proper loads is a sin commited by the manufacturers. Pietta is a good one for that even though they have a pretty dang good product.
I think all the cap&baller making companies have improved their products but there is still a ways to go. When Uberti's or Pietta's quality of their cap&ballers rise to the level of those companies cartridge revolvers I'd be satisfied. That would raise the cost of the cap&ballers even more(price is too high anymore) but I would buy one when all the proper improvements had been implimented.
In my opinion the cap&ballers have been improved a good bit compared to the past but they still aren't up to snuff. Getting close but still not there yet. Anywhoooo....before people make judgements on the certain quality problems with certain manufactures cap&ballers and label them junk(which none of them are whether it's Pietta or Uberti or Euro Arms San Palos ect.ect.) and post that on the internet they should at least try to study the product and understand the product fairly well. Making a judgement of a companies products by complaining about a broken spring ,when the person making a judgement is so unfamiliar with the product they can't identify that problem on thier own or change out the wrong parts,(understandable and no offense is intended) is unwarranted. That doesn't add confidence in the post for a person to make judgements on a product that are too wide and all encompassing because of one small failure in the mechanical aspects of the product that the complainee doesn't fully understand and label them junk. I can understand the frustration a person may incurr when a new gun breaks ,and then breaks again too soon, for sure. (shows that spare parts are a must to avoid wasted time and range time because of gun failure) I've got memories that seem like nightmares caused by inferior cap&ballers I started out with years ago and blame the manufactures for that negativity. It's a wonder I didn't quit cap&ballers altogether because of the inferior guns of the past when my cap&baller life began. I imagine there are quit a few people that try a cap&baller and in short order get rid of it and go on to other gun products. How much business is lost to the manufactures due to people quiting too soon on the products because of inferiorities can only be speculated on. Probably would add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in just my cap&baller life span alone so far. Lost money because of inferior products when the products are so close to being proper quality. What a shame. What a shame. The manufacturers should go that little extra distance and make those improvements to the products that would bring a good deal more money into their pockets.
One thing we should understand is that a lot goes into making a cap&baller and we have to be respectful of the companies that build them. They do a better job of it then we could do ourselves fer sure.
Another thing we should understand is that making an attempt to contact or get a message thru to the companies about improvements we'd like to see implimented or inferiorities in the products we have to buy would be possibly constructive and may produce some satisfaction for us.
We should all make ourselves heard by the companies that make the cap&ballers. Praise of the products positive aspects would be the diplomatic place to start.
After the mannerly praises and all then let them know how you feel about the inferior aspects of the products. :banghead: Inadequacy or inferior aspects have to be addressed by the companies making the products. They have gone to great lengths to design the guns and make pretty dang good ones but.....there still needs to be improvements made. We should demand it to be so.
We deserve a good product in exchange for our GOOD MONEY.
We work hard for that money and give up a lot to obtain it. The people making the guns do the same and have to go to work every day too. That is why they should understand why a person wants a good product for their money. See ya Buds.
