Uberti 1873 cattleman revolver

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Black Powder frame means there is an angled screw at the front of the frame that holds the cylinder pin in place, rather than the spring loaded cross latch that is more common. Starting in 1873 when it was first introduced, the Colt SAA had a screw like this holding the cylinder pin in place. Colt started changing over to the current spring loaded cross latch design around 1896 or so, if memory serves.

Because of the metallurgy available when they were made, original Colt SAAs with the Black Powder frame were not safe to shoot with Smokeless ammunition. However, modern replicas, such as you are looking at, are perfectly safe to shoot with Smokeless ammunition, whether they have the screw holding the cylinder pin in place or the more conventional spring loaded cross latch. SAMMI standard simply means you can shoot standard velocity ammunition in it. Not the more powerful 'Ruger Only' loads, but neither are you restricted to cowboy ammunition.

 

[Paul7]

Sounds like a broken spring, an easy fix.

I already got a refund on the defective Old West finish gun, and replaced it with a used Uberti 'El Patron', ($389) which seems to be a much better gun. Sounds crazy, but it's almost like when they beat up the Old West finish gun, it degraded the rest of the gun. It just didn't feel solid, screws were backing out, and the cylinder problem I mentioned.

 

[CraigC]

Screws tend to back out on virtually all single actions but I'm glad you're happy.

 

[gp911]

That looks just like mine. Mine says "Cabela's, Sidney, NE" on the top of the barrel for some reason. It's a great handling gun, one of my favorites. Mine isn't the black powder frame though.

 

[Paul7]

Screws tend to back out on virtually all single actions but I'm glad you're happy.

After every 150 rounds?

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

After every 150 rounds?

Yes. As a matter of fact, Colt puts little tiny plastic washers under the heads of the screws in a Single Action Army, to help prevent the screws from backing out. It is very common for the screws to back out. Get a set of hollow ground screwdrivers and snug up the screws after every couple of trips to the range.

 

[Paul7]

Yes. As a matter of fact, Colt puts little tiny plastic washers under the heads of the screws in a Single Action Army, to help prevent the screws from backing out. It is very common for the screws to back out. Get a set of hollow ground screwdrivers and snug up the screws after every couple of trips to the range.

Thank you, I didn't know that.

 

[StrawHat]

A bit of thread sealer, shellac, or even nail polish (your choice of color) will keeps the screws from backing out. I use shellac.

 

[Paul7]

A bit of thread sealer, shellac, or even nail polish (your choice of color) will keeps the screws from backing out. I use shellac.

What happens if you need to unscrew to get at the internals if they are sealed like that?

 

[Hondo 60]

Crooked - that's a beauty!
I would love to have a 3 1/2" birdshead.
(that's on my short list)

It is certainly strong enough to handle any commercially available ammo.
Or if you reload, any reloads that are made using published data.
As mentioned before, just don't use data from joe internet, make sure it's from a reliable source.

 

[StrawHat]

What happens if you need to unscrew to get at the internals if they are sealed like that?

Just put the screwdriver to it and back it out. I have never needed to resort to any heavier efforts. The shellac merely prevents the screw from backing out on it's own.

 

[StrawHat]

Crooked - that's a beauty!
I would love to have a 3 1/2" birdshead.
(that's on my short list)

It is certainly strong enough to handle any commercially available ammo.
Or if you reload, any reloads that are made using published data.
As mentioned before, just don't use data from joe internet, make sure it's from a reliable source.

Lots of published reloads would be too much for that revolver. Stick with reloads designed to duplicate the original ballistics. The Army wanted the 45 long Colt to be able to shoot through a horse at 100 yards, that ought to be enough to handle most hunting needs on thi s continent.

 

[crooked stripe]

Hot loads

I don't think I will ever want to push the powder up go with max loads. Just comparing this Uberti with my Ruger SP101 4" in ..357 mag the Ruger doesn't Carry the mass as the Uberti. I know the Uberti is a larger caliber but is massive compared to the .375 mag. I do reload and most all of my shooting is for pleasure not pain so light loads is what they will be. Although if the urge bites I just might push some limits. The book does say good for any published SAAMI's loads. John

 

[Clark]

Crooked Stripe, the trouble with comparing 357 mag with 45 Colt stress is as follows.

My father was chief engineer over 150 engineers and draftsmen deigning military guns and vehicles for 40 years.
I asked him about calculating the stress from pressure in a gun.
He pulled out one of his WWII college text books "Mechanics of Materials" and showed me Lame's formula for thick wall tubes:
Stress = [internal pressure] [outside radius squared + inside radius squared]/ [outside radius squared - inside radius squared]
He said that for thin wall tubes it was:
Stress = [internal pressure][ inside diameter]/[outside radius - inside radius]
I asked him how he knew the thin wall formula and he yelled at me, "BY INSPECTION!"
It took me a while, but I can see it now, the larger the inside diameter, the thicker the walls have to be for a given pressure.

That is why the S&W 25-2s [.065" ] converted to 460 Rowland [39.4kcup] and the Ruger Blackhawks [.060"] shooting the 45 Colt Speer loads for Blackhawks [30kpsi]are running higher stress in the steel in the chamber walls than I am with my 45 Colt Cattleman [.045"] at 20 kpsi.