Uberti Schofield Indexing Issue

[Foto Joe]

Apparently the Uberti Demons have cursed me. This gun was a replacement by Uberti for a Schofield Russian that was bad out of the box. I had wanted a Model 3 in 44-40 in the first place but couldn't find one. Turns out that's what Uberti offered to replace the Russian with, whoopee!!! ALMOST!!

I just boxed this thing up and sent it back to Uberti again, this one has an indexing problem. The first thing that I noticed was that the alignment pin in the star ejector was protruding too far above the ejector. It caused the advance hand to "skip" right over the ratchet. I tapped the pin down into the cylinder and it helped but it still does it. Hopefully Uberti will not tell me it can't be fixed and destroy the gun like the last one.

To better understand the problem I've posted a VIDEO of what it does.

I'm wondering if there are other Uberti owners out there who have had this issue. It's a purdy shootin' iron and there's nothing like letting a 44-40 round crammed with 38gr of Black Powder loose down the barrel of a hand gun, but I'm wondering if I'm going to regret this purchase.

 

[DPris]

Joe,
It obviously needs work, good luck with it.

Just FYI- There's no such thing as a Schofield Russian. It's either one or the other.
The gun in your video is a Schofield. The Russian has a different latch & grip configuration.

Also, I think you'll find the repros don't work well with black powder. They're not built for it.

Denis

 

[Foto Joe]

The gun in your video is a Schofield. The Russian has a different latch & grip configuration.

What I was trying to get across was that I had originally purchased a Russian. That one was bad out of the box and Uberti replaced it with the one in the Schofield in the video.

The Russian is actually a pretty cool gun. I think the latch arrangement is stronger but that could be like arguing that top strap SAA's are stronger than open top models, which I personally don't agree with. The Russian in my opinion also has a better cylinder retention method. It's a moot point though as I made the decision to replace it with a Model 3.

As far as shooting Black Powder out of it...It's all a matter of what you're willing to do to fire it. They will eat Black Powder reasonably well but you need to keep that pin lubricated and wipe down the recoil shield with Ballistol Moose Milk between loadings. If I took the time to find .429 round balls I'm pretty sure that by loading Gallery Loads instead of historical loads she'd run through a couple of dozen rounds without needing to maintain it. But, that's a subject for another thread and another day, when the thing comes back from Uberti.

 

[DPris]

If you're happy with cleaning & lubing on every cylinder fired, that's fine.
I know many BP guys were disappointed when the Uberti breaktops came out to find they're not built for BP & foul up quickly. They're not true reproductions.
You're apparently already aware.
Denis

 

[Foto Joe]

If you're happy with cleaning & lubing on every cylinder fired, that's fine.
I know many BP guys were disappointed when the Uberti breaktops came out to find they're not built for BP & foul up quickly. They're not true reproductions.
You're apparently already aware.

Yup, pretty much aware. It would be nice if they were as trouble free as a S.A.A. but that's life. My main reason for getting this one is the same one that gets us all in trouble from time to time..."I didn't have one"

Realistically though, I REALLY wanted something in 44-40 and now that I've accomplised that I'll keep my eyes out for a '94 Marlin in the same caliber, that's got to be a real thumper with a longer barrel.

 

[DPris]

I've got a Uberti 66 and a Chiappa Bounty Hunter in .44-40. Did a fair amount of load testing with the 66 carbine a while back.
You could obviously load hotter in a Marlin than a Uberti, but among factory & handloads nothing was what I'd call a thumper in the 19-inch Uberti barrel.
But- loading to Marlin levels would not be advisable in the Schofield, if you're planning to use interchangeable ammunition for both.

I'm running a shade over 900 as a plinking round in the 12-inch BH.
Could go hotter, but not much point. It was the most accurate handload I came up with for it.

Denis

 

[Foto Joe]

Keep in mind, you're talking to a Black Powder junkie. A 44-40 actually loaded with 40gr of 3f Swiss is still just a fraction of the pressure that you would find with smokeless powder.

On the other hand, actually mashing that much powder into a 44-40 brass is a project in and of itself. I've pretty much toned down to 35 to 37 grains because when you compress the powder you can actually deform the brass making it impossible to chamber.

I've chronographed both smokeless and Black Powder on that particular caliber and what I came up with in a medium smokeless load was 6.9gr of Universal Clays behind a 200gr RNFP produced an average of 598 fps. The loads that I loaded with 40gr of 3f Swiss averaged 906 fps. These were of course just from a 5" barrel.

A 44 Special with 26gr of 3f Swiss behind the same 200gr RNFP averages out at 1079 fps out of a '94 Marlin. I would imagine that a 44-40 load out of something like a Marlin would definitely surpass the super-sonic levels.

I enjoy playing with the Black Powder loads even though they are a bigger pain to load. For one thing, I have a much smaller risk of blowing off an important part of my anatomy with Black Powder than I do smokeless. I tend to get extremely paranoid when loading smokeless cartridges, as I should of course.