Uberti pistols

[Hecter]

I was wondering how the Uberti copies of Colt's SAA have worked out for you shooters. I am thinking of buying one in 45LC. Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Griff]

I've heard better things of the Pietta copies. The Ubertis have had a rep of being poor spring makers, their steels are softer than others, and that can lead to earlier repairs if put to hard use.

With that said, all my guns have been to gunsmiths for spring replacement and some other modifications, including replacing the hands, replacing the flat Colt-type hand spring with a Ruger type coil spring & plunger, among others. This includes my Colt SAAs also. But, that is mainly because my handguns are put to hard, repetitive use. Even tho' I don't compete to the level I used to, nothing is more frustrating than having your firearm break in the middle of a match. And whether I shoot once every 3 or 4 months or 3 or 4 times a month, the speed factor during each use is where the stress on the gun is.

Don't get me wrong, if you're just wanting a sixgun to go plinkin' with, you won't be disappointed. But, if you wanna be a competitor in cowboy action shooting, plan on spending some extra dollars on getting them tuned and some of the weak parts replaced. That applies to whatever brand you buy. Even some of the top of the line imports, especially made for cowboy action shooting have some trouble spots.

[Buck Elliott]

Griffs asessment was right on, a few years ago. Over the last several years, A. Uberti & cia has made significant strides in quality control. Since the Beretta buy-out of Uberti, their quality has gone up even more. Their metallurgy, heat treatment, fit and finish are top notch, IMO, and I ain't an easy one to please.

While a Uberti is certainly not a Colt (or a Winchester...) it will prove to be a very good, more-than-serviecable revolver. I have three of them, and they are my constant-carry guns, by turns. Two of them bear the Beretta name, and the other came fron Taylors. The Berettas have a transfer bar safety system ( a la Ruger) while the Taylors gun has a conventional hammer (sans D-block safety) that I ordered from VTI Gunparts. All three were near-perfectly timed out of the box. The 5 1/2" Taylors gun is absolutely perfect in that respect, and the other two are right on the money. The 7 1/2" Beretta is a low-numbered gun (B000XX) and is as nicely finished as any revolver I've owned.

All three have music wire bolt & trigger springs, and coil spring & plunger hand spring arrangements.

[Doc Hudson]

i can't speak for the .45's, but my Uberti-made America Arms Regulator in .44 S&W Special/ .44-40 WCF is a fine shooter.

The action is smooth and the trigger quite acceptable.

I won't claim it is bullseye-competition accurate, but it will shoot minute of chest about as far as I can see someone who needs shooting.

[JReed]

Bought this one in .45 for my wife back in 05 it is a nice handling gun and shoots well with my loads. If it wasn't so purdy I would find a way to carry it. I wouldn't use it for CAS without good springs. The timing is spot on and the trigger breaks clean and light. All in all a pleasure to shoot.

[Pisgah]

I have owned 2 Ubertis, a .44 mag Buckhorn and my current Cattleman Flat Top Target .45 Colt. Both were good guns; in fact, the Flat Top vies with a long-ago-sold Colt Python as the very finest built-finished-and-shooting revolver I have ever encountered.

As an aside, the most accurate revolver I ever owned was a 6-inch Taurus Model 66 .357 with a 2xTasco pistol scope mounted. I could post a target with 6 dime-sized bullseyes on it and hit every bullseye with a cylinderful when I had it benchrested. In fact, one time a buddy was scoffing at me for missing the paper altogether, six shots in a row -- until he walked out to the target and realized each black bullseye was now a hole!

[Hobie]

Well, when my holster for the Remington 1858 comes up in the queue I think I'll be using it and carrying it in the field. It doesn't seem to have ANY problems so far. However, I really haven't had much chance to shoot it as much as I'd like.

[Buck Elliott]

Well, when my holster for the Remington 1858 comes up in the queue I think I'll be using it and carrying it in the field. It doesn't seem to have ANY problems so far. However, I really haven't had much chance to shoot it as much as I'd like.

Very soon...

[Ysabel Kid]

I've never had a lick of problems with any of mine, and I have several. I don't compete with them though. For CAS, Ruger is the way to go. Built like Fort Knox. For a resonably-priced reproduction of the Colt SAA, Uberti's are a great buy.

[gak]

+1 Ysabel Kid - well put. Have Uberti, Ruger, USFA and Colt. All have their place. The Uberti (Cimarron) has been a gem. It is not "the others"; neither are they a Uberti. Want a good looking and decent shooting, traditional 4-click/half notch facsimile of a Colt for 1/2-1/3 the price?--Uberti is the way to go IMO. I admit, for "only" $150-200 more, the USFA Rodeo stands somewhat in the way of this perspective, but you a) can't get it in .357 if that's your thing and b) not abiding its finish, takes some antiquing (or other refinish)--which takes extra $ or at least effort--to make it right (for me). If an affordable, new-looking polished/CCH "Colt type" is what you're after, get a Uberti.

[twoguns]

I have three Uberti Cattlemans in 45LC and I'm happy with them. The price was good and I don't mind doing some 'smithing to slick up the internals, replace springs and dress them with nice grips. They were NOT slick as purchased but OK. the timing was nearly perfect and only required a wee bit of stoning on the hammer cam to get the bolt dropping at the right spot. I replaced the main spring (and trigger-bolt spring) with with Wolff springs that I reground and polished for a slicker action. My wife and I have been using a matching pair for Cowboy Fast Draw and I can discern no wear or problems yet. They also appear to be accurate enough for the intended purpose. Some day I'll have a Colt but these are making me happy right now.

As purchased in a Gun Broker Auction:


New Cocobola grips





Best of luck in your shopping.

[KentuckyLevrgunr]

I have a '36 Navy that had hand spring problems too. Had to replace the old flat spring twice then said heck with originality and got me a Wolff coil spring. I also put a small pad of leather under the hammer spring and it's worked great since then. Trigger and hammer are both smooth and light enough to enjoy recreationally. But this gun was bought before Uberti was bought by Beretta. I wouldn't doubt the quality of their springs has gone up since then.

[Sarge]

Buck- did your Stampedes shoot pretty close to the sights with standard weight bullets to, say, 25 yards?

[Buck Elliott]

Had to turn barrels on both Stampedes in just a smidge, to bring POI on top of POA. That has been my experience with almost ALL SA revolvers lately, no matter who made 'em... The Taylor's gun is right on the money out of the box.

Elevation is just right at 50 yards, with both the loads I shoot in "regular" .45 Colts.

[Sarge]

Thanks, Buck. How far off would you say the windage was, in inches, and were they both off in the same direction?

[Buck Elliott]

3 - 4" LEFT at 25 yards.

Turning the barrel IN moves the front sight to the LEFT -- moving POI to the right.

A collimator makes the job a lot easier.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Buck,
I think the Uberti SAA quality or at least durability had improved even before the Beretta buy-out. Uberti had already dropped their old "D" cam gun with the old 1st. gen sharp pointy bolt fingers. Those guns were notorious for going out of time prematurely. Back in the 80's and early 90's many of the top SAA smith wouldn't touch them. Talking to one of those smiths, he told me that even if the gun came out perfectly timed that sharp finger running over the sharp shoulder of the "D" just didn't hold up causing the gun would go out of time and he would get the blame.
I did a few of them back then but in order to get rid of the "D" cam I had to go with the ASM bolt because the late round finger bolt was too short. I removed the "D" cam and drilled the hammer to press in a hardened colt style cam. The next problem was the ASM bolt was too loose in the hole in the frame so I had to make a spacer block that fit under the bolt trigger spring. This spacer block took up the slack in the frame but it was still too loose in the cylinder notches. Eve a new bolt head with out any taper added was a tad too loose. The problem is folks don't want to pay you to do all of that.

When Uberti went to the two position base pin style safety this allowed them to change the bolt and cam geometry to the late 2nd /3rd gen style design with the round bolt finger. These guns hold up really well now.