Uberti or Pietta revolvers

[bigted]

after my Colt debacle I have ordered a new Pietta 1861 Sheriff model with a 5.5 inch barrel. after ordering it I wondered what if any the opinions would be between these two Italian manufacturers concerning colt type revolvers.

my Colt purchase has given me a surprise in quality that I hadn't expected for even a second gen model 1862 pocket revolver. now I have a very nice looking Colt that has managed to separate me from my 400 + dollars and given me a full steam headack for my troubles. AND in addition it continues to unveil its shabby parts and workmanship on an ongoing proposition. I already have a tinkerers revolver in this *** so am wondering on in the pursuit of a useable revolver of 36 cal and a lite revolver for just plinkin round.

so now before I get too hip deep in another revolver I wonder what opinion you all have about the choice between Uberti and Pietta revolvers in the colt style open top revolvers?

thankyou for your opinion and advise.

Ted

[bob208]

don't know it is a **** shoot. i have both and no problems with either. i have a $20.00 yard sale 1861 uberti. it has had bubbas hands all over it. i don't think it was ever fired. i bought it to convert. but it is timed so nice i am just fixing it to shoot. i have piettas i bought new both remington and 1860 colt models both shoot well with out any fixing.

[Beagle333]

Any Pietta made since 2000 is at least as good as Uberti. I'd say it's a draw, with Uberti costing more. I tend to prefer Pietta, as I have a half dozen Colt clones from them. My Uberti's work fine as well, but I'd go for Pietta's any chance I had. Save the dough. Both break hand-spring assemblies about as often as the other. Happy Shooting! I do love the open tops!

[Omnivore]

A have two Piettas and two Ubertis. A small sample, but all were shootable out of the box. Figure on having to adjust sights at least, though sometimes they even shoot near to POA without any work.

There are reasons why these guns cost around 200 to around 300 dollars as opposed to the more mass produced revolvers that cost a thousand or more.

One Pietta Colt I have started out with a cylinder gap of about .015" (way too much, but it still shot ok after I adjusted the sights) but its arbor was properly bottomed out against the hole in the barrel, so the gap was consistent. An Uberti Colt has a deep barrel hole, or short arbor, such that you're adjusting the cylinder gap by how far you drive in the wedge. Neither was right, but they require different solutions. Or you can forget all that and just shoot 'em. I had to install a much taller sight and file the hammer notch way over to get the Pietta on target, and the Uberti only needs a little side to side filing of the hammer notch which I will do only after I've picked out the best load for it. Stuff like that. As stated earlier; it's a **** shoot, and don't expect a perfect revolver for 300 or 400 dollars. The Dixie (Pietta) "Shooters" model Remington New Model Army is closer to 800 dollars last time I looked, if you want some comparison. So maybe if you get 400 dollars worth of quality work done on your Colt you'll have something you can't complaign about, and which would end up costing about what any good revolver would cost. Otherwise consider these guns "probably shootable" as they come, but consider them project guns that won't break your bank if you mess something up.

[Bent Ramrod]

When Piettas first came out, their main attraction was that you could get copies of models that Uberti didn't make. A friend ordered his Pietta clones through Cabela's, because Cabela's would accept returns for any reason and replace the returned gun with another one. He had to do this with a Starr single action that was timed wrong, and the replacement worked very well.

If you're worried about quality control, this is a good way to go.

[bigted]

thanks for the reply's. kinda what I figured and im a tinkerer but holy cow man ... I expected way more from a Colt. ho hum ... a learning experience and im getting plenty of learning...:drinks: ... [smilie=s:

[starmac]

I can't tell you anything about either one. I just got my first one. A pietta, it seems pretty nice, but I haven't had it out yet. Sportsmans has a fair selection of them, I didn't look at the brands, but a guy could do a hands on evaluation. I was in frontier hardware today and they do carry the balls, but was out of the ones I need.

[ogre]

I would suggest any Pietta that is stamped with a year of proof of BP or higher (BZ, CA, CB, etc.) or any Uberti.

[bigted]

got the Pietta yesterday and sat rite down to take it down to parade rest. looks good and feels good in the action. it has a very nice trigger and when the hammer is cocked it spells Colt but ya have to run it slowly so you can hear the final two clicks.

all in all I am happy with this revolver and taking it apart just resulted in greasing it up after a good cleaning and re-assembling it for action. putting cap's ...[#10's]... I took it outside and proceeded to fire all chambers with no hang-up's. fired a total of three cylinders of caps and never a bobble so maybe today or tomorrow ill smoke it up and see how it really runs.

as a side note ... I got the spring for my Colt '62' police and after fitting it I installed it and this VTI spring is easily twice the spring that came in this revolver. nice trigger return and stop spring that should have been installed in the first place. now for awhile I have it running as well so maybe when I smoke the '61' ill poke a few loads thru this problem child of a Colt and see if she will stay together this time.

thanks again for all the information and reply's.