Armi Sport Sharps Quality ??

[Razor]

I've got an IAB 1863 Sharps rifle...
I AIN'T terribly impressed with the quality of the metallurgy or internals workmanship.
(Trying to make an original 1859/1863 Tumbler work in it now..)[smilie=b:

I want an 1859 Berdan Sharpshooter rifle..
I found one made by Armi Sport..

I understand SHILOH and C. Sharps are THEE best..
And PEDERSOLI being the best import..

With IAB being at the bottom of the list,
Where do you fellas feel the ARMI SPORT fits in the ratings ???

Please give me the benefit of your opinions...

Thanks

Razor
:castmine:

[montana_charlie]

Until someone with an Armi Sport shows up, I can only tell you what I have heard from others.

It falls between the IAB (Pedretti) and the Pedersoli. They turn out some good rifles, but (I'm told) the quality is off and on. Poor ones can sometimes be improved, and good ones don't need much special attention to shoot decently.

When Uberti decided to sell Sharps rifles, the first ones they bought came from Armi Sport. They gave up on that, and now get all of their Sharps rifles from Pedersoli.

CM

[Don McDowell]

I've run several thousand rounds thru an Armi sport 1874 sold by Taylors, over the last few years. The barrel is great, the wood and the metal are well finished and fitted. The lock was pretty rough and needed some internal polish, and the screws in it and the trigger needed loctited to keep them in place for more than a 10 or so rounds.
Then the sear broke a small chip out of one corner, and wouldn't let the fly do its work in the tumbler so when firing from the set trigger it would only drop to half cock. It took about 2 hours of careful stoning and fitting to get the new sear working almost like it should and is preforming better than it ever has.
Was going to upgrade the gun with shotgun butt and pistol grip stock, but Taylors told me it would be 400$ just for the parts. So that's when I said enough already, called C Sharps and ordered my new rifle.

[Boz330]

I'm with Don. With the value of the dollar right now the US made stuff is a bargain. I have 2 C-Sharps guns and have never regretted buying eith one.
A couple years back 3 of us bought IAB Sharps rifles for $265 each because they were returns. The guy had a pile of them he had picked up. We got the pick of the litter but we didn't get much. I sold mine pretty quick. One of the other guys is a damned good hobby gunsmith who has built a bunch of MLs and he had a bunch of time trying to get his to work all the time. Had to do a lot of work on the lock especially. Right now he is rebarreling it to 38-50RH. First test firing should happen this weekend.
Bottom line it takes a bunch of work to get them right and then you still have the softer metal in them.
One of the larger local gunshops was an importer for them but stopped after there first lot. Too many comebacks.

Bob

[Razor]

Thanks Guys, you've been a great help..:-D
You've answered my question.
Just the kind of info/feedback I was hoping to find..
Pedersoli seem to be about the same price as a SHILOH or C.Sharps..
Sooo... guess what ???
Gonna call Shiloh ..[smilie=w:

Razor
:castmine:

[wonderwolf]

So does Uberti just buy Perdersoli rifles and sell them?


I've been looking at a Perdersoli but if I see an uberti priced good I don't wanna pass it up if its the same dang thing

[montana_charlie]

So does Uberti just buy Perdersoli rifles and sell them?


I've been looking at a Perdersoli but if I see an uberti priced good I don't wanna pass it up if its the same dang thing
It's the same dang thing...with the Uberti name stamped on it.
Uberti orders them with 'special features' but those are only cosmetic. For example, I saw a Uberti that was a Pedersoli Quigley in all respects, but it did not have the patchbox in the buttstock. Like I said...cosmetic.

CM

[wonderwolf]

Thanks much. I've heard good- great things about pedersoli but not so much Uberti...I'm mostly concerned about barrel quality and such.

Thanks for the info

[NickSS]

I have a Berdan Sharpshooters rifle from Armi Sport. I have fired is only a small amount but it works fine. The only problem I have had with it was the forward Band Spring was loose and fell out when I tried to remove the forstock for cleaning after a firing session with paper cartridges. I have a couple hundred rounds through it and overall I am happy with it. If I was to get a cartridge gun I would do as I already have done get either a Shiloh or a C Sharps. I have two shilohs and five C Sharps rifles and have been very happy with all of them. I do have a Pedersolli infantry Sharps 1874 rifle and a Uberti 1874 rifle. The infantry one is an old one imported by Navy Arms. It shoots good but the wood is stained birch that the finish is comming off of. I only have a couple thousand rounds through it and it looks like an old rifle. My Shiloh Long Range Express has over 6000 round through it and still looks good.

[colfi]

Hi Guys

I am new to the forum and say Hi from Tasmania Australia. I am a collector of all Sharps and Rolling Block rifles.

One correction I would like to make to this thread is that Pedersoli DO NOT make rifles for Uberti. Uberti are put together from parts sourced from many makers by Beretta in Gardone Italy, directly over the road from the Pedersoli factory. As a personal friend of the late davide Pedersoli and the now owner/manager of Pedersoli, Peter Pedersoli, I can assure you guys that Pedersoli have their Sharps actions made at a local foundary and they finish them off in the factory and make all the rest of the rifle on site, Uberti/Beretta source all their parts from all over and just assemble their Sharps. Hope this all helps, both rifle shoot well once they are tuned up a tad.

Col

[OuchHot!]

I had one quite a while back. The only down side was that something was cockeyed in the way the barrel was drilled and breeched. The front sight was in a dovetail and the front and rear iron sight had to be drifted to their extremes to get on the paper. Since I went to a cheap tang aperture sight this wasn't an issue (strangely the tang sight could be centered and the front sight centered). The rifle was actually fairly accurate. The stock was plain and the lever and hammer were really blocky. Kinda crude but it worked. In that era the dollar was high. Nowadays, to my mind, the Italian stuff is too high. just my opinion, however

[John Boy]

Uberti/Beretta source all their parts from all over and just assemble their Sharps.It's my understanding that Uberti gets their barrels from Pedersoli. And Pedersoli barrels have match grade bores

[BCRider]

I have an Armi Sport flintlock and it's a good LOOKING piece. But in this case beauty is only skin deep. The lock is junk. Not only did they do the machining poorly on it so that it catches the half cock notch if the trigger isn't pull "briskly" but there is no bridal plate to lend support to the tumbler. So it relies on a rather dicey fit of the hammer to the main plate for support.


So my advice is to pass on any Armi Sport firearm. If that flinter is any example they simply take way too many shortcuts which DOES affect the final product's ability to shoot and to stay in tune.

[montana_charlie]

It's my understanding that Uberti gets their barrels from Pedersoli. And Pedersoli barrels have match grade bores
When Dick Trenk was alive, the deal with Uberti had just been made. He said Pedersoli built the whole gun but let Uberti specify the 'cosmetics' and put their name on it.
In exchange for letting Uberti into the Sharps market, Pedersoli got clearance to start building hiwalls.

CM