I completely agree. I've bought a few 3rd Generation Colt's and had every intention of putting them to good use. But oversized throats and oversprung actions that felt as though they were full of sand changed my mind, I left 'em to the collectors. My Uberti's, especially the post-2000 examples, are marvelous shooters.
I've owned over a dozen Uberti's and haven't had a bad one yet. I bought a Ruger Flat Top 5 1/2" .44 Special with every intention of hunting with it, but a homely Uberti in the same caliber took its place. The only thing the Ruger had over the Uberti was much better sights, but that never mattered in the field. But, I really should get the ol' Flat Top out and warm her up a bit!
The peculiar hammer safety to which you refer was/is an ingenious pivoting block. When the hammer was pulled back to the first notch, the trigger sear engaged a pin that actuated the block, which prevented the hammer from falling, like this-
Here's one that I manually engaged with a screwdriver to illustrate how it works-
Were the revolver to be dropped there are actually three points that support the hammer-
This is a shot of the hammer mortise of a Uberti Frisco that I carried and hunted with quite a lot. It had the pivoting hammer block and if one looks just below the firing pin hole, one can clearly see where the hammer block has been resting on the frame.
A pretty much foolproof design IMHO, and all of my Uberti's except one have this and I always load six and trust the design completely.
I used to carry a Uberti .44 Special, which had the traditional 1st notch safety, with six rounds loaded and the hammer in the 1st safety notch, everywhere on my place and out and about. I mean on the tractor, cutting/hauling/stacking firewood, repairing/building barbed wire fence, working cattle, climbing over and through pipe corrals, horseback, etc. etc. and banged that rig and pistol on everything imaginable. It even once, after the hammer thong somehow came loose, fell out of its holster and into the bottom of a hole over which I was leaning, yet not once did I have an unintentional discharge. And if you think about it, how many of us while hunting have chambered a round and used the 1st notch safety on firearms such as '73, '92, '94 and '97 Rossi's, Uberti's and Winchesters, or any longarm with an external hammer? We've all seen the broken safety notches on Colt SA hammers and I used to have a couple of photos of hammers out of '94 Winchester whose safety notches were broken. I strongly suspect they, like the safety notches of the Colt hammers, were broken when the trigger is pulled while the safety notch is engaged.
Anyhow, at the end of the day, to each his own and we should all do what works best for each of us!
35W
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Originally Posted by 35 Whelen
