Uberti 1873 Cattlman...Any Reports?

[RIFLE MAN]

Is anyone aware of any reports on the Uberti 1873 cattleman single action colt clone? How well constructed are they? Dependable? Any information is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Rifleman

[Flint]

Lots of magazine articles in Shooting Times, Guns of the Old West and others over the last few years.  There may be a Tappin article on the net.  Lots of CAS shooters use them, and other than the difference in color case quality, they are as good as a Colt.  I have several either as Ubertis or as Cimmarons or Navy Arms.  Now that Beretta owns them, there will be changes, the safety, for one.

[RIFLE MAN]

Thanks Flint.
I have a couple of other questions : (1) Is the Cattleman in .45 L.C. or .44-40 able to take the hot hunting loads, or are they strictly built for "cowboy" loads?  (2) What is the approximate fair market value of the Uberti Cattleman revolvers?

Kind regards,
Rifle Man

[Mainspring]

I wouldn't (and don't) get too carried away with hot loads for those pistols.  They really aren't made to withstand the pressures.  Save the hot stuff for Rugers and FAs.

[Flint]

As Mainspring said, don't push a clone.  They are no stronger than the Colt itself, which can take factory spec ammo.  If you want more strength, go to Ruger or Linebaugh etc. with larger, or 5 shot cylinders.

[Lloyd Smale]

like was said colt level loads ONLY!

[slabsides]

I owned a Uberti from Mitchell Arms about 5 years ago. It was the case/blue/brass style, with adjustable sights, one-piece grips, 4-3/4" barrel, .45Colt. This is essentially the Cattleman as sold by other vendors in the US.
Pro: Very tightly fitted and crisp action, excellent trigger out of the box, nice finish. It  shot the 255 gr. Keith load with 9 gr. Unique into one hole at 20 m.
Cons: It's a Colt clone...the popular HEAVY reloads are out.
My gun broke its mainspring after only a few dozen rounds. The bolt spring also let go shortly afterwards.  Replacements were installed and seem to be holding up well. The adjustable sights: opposing screw rear blade, ramped front, gave groups 2-1/2" high at 20 m. with the rear sight at its lowest point...many of the Italian guns used to have front sights too short for even standard loads. This and the dubious spring situation led me to trade with a pal for a nice OM Ruger with its bulletproof coil springs. He has since traded it off but it's still perking for the present owner. I liked the gun a lot, wish it had had better sights and spring quality, I'd have kept it.

[RIFLE MAN]

Does anyone know if the AWA Longhorn and Peacemaker are as prone as the other "Colt Clones" to spring breakage, etc.? I have heard and read many good things about AWA, but the proof is in the use and not necessarily what we read.

Thanks,
Rifle Man

[Larry Gibson]

"Does anyone know if the AWA Longhorn and Peacemaker are as prone as the other "Colt Clones" to spring breakage, etc.? I have heard and read many good things about AWA, but the proof is in the use and not necessarily what we read.

Thanks,
Rifle Man[/quote]"

I have an Uberti "Artillery" Colt clone in .45 Colt.  I have put several  thousand rounds through it, mostly 200 gr "cowboy" cast bullets with 8.5 gr Bullseye at 920 fps or the 260 gr Kieth bullet over 8.5 gr of Unique at 845 fps.  Those are top end SAA loads.  Cast them myself and they shoot great in the Uberti and the Rossi M92 rifle (1175 fps - 200 gr bullets).  I had the hand spring break after a thousand or so rounds.  Made a small plunger and used a small coil spring in the top left screw hole for the hand spring replacement, believe this is commercially available.  The mainspring broke about 6 months ago.  Replaced the mainspring with one out of Brownels, required no "fitting", just "dropped" in.  That was a couple thousand rounds ago and I've had no problems since.  Timing is still good and she locks up tight - goes "bang" every time I pull the trigger ('lessen I ferget to reload) and she hits what I aim it at.  Unfortuneately that isn't always the target!  Guess that's my fault not the Uberti's.

The "Charcoal Blue" finish of the grip frame and the barrel are pretty worn but the "case" color is holding up and there is consderable "holster" wear.  All in all I find it to be one of my most used revolvers.  Put a couple hundred rounds through it yesterday over in eastern Washington.  Can't say much better about it than that.  

Larry Gibson

[RIFLE MAN]

Thanks for the input Larry. I have heard many good things about the "Colt clones". For the money, they are probably a good bargain, and they are supposedly worlds of fun! How was the out of the box trigger? Did you have to do any "slicking" of the action? I have a couple of Rugers that are very stiff and I wish I could slick them up! Rugers are great.

Regards,
Rifle Man

[Flint]

Main problem with the Italian clones is springs..  They don't heat treat them right, or something....  I replace with either real Colt springs (Mainspring needs to be trimmed) or Wolff, the best I've found.  Wolf offers two lengths of Mainspring, Colt or Hartford, and Uberti.  Also several levels of power, from too light to too heavy.  They have that wonderful music wire trigger/bolt spring that really smooths things up, or a flat one if you prefer.  You can buy the springs individually or as a set, or in quantities of 3 or 10.  Check the website, Wolff springs.  They have springs for about any firearm made.

[Mainspring]

I put a Wolff "Cowboy" spring set in my Uberti after the factory trigger/bolt spring broke (in relatively short order).  Haven't had a problem since, and the action is as smooth as oiled glass now.

When I get froggy I'm going to replace the springs in my Bisley BH too..but I'm not sure I'm up to messing with that coil mainspring just yet.  I've heard that they're a pain to replace.

[slabsides]

...doesn't make the same kind of sense that it does in Colts 'n Clones.
45 years of experience in gunsmithing and tinkering has taught me that a good hard blow on the firing pin is ALWAYS important to accuracy, not just to whether the primer fires. This is true in pistols as it is in rifles. So I leave Ruger hammer springs alone. As for the trigger return spring, an improvement can be made in the pull weight, simply by making a small dog-leg bend in both sides of the stock spring, to reduce its pressure on the back of the trigger uniformly.  Putting lighter springs in there almost always has a detrimental effect on take-up and backlash, requiring an immense amount of fiddling to get a good trigger action again. I have seen many 'replacement' springs in customers' guns, and the results are never as good as the factory originals, in dependabiltiy, or accuracy. I currently own seven Ruger SA's, all have the stock springs, ony four required the bent trigger spring. If you want a better trigger in a Ruger, you'll just have to hone it or have it honed.

[Larry Gibson]

RIFLE MAN

" How was the out of the box trigger?"

Actually it was good as I've not done anything to it.  Have seen some that needed touching up and others, like mine, that were good to go 'out of the box".  Actually the Uberti I have was featured in a magazine article written by Dwayne Thomas, G&A I think about 10-11 years ago.  I helped him with the shooting for the article and took a couple of the photo's.  He was able to purchase it and I got it for his cost as it was a really good shooter.

"Did you have to do any "slicking" of the action? "

No I did not have to slick or poliish anything although like any SAA it got smoother with use.  Probably could have used a little in the beginning but I didn't get around to it and now it doesn't need it.  

"I have a couple of Rugers that are very stiff and I wish I could slick them up! Rugers are great."

I have "smoothed up" numerous Rugers over the years (a couple in particular I should not have let "friends" talk me out of!!!).  They are great revolvers and I have 3 of them now.  As was mentioned by another poster I also have not had good results with "drop in" spring replacements.  The factory originals work just fine.  The trick of putting the "dogleg" bend in the trigger spring is all that is required.  I also polish the hammer strut and a couple other places where parts rub.  Doesn't take much to adjust the pulls to a crisp 2 1/2 to 3 lb pull which I like.  

I have looked at and shot numerous Vaquroes and have considered getting one but I doubt the Vaquero would perform any better than the Uberti SAA teamed up with the M92 as they are my "fun" guns.   The current Rugers I have are a 7 1/2" Bisley in .41, a 6" SS (original production) in .32 H&R and a 6" Security Six in .357.  I also have a Hawes SAA in .44 mag that I've had for 35 years and there's the Colt Anaconda .44, the S&W 5" M15, the M1917, the '55 Target, the M36 .32 S&W and the M19 and several other revolvers.  Then there are the auto's....Oh, so many guns, so many rocks, varmints and cow pies to shoot, so little time......

Larry Gibson

Larry Gibson