Black Powder pistols: Uberti or Pietta?

[FatJackDurham]

I was wondering if anyone had a preference for black powder replica revolves. I owned an Uberti 357 SAA and an Uberti 1851 BP Revolver.

Both guns were tremendously not accruate. Both looked nice and had nice weight and balance, but I found problems with both. For insance, the barrel on the Uberti was twisted to one side, and the cylinder throats were starkly over sized compared to the bore and forcing cone.

With the 1851, gun shot about a foot left of the sights at 15 yards, no matter how I tried to hold it on a rest.

In a store, the Ubertis seemed heavier and tighter that Piettas. I think Piettas use coil main springs instead of leaf and that makes their cocking smoother.

However, I have never fired a Pietta. I wonderd how their accuracy is.

[BrentD]

I had a Uberti Dragoon. Bought new in about 1990 or 1991.

Junk.

[Griff]

FWIW, Uberti made most of the parts used in the Colt assembled/finished BP Series guns. I have 2 of the 1851s, 1 of the "Signature" series assembled & finished by Iver Johnson under license by Colt and an ASM assembled/finished 1851 from the same lot of parts. All are exceedingly accurate and well put together.

The Ubertis are sized closer to the original, the Piettas are sized smaller, bith have a good rep among cowboy action shooters. Both require some mods to run fast and reliably to compete in that arena.

You'll find guys that swear by and at both.

[Old Ironsights]

I have an Uberti 1858 New Army with 2 C&B and a .45ACP Cylinders and it has never given me a lick of grief - even with the ACP (soft lead bullets only) cylinder installed.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I was wondering if anyone had a preference for black powder replica revolves. I owned an Uberti 357 SAA and an Uberti 1851 BP Revolver.

Both guns were tremendously not accruate. Both looked nice and had nice weight and balance, but I found problems with both. For insance, the barrel on the Uberti was twisted to one side, and the cylinder throats were starkly over sized compared to the bore and forcing cone.

With the 1851, gun shot about a foot left of the sights at 15 yards, no matter how I tried to hold it on a rest.

In a store, the Ubertis seemed heavier and tighter that Piettas. I think Piettas use coil main springs instead of leaf and that makes their cocking smoother.

However, I have never fired a Pietta. I wonderd how their accuracy is.

For years Pietta made a line of low end CB's for the big box stores like Bass pro and Cabelas. These were poorly fitted and over sprung to get the out of the shop ASAP while saving man-hours so the prices were kept low. On average they were about 15% lower in price than the Uberti's. But, their rep suffered because of these very stiff poorly fitted guns.
Now days the big box stores are carrying both and they are priced about the same. These new Pietta's are also better fitted, now as well. But, the only Pietta with coils is their SAA's. They come with coil hand springs now. But, so do the uberti's. Just keep in mind both tend to over spring to cover poor fit to some degree.
Two things that can improve the accuracy. For the 44 cals use .457-8 ball and fire lap. I just swab the bore with 600 grit lapping compound and fire a ball over it. I have one 58 Remington style Pietta that went from a 1 foot shotgun pattern to a 3" group at 15yds after 3 shots.

I have several, mostly Pietta's.

[Old Ironsights]

...Two things that can improve the accuracy. For the 44 cals use .457-8 ball and fire lap. I just swab the bore with 600 grit lapping compound and fire a ball over it. I have one 58 Remington style Pietta that went from a 1 foot shotgun pattern to a 3" group at 15yds after 3 shots. ...

Thanks for the tip.

I'm also partial to using the Lee 200gr .45 REAL rather than Ball or Conicals. Accuracy goes way up, and then it shoots POA closer to the .45acp 200gr LRN.

[rjohns94]

I like the colt signature series in 1851 navy! as Griff mentioned, not necessarily made by colt. Steve Young did some work on mine and will do so again should I ever get another.

[Paladin]

I have two (now) Piettas Navy Sheriff .451 model that I bought for my girlfriend. The first one after she fired it for the first time as I was cleaning it the main spring broke. I bought another so she could shoot and contacted Pietta and they sent me a spring with no delay or problems. Both Navy Sheriff Revolvers shoot well and she likes them while they shoot a reduced load from the Ruger Old Army she bought me they are fine guns.

[Buck Elliott]

I have owned and shot the snot out of a pile of c&b revolvers since the mid-60s.. Most of them were made by Uberti, and they have improved greatly since those early days.. Navy, army, Dragoon and Walker revolvers have come and gone, and I wish I had a few of them back.. The last one I had was an 1860 Army, and it was a beauty.. Accurate and reliable, and coveted by a good friend who wanted it for his Cavalry personna.. It was a Cimarron, and beautifully finished..

My luck with Pietta c&b revolvers ahs not been all that good, and certainly not what I wanted or expected.. I have seen some recent examples that look a lot bettter than the older ones, but the owners have been underwhelmed, for the most part..

Am looking at building up a c&b battery again, and the guns will all be Uberti-built...

[horsesoldier03]

I have a Pietta 1860 revolver, it has the leaf main spring. I havent shot it that often, but it does shoot to point of aim and is a nice piece. Its main purpose is a display piece in the man cave, but C&B BP pistols serve as an excellent tool when training a horse to tolorate gun fire. Reenactors typically load with 20 grains pyrodex P and pack the remaining portion of the cylinder with cream of wheat.

[gamekeeper]

I have had both a Uberti 1851 and Pietta 1861, my personal preference was the Uberti, the Pietta's fit and finish was not as good.

[Mossyoak1957]

Uberti Dragoon:

Beautiful fit and finish,,,,,,dead on at 20 yards!
Go with Uberti..they are not "junk"

[Old Ironsights]

... while they shoot a reduced load from the Ruger Old Army she bought me they are fine guns.[/color]

Ahhh... the ROA 5-1/2"... one of the best Unobtanium guns ever.

The fact that they are unobtanium is why I got the Uberti 5-1/2" in Stainless.

My biggest gripe with the Uberti is that none of the Cartridge Conversion cylinders are through-bored, but the Kirst ones for the ROA are...

[Borregos]

I have had both Pietta and Uberti, both were well finished and both shot to POA at 20 yards, nothing to choose between them for me

[M. M. Wright]

I currently have a pair of 1860 Army 44s, (really 45s as the bores are .451). One Pietta and one Uberti. I re-cut the forcing cone, cleaned up the muzzle and slicked up the actions on both while installing Treso nipples. Had to heat and bend the trigger of the Pietta to get it to sit in the back of the trigger guard like I wanted it to. I gave $90 for the Pietta and $75 for the Uberti. I really can't tell much difference in them now as both do their job just fine.

[wolfdog]

I have a Traditions branded Pietta, brass framed 1858. 20 grains of Pyrodex p and a .454 round ball and it is scary accurate. No problems in the 15 years or so I have had it.

[FatJackDurham]

Thanks for all the info.

Nate, those look like they have had some cosmetic work to make them look more like an original cold that have seen in the stores. Is that the cold nickel plating process you did?

I never did any work to either my SAA or Pietta, though I tried fire lapping the SAA with embedded bullets.

How do you re cut a forcing cone? Do you need a special reamer for that?

[FatJackDurham]

BTW, I am asking because I enjoyed shooting loading and shooting again teh C&B gun a lot more than the SAA.

[Ray Newman]

FatJackDurham: Back in the day, I shot a Walker, 1849 Pocket, and a 1860 Army of various makes. Then I discovered the Ruger Ol' Army and never looked back.

My experience says save your money and be on the look out for a good pre-owned Ruger.

[Old Savage]

The Piettas I have are quite tight and well fitted.

[M. M. Wright]

Thanks for all the info.

Nate, those look like they have had some cosmetic work to make them look more like an original cold that have seen in the stores. Is that the cold nickel plating process you did?

I never did any work to either my SAA or Pietta, though I tried fire lapping the SAA with embedded bullets.

How do you re cut a forcing cone? Do you need a special reamer for that?

You need a forcing cone set from Brownells. Be sure you get the correct bushing (s) for the calibers you want to work on. Be careful, it's easy to take out too much. Use lots of cutting oil.

[Old Ironsights]

[FatJackDurham]

OIS< that is the one I wish I had.

[BrentD]

Uberti Dragoon:

Beautiful fit and finish,,,,,,dead on at 20 yards!
Go with Uberti..they are not "junk"

Glad you had better luck. Mine, indisputably, was junk.

[Ysabel Kid]

I'd give an edge towards Uberti, but as others note, Pietta has come a long way. I own many of both, and enjoy them all. I have noticed that Pietta C&B's wedges are more than tight - I have bent brass punches trying to get them out.

[plowboy 45]

This is my favorite for as much as I know

[Old Time Hunter]

Found that I could extend accuracy by using these w/25 grains of triple F:

http://leeprecision.com/mold-d-c-456-220-1r.html

These are mine:

[Old Ironsights]

OIS< that is the one I wish I had.

Taylors gets them in on occasion. You have to watch closely/get to know their sales people...