C&B pistol manufactures???

[Mongo40]

In your guys opinion who makes the better quality revolvers, Uberti, CVA/Traditions, Armi San Marco, Pietta??? I'm watching some auctions and the pistols run the gamete of price an manufactures, uberti seems to be the more expensive so am I to glean that they are the better quality???

[Rev]

I know its not what you asked, but Ruger makes the by far highest quality BP revolver, the Old Army...
"Although this design was built around the Blackhawk, it takes its styling cues from the Remington Model 1858 cap and ball pistol. Earlier models listed as .44 caliber, later as .45, but all use a .457" round balls or .454" conical bullets of pure lead."

[Mongo40]

I agree with you Rev the ruger is a quality pistol but not the style I'm looking for nor can I afford one, just a personal thing but never like the looks of the ROA. I'm a huge ruger fan, I love my old model Vaquero in 45LC wouldn't think of ever getting rid of it, I have a nice little Civil War collection an being a retired Army officer I've been wanting to get a 1860 Army to play with an display with my other items so just wondering of the Spaghetti companies which makes the better quality C&B.

[William]

For many years Uberti held the edge in quality over the ones you mention, with Pietta coming in a definite second.  ASM was often referred to as "Armi San Crappo" by the CAS crowds and back then you could definitely see the difference which may be the reason they are out of business.  However, Pietta has steadily improved their quality to the point that they are giving Uberti a run for the money.  There is a size difference between Uberti and Pietta C&B revolvers and the parts are not interchangeable even though both are supposed to be copies of the originals but parts are readily available for either one.  If the same model from each maker was side by side, Uberti would be priced higher but I'd have to work the actions of both before buying one or the other.  I would not buy an ASM because they are out of business plus their quality wasn't great to begin with, nor would I put the CVA/Traditions in the same league as Uberti or Pietta because I don't know who is making theirs.  Cabelas runs a sale every couple of months on the standard blued, 1858 Remington made by Pietta for around $220, so for me a used '58 Remington is going to have to start out cheaper unless it's got an action job by a well known CAS gunsmith or has been to Doug Turnbull for a color case hardened finish and Ivory grip replacements.

In your guys opinion who makes the better quality revolvers, Uberti, CVA/Traditions, Armi San Marco, Pietta??? I'm watching some auctions and the pistols run the gamete of price an manufactures, uberti seems to be the more expensive so am I to glean that they are the better quality???

[beowulf]

have owned both uberti and pietta  . like em both ! the only real difference I`ve noticed is the finish is nicer on the uberti pieces . both shoot equally well , and I`d buy a uberti in a heart beat if the price was right . but the pietta is a fine pistol and the price is always good ! choice is yours , but watch some of the other brands , just not the same quality !

[mongrel]

I second (third?) what William and Beowulf said. Uberti makes a flat-out fine gun, but Piettas based on the opinions of their owners are extremely good guns. However -- I don't own a product by either outfit so I'm basically passing along info as it was given to me and based on handling a few pieces down at Friendship.

[flintboomer]

I have both Pietta and Uberti Remingtons and a brass framed Pietta 1860. All shoot well but the 1860 shot loose with 20 grain loads, so be sure you get a steel frame if you plan to shoot it much. The quality of my Uberti was better than the Pietta Remington but they both shoot fine, the biggest advantage of my Uberti is that the front sight was drift adjustable and it needed it. The sights on the Pietta were fixed and the only thing you can do is to hold off if the sights are off or else file the sights if they can be filed in the right directions. I did have to file the front sights on both the Remingtons to bring them up to point of aim, but that is better than having to figure out what to do if they already are shooting high like the colt style revolvers usually do.

I would avoid the other brands unless the price is "right" and it will be mostly for display. Someone on the forum was recently trying without much luck to find parts for an older "other" brand revolver.

[William]

Yes, he was trying to find parts for an Armi San Marco and about the best he could do is get Pietta parts from VTI and file them to fit.  There is a way to fasion a trigger spring from piano wire, which many of the CAS slick up jobs entail but you can't do that with the hand spring.

Fortunately there's not a whole lot of difference in quality between Uberti and Pietta now, although there is still a price difference.

[mongrel]

A quick note on the Colts (and other repros of originals) shooting high. This to us, today, is a problem. The cap-and-ball revolver, though, was the Colt 1911, SIG, or Glock of its day -- it was a combat weapon, and at relatively close range, especially from horseback, a man did more point-shooting than deliberate aiming. Deliberate aim requires a split-second more time and also obscuring vision of much of the target (a man's torso) with the gun itself; it's faster, simpler, and actually safer to hold the gun down below eye level, in a pointed line with the center of the target's mass, and fire. In this context the gun shooting high isn't remotely as critical an issue as the gun shooting to roughly where the index (trigger) finger would be pointing, if the shooter simply pointed at his target; and there is no finer handgun design for point-shooting than a Colt single-action.

I agree that for target shooting it would be immensely helpful if the sights were some help, but for what the originals were actually designed to do sights were almost an afterthought.

[Mongo40]

Thanks for the info, I just went ahead an ordered a pietta from Cabelas, $249 then I had some bonus points so $229. Here's something interesting, I started to order some number 10 caps from them also till I saw the price, I'm hoping its a typo on their web, CCI #10 caps, $54.99, insane! the same ones at bass pro, $4.99, Surely thats a typo on Cabelas web site right? Needless to say I didn't order any.
Chris

[flintboomer]

No, its not a typo but it is for 1000 not 100 and don't forget the hasmat charge which is why they don't bother offering 100.

[flintboomer]

A quick note on the Colts (and other repros of originals) shooting high. This to us, today, is a problem. The cap-and-ball revolver, though, was the Colt 1911, SIG, or Glock of its day -- it was a combat weapon, and at relatively close range, especially from horseback, a man did more point-shooting than deliberate aiming. Deliberate aim requires a split-second more time and also obscuring vision of much of the target (a man's torso) with the gun itself; it's faster, simpler, and actually safer to hold the gun down below eye level, in a pointed line with the center of the target's mass, and fire. In this context the gun shooting high isn't remotely as critical an issue as the gun shooting to roughly where the index (trigger) finger would be pointing, if the shooter simply pointed at his target; and there is no finer handgun design for point-shooting than a Colt single-action.

I agree that for target shooting it would be immensely helpful if the sights were some help, but for what the originals were actually designed to do sights were almost an afterthought.

True on both counts.

[beowulf]

 the old colts being military pieces are sighted at 50 yards , and it`s not hard at all to put 5 rounds into a human torso size target at that range . I could do the same at 100 yards with a remington model 58  by holding it higher on the target . but like mongrel , and flintboomer say , at close range its point and shoot ! with a little practice you`ll be surprised at how accurate these things can be !

[Mongo40]

I guess I missed that extra zero there Eyes just arent what they used to be.