Uberti and Pietta 1873 .45 Colt Revolvers

[Southern Shooter]

I understand these are not Rugers, Freedom Arms, etc. But, I am just wondering:

Shooting 270 grain cast bullets at 14,000 PSI, what might be the life expectancy of Uberti and Pietta .45 Colt revolvers?

Thanks

 

[Hunter Customs]

I have two Uberti revolvers ,both are from Cimarron, one is the Bisley model the other is the model P-OM.

I shoot what some refer to as Tier II loads in my guns (21,000 PSI) the Bisley has about 2500 rounds through it the model P is now up to 10,000 rounds through it, both revolvers are holding up very well.

I'm casting some 280 gr WFN bullets that I've been shooting in the Bisley model as that's the bullet and revolver I plan to hunt with.
In the model P I'll most likely stay with the 255 gr SWC as the sights are dead on with this bullet loaded at Tier II pressure.

 

[Colt46]

Pretty certain that is the normal factory pressure for the cartridge

It ought to outlast you and your grandchildren at those levels.

 

[WIL TERRY]

I am always interested, Fascinated , by the ' howsoonmygunfallapart' ? questions.
Did you ask the dealer how long before all four whells fall off your new truck ?
Did you ask the real estate gal how long until your new house fell down overnight into matchsticks ?
And lastly; WHAT in the dickens does it matter how long a pistol lasts ? WEAR it out? Go toss in in the trash and buy a new one.
HAVE YOU ever warn out a gun; WORE OUT ?!?!?
HAVE YOU ever seem a pistol of any kind that was flattout worn out from usage?
ME NEITHER !!!
AND I've been trying to do so for sixty[ 60!!] freaking years now.

And so it goes....

 

[Southern Shooter]

Uh...Thank you for your words of wisdom, Wil. Nexxxxt !

Hunter Customs, thank you for your personal experiences and measurable information. They are useful.

 

[Pathfinder45]

Well one might wonder, knowing that those Italian copies aren't genuine Colt's either, if they will stand the tests of time and heavy useage. It's a good question, and Hunter gave an encouraging answer.

 

[James K]

"...Italian copies aren't genuine Colt's either, if they will stand the tests of time and heavy useage."

Well, they are made of far better material than the original Colts, with the old iron frames and cylinders. I think they will stand up pretty well.

Jim

 

[WIL TERRY]

I HAVE nearly 50M rounds through six UBERTI centerfire sixguns. The only problem was some bolt spring breakage, from a bad batch over twenty years ago, which either die young or live forever. AND it takes all of two minutes to change one; five if someone is yakking and bothering me.
And so it goes...

 

[Southern Shooter]

Wil, THAT is a lot of bullets. Thank you for the feedback. That is good information to know.

This question came to mind during a conversation with some fellow shooters. They continually encourage me to purchase a Ruger New Vaquero because it is "stouter", "more durable" than the 1873 Uberti and Pietta .45 Colt copies. My response has been that as long as I keep my rounds at 14,000 psi or lower that these guns should last a long time. But, then I realized I only have a few years shooting these revolvers and that perhaps I was mistaken in my beliefs.

I think the Ruger NV is a wonderful gun. BUT, it does not have the magic I feel when I pick up one of my 4 Uberti 1873's. They just fit when I handle them.

Wil, I so totally agree on the simplicity of changing out parts in these guns. That adds to the intrigue, for me. The design is timeless.

 

[2ndsojourn]

"I HAVE nearly 50M rounds through six UBERTI centerfire sixguns."

WOW! That's a lot of ammo. And $$$ too. If I had your money, I'd burn mine.

 

[Hunter Customs]

WOW! That's a lot of ammo. And $$$ too. If I had your money, I'd burn mine.

I can't speak for Wil, but I've been burning my money for years, one bullet at a time.

When I was heavy into competition shooting 50,000 rounds a year was the norm for me.
I will have to say I don't know if I could do that today with the price of components and trying to find them.

I'm not knocking Ruger as I have four of their SA guns, but I'll go on record saying the fit and finish on my two Uberti guns beat my Rugers hands-down.

Sothern Shooter I know exactly what you are saying about the feel of the Uberti revolvers, I hate to put mine away but my wife won't let me sleep with them.

I was shooting my model P 1873 today, would have loved to have been shooting the Bisley but the grip frame is at a custom grip makers getting fitted for a pair of Stag grips.

 

[James K]

The Ruger NV's modern lockwork is superior to that of any Colt SAA or clone, but at the pressure levels being discussed, the Uberti revolvers will do just fine.

Jim

 

[45 Dragoon]

If the time is taken to "adjust" the sear/bolt spring , it will last a very long time (ie, haven't broken one since I've been "adjusting" them. It will also allow the bolt to not be so tough on the cylinder or the hammer cam.

I'm not shy with shooting "stout" loads in any of my .45s which consists of modern made cylinders in modern made b.p. frames (OTs and Mod P copies) no probs so far with thousands of rounds through most (not millions, but I'm working on it!)

WIL TERRY, did you have a crush on Linda Ellerbee or did she steal that tag from you?

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com

 

[2ndsojourn]

"When I was heavy into competition shooting 50,000 rounds a year was the norm for me."

Yeah, but 50M (million?) is a lot more than 50,000. If he reloaded at the ridiculously low price of $.10 / round, that's 5 million bucks.

 

[Hunter Customs]

Yeah, but 50M (million?) is a lot more than 50,000. If he reloaded at the ridiculously low price of $.10 / round, that's 5 million bucks.

I agree 50 million would be a lot and 5 million bucks is a lot of money, however I was taught that M is a designation for one thousand.
So I took it that WIL had 50,000 rounds through his six Uberti revolvers.

Back to the question Southern Shooter has on the durability of the Uberti revolver shooting 270 gr bullets at 14,000 PSI, if his revolver is a good as the two Uberti's I own I believe it will last him a very long time shooting that load.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

For those of you(probably younger than 45-50) who were never taught in ancient terms the capital M means thousand in Roman Numerals. Your education has failed you and I don't really blame you, it was the educational systems fault. And you haven't have to memorize the multiplication tables in order to pass 3rd grade math for over 40 tears now. But then again what do I know, I love to decipher the MCM----- code on old movie credits.

 

[2ndsojourn]

Yeah, well I was thinking in engineering notation, not Hollywood, where 'k' is short for thousand.

 

[WIL TERRY]

M is the number/numeral for 1000 in the latin language for the past 4000 years and 55% of the English language is straight from that Latin language.
IT was tought in every high school in the USA back when you got a REAL education in high School. I have no idea what they teach there now but NO ONE seems to know a damn thing--can't read can't write can't spell can't count etc etc etc--- and they all think the world started the day they were born.
K for a thousand is a meaningless modern invention of ignorence.
And so it goes... it comes from LOOOOOOOOng before Linda Ellerbee, though I do remember her fondly...

 

[James K]

"K for a thousand is a meaningless modern invention of ignorence."

Well, not too modern. Kilogram and kilometer have been around for a week or two.

Jim

 

[WIL TERRY]

My favorite is KLOMUDER....to which I always ask...do you measure little increments with a MLOMUDER....or a MIKE-KRO-METER...?
And so it goes...