Uberti SAA retractable firing pin?

I have a Taylor’s & Co. Drifter with the retractable firing pin. 2500 rounds and counting, and they’ve all gone bang. Only problem I have with it is shooting the screws loose, so I just check them after each session.

I have a Cimarron Arms branded Uberti with that firing pin and no problems of any type after about 800 rounds (45 colt, mild loads) so far. Don't know if I would carry it with 6 loaded but for range use it's fine and haven't had a problem.

Only downside I've seen is that you only get 3 clicks instead of 4 (C-O-L-T) when cocking the hammer.

Im not sure if its a CYA thing, but I think they still recommend carrying them with 5 beans in the wheel. The retractable pin is supposed to be just for safety. Now that said, I don't see how it would go off without having the most unlucky of unlucky days. It's certainly more drop/bump safe than carrying a SAA at quarter cock. Still, if something gets wedged under the pin and it stays out instead of going in, it could be a problem.

My take on it is that I don't really mind it, but if I am going to give up the 4 clicks of a true clone, then I might as well go with a transfer bar system and know that it's safe to carry 6 up. Seeing the firing pin on the hammer (or not) is not that big of a deal for me at all.

Fiv3r said:

My take on it is that I don't really mind it, but if I am going to give up the 4 clicks of a true clone, then I might as well go with a transfer bar system and know that it's safe to carry 6 up. Seeing the firing pin on the hammer (or not) is not that big of a deal for me at all.

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It’s funny, I don’t care about the 4 clicks since I can’t hear them with ear protection in and unless I cock very slowly. I do care about seeing a firing pin. A hammer without a firing pin just looks really strange to me. But most importantly it need to go bang and be accurate.

My EMF (ASM ), Hartford Model has a hammer firing pin while my Beretta Stampede (Uberti), and Ruger Vaquero have the transfer bar safety. Still load all of them with 5 rounds for the sake of continuity and familiarity.

Doesn't really matter all that much to me if it has a hammer or a transfer bar. To me it's more about getting the look and feel of a single action revolver that resembles a Colt SAA rather than pay a lot more money for the real thing.

I am not a fan. They are supposed to be replicas- make them a replica. If I want modern, I will go with Ruger.

Well, I believe the whole point of the setup is that you can in fact safely load (and carry) 6. I've had 1 come through the shop and was impressed with it. I also developed a "drop-in" defeat for it for the cowboy shooters. That way you can reinstall the safety mechanism if or when you sell it. As far as having only 3 clicks, Ruger has had ”3 clickers" since the'70's (though I'm a bigger fan of the "3 screw" S.A.s . . . . which ROA's are).

And, the firing pin doesn't retract totally, only enough to not be "proud" through the frame unless the trigger is pulled.

Mike

It was introduced because of dumbasses that couldn't handle the stationary pin. It wasn't about "modernizing" anything. Thank a lawyer . . . import laws . . . . (check Ruger's history).

They had a systems, the rotating hammer block, that allowed 6 to be carried safely. BUT, like all firearms safeties USED to be, they required the shooter to do their part and actuate the safety.
Firearms are slowly being geared so that shooters no longer have to think.

35W

I agree wholeheartedly with 35 Whelen !! I liked the hammer block the best. I carried an El Patron Comp with that safety and always felt very comfortable with it.

Mike

It's ok if you're shooting cowboy action and want to load six.

I wanted the Colt experience without the Colt price, so I went with the Pietta made Cimarron Frontier.

I'm never going to carry it. Hell, I'll never have a holster for it. It's strictly a range toy.

Deanimator said:

It's ok if you're shooting cowboy action and want to load six.

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When does that ever happen? I thought they were always five only.

.455_Hunter said:

When does that ever happen? I thought they were always five only.

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I don't know. I don't do cowboy action. It may not apply. Regardless, it's a good feature if you want to carry six, whether for competition, hunting or whatever.

I'm never going to do any of those things with mine, so the four click Colt type action is much more important to me.

Howdy

Just so you know, we NEVER load six in a revolver in CAS. Absolutely forbidden.

It does not matter if it is a Colt style lockwork, a Ruger with a transfer bar, or one of the new three click Ubertis.

Typical stage instructions usually say 'Two pistols holstered, each loaded with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber.'

The reason is simple. Even though it is safe to load a Ruger with six rounds, that would give an unfair advantage to those of us shooting Colts. In fact, if somebody shows up at the unloading table and there are six rounds in the cylinder, that is an automatic stage disqualification. Two stage disqualifications and you are done for the day.

It never ceases to amaze me how folks like to count the clicks.

The only time I can hear all four clicks is when I am cocking the hammer real slow while drawing a bead on Dutch Henry Brown while watching Winchester '73 late at night.

Otherwise, with earpplugs in shooting at a match, I can't hear any clicks at all. And cocking the hammer fast I could not tell if there were four clicks or three anyway.



About a year ago a member of my club brought a couple of these to our pistol range. She was having trouble, they were not firing every time she pulled the trigger. Being naturally curious (and nosey) I asked her if I could see them. It was the first chance I had to examine a pair. This pair was chambered for 45 Colt and she was shooting factory ammunition. Being a competitive pistol shooter she was used to squeezing a trigger very slowly until it fired. One of her pistols was not firing every time. She handed them to me and I banged off a cylinder full in rapid succession, yanking the trigger as I always do, without any problems. Then I tried again, squeezing the trigger very slowly and deliberately. Sure enough, I had some misfires too. I suggested there might be something inside interfering with the action of the trigger actuated lever that pushes the firing pin forward. Perhaps a burr. Understandably, she was reluctant to let me tear them apart right there at the range to see if I could figure out what was wrong. The last I heard, she sent the problem one back to the distributor. I do not know what the outcome was.

No problems at all with my el patron. (Although I doubt that I have shot 500rds through it yet).
It is a shooter though. Right to p.o.a. it has quickly become my favorite.

One cowboy shooter reported having light strikes from his new Uberti when “slip hammering”, a technique for shooting a SA revolver by pinning the trigger with your index finger while using the thumb of the support hand to cock the hammer.

Uberti has the challenge of building a revolver that will satisfy consumers who want a product that looks like a Colt from the 1800s and be legal to export and sell to countries and states with different requirements that are subject to change. Not to mention product liability concerns. Kudos for trying and I hope their revolvers work out.

I’m a cowboy action shooter and as Driftwood said we never load six in the revolver. If I were buying a Colt replica for match use I would get a Pietta or Uberti that has a Colt style lockwork, load five and not take a chance that the gun will have ignition issues.

If I wanted a SA revolver that I could carry with six rounds I would buy a Ruger. They have figured out how to make a rugged revolver with a transfer bar.

Another Uberti owner here and also a CAS shooter. I have 4 Uberti SAA revolvers with the retractable firing pin and have not had an issue so far. No idea the round counts on each but we dont go easy on them in competition.

I have not yet had a chance to examine a Uberti with the retractable firing pin, but my experience years ago with a Uberti Cattleman with the tilting hammer block has soured me on the entire concept. I will not purchase any revolver, no matter who makes it, with any such similar system.

I bought my old Uberti Cattleman just as a range toy, and so from the time I bought it to the time I junked it it probably had maybe 200 rounds through it at the most. What I noticed first was that the cylinder bolt started cutting a drag line on the cylinder - the bolt wasn't retracting all of the way - until it finally reached the point that the cylinder could not be rotated at all - either by half-cocking it as if to load it, or by trying to cock it to fire it. I put it aside while I pondered what to do with it. (It was several years old by then and out of warranty.)

Finally one day I decided to take it apart to see if I could diagnose what was wrong with it. What I found was that the bolt cam on the hammer was worn down by the bolt leg, and that the cam was actually cast as part of the hammer - not replaceable as would be on a Colt. This indicated to me that the hammer was made from insufficiently hard steel and/or was not properly hardened. Why was this so? Because the tilting hammer safety block built into the hammer required that there be drilled a very small diameter hole, bottom to top of the hammer, for the insertion of the push rod that operated the hammer safety. Drilling such a long small-diameter hole through a properly hard hammer would be very likely to result in numerous broken drill bits, and generate ruined hammers and bits. Uberti's solution was to simply make soft hammers!

It appears from pictures and descriptions on the web that the retractable firing pin on the new Ubertis require a similar actuating rod with a similar long small-diameter hole drilled through the hammer, just like my old Cattleman.

So, this falls into the category of "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

If you want a FOOLPROOF SAFE, and RELIABLE single action revolver, then buy a Ruger. The modern Ruger does not require taking the hammer to half-cock to load it - just opening the loading gate retracts the cylinder bolt - so if you don't have to half-cock it, you don't have to to take the hammer to full-cock and then lower it while pulling the trigger. As lawyer-proof as you can get. And this advice is coming from someone who is more interested in the historical accuracy aspect of these guns that with the CAS game.

I have two "original-style" single actions. A several year old Uberti/Cimarron "old model" (with the base pin retained by a screw) in .45LC, and a new Pietta/Great Western II in .38 Special/.357 Magnum. Both have the original Colt-style actions, and I carry them, and practice with them, with the hammer down on an empty chamber.

I also have a "modern-style" EAA Bounty Hunter in .22LR/.22 Magnum that is equipped with a transfer bar. After shooting it and examining its mechanical operation, I really don't see any advantage to the transfer bar operating system. Yes, once you SUCCESSFULLY lower the hammer down on a loaded chamber then the revolver can indeed be safely carried with all six chambers loaded. The fly in the ointment is how you lower the hammer down on that loaded chamber, because if the hammer slips from under your thumb, and you have the trigger pulled - which raises the transfer bar - then the revolver will still fire that round.

I always load the Bounty Hunter with a empty chamber under the hammer.

Outside of a modern Ruger, I much prefer the original action, as there is no mechanical "crutch" that lulls you into sloppy gun handling.

My el patron has the retractable firing pin. I still just load five unless I know that I am plinking or target shooting the entire cylinder full at targets.
The retractable pin is working just fine, although I have only fired a few hundred rounds downrange.
I really like the el patron.

My only exposure is with the new Cimarron 1862 Pocket .380, which is a total turd from the word go. So my initial impression is not very good but I'll probably find out with another gun soon enough.

So far I'm good with the retracting firing pin, though I'm not crazy about them, and have had zero problems with the pivoting hammer block, and I have several. @tpelle you got a single lemon. Shame you didn't have it fixed while it was under warranty.

35W