Believe it or not, it's cheaper to order a small batch of them from Home Depot with free shipping than the cost of gas to drive there. Thank you President Biden.
Pretty much my point!
If it was on the same level as one that has been gone over by Mike or Jack, that would be more than reasonable. We spend $3-$400.00 on them no matter how bad they are. !! Maybe $550.00 if it was built and timed correctly and had no issues. One can't (I don't think, haven't checked prices lately) can't get a modern Colt, Ruger or S&W for that price. And I am hearing more than a few horror stories about brand new modern/cartridge revolvers lately.
I have an Uberti Army I shot for quite a while “unfixed”. From the early 1960’s til 2018 or so. This has always been one of my favorite handguns so it’s been fired a lot, it’s pretty much an everyday carry around home. When I leave it’s always in the truck loaded and ready with full charge loads under round ball or conical bullets. I fitted an arbor spacer to it in 2018 (I think…) and it hasn’t torn itself apart from either condition. I can say that this pistol fired over 500 full power shots per year over a span of sixty some years and did no damage to itself. The floor on the other hand, could stand to be sanded and refinished.
The only reason, that I can think of, that a percussion revolver doesn't have to cost as much as a centerfire revolver is that the percussion cylinder doesn't have to be as strong - but even high-quality heat-treated steel isn't that much more expensive...If it was on the same level as one that has been gone over by Mike or Jack, that would be more than reasonable. We spend $3-$400.00 on them no matter how bad they are. !! Maybe $550.00 if it was built and timed correctly and had no issues. One can't (I don't think, haven't checked prices lately) can't get a modern Colt, Ruger or S&W for that price. And I am hearing more than a few horror stories about brand new modern/cartridge revolvers lately.
Perhaps the way for the Italians to do it would be to have "custom shop" guns that were of high quality, and priced higher like some companies do/used to do. ? Throw in some extras like exotic wood grips, some engraving, whatever. ? Of course that might be an admission that their regular guns off the line suck.
Dang that looks like mine. Also my favorite for going outside for whatever. Pretty much my favorite revolver.
Uberti made very few of the 5.5” 1860 Army’s or the 1861 Navy. I lucked into this one as a youngster, the Navy somewhat later. Uberti has never built many of the short barreled guns, Colt didn’t either but if the c&b era had lasted longer they would have been more popular.
My 1860 used to lose loading lever latches, or the lever/rammer would drop from recoil, and I struggled with that for years. About the time I got it right, I tried 777 in it, and on the second cylinder load-up it chain fired and blew another latch off the barrel, along with the front sight.
I don’t have proof at hand but it’s mentioned in Pates book. I loaned my copy out.
Well, what is "necessary" is a slippery slope, most debatable. Using an antique car as an analogy, there is a lot of things you can do to one to improve it's performance and reliability, that are not necessary to get it to run, and go from point "a" to point "b". A paint job is not necessary. (my '48 is in primer, and you could not pay me enough to paint it. !!!) Dual carbs are not necessary, but my engine sure runs better with them, and gets better mpg. Lowering the front with stiffer springs was not necessary, but it rides better, steers better, etc. Shaving the head? A few extra ponies is/was not necessary. So some of the fixes are not necessary for sure, but they sure do improve the pistol. They make it a "better" pistol.
