Uberti Firing Pin

[JayBeeKay]

Interesting information
I picked up the gun last week and fired it for the first time yesterday.
Just like every gun I've bought online - I get it home and start trying to figure out what's right about it and what's wrong with it.
And if there's something that's not right about it, what does it take to make it right.
A few burrs ... simple fix.
The cyl had a lot of shake, a base pin and a shim could tighten that up, but then there's the .008 B/C gap - Hmm
The chambers all lined uo very well with the bore, but the throats are .... (drumroll) .366" Are you kidding?
Isn't there a SAAMI spec on chamber dimensions.?
Is this defective?
It's not very accurate but that could be me or the ammo too ...

Good News : No leading using 13 gr IMR 4227 with 158 gr cast bullets

Jury's out on whether to send this in for warranty work.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

There was a lengthy post just a week or so ago about oversized chamber throats on Uberti 357 Magnum revolvers. I'm pretty sure the poster had the same complaint you did, although I do not remember the exact dimension he quoted. Bottom line was, if I recall correctly, Uberti told him the chambers were in spec.

Here is the SAAMI spec drawing for the 357 Magnum cartridge and chamber. The callout for chamber throat diameter is .358. However if you look at the tolerance note, it states that unless other wise noted all diameters have a tolerance of +.004. .358 + .004 = .362. So it appears your .366 chamber throats do not meet SAAMI Spec by .004. However, since your revolver was made in Italy, I have no idea what the European CIP standards are. I suspect if you contact Uberti they will tell you the chambers are in spec.





Regarding a .008 barrel cylinder gap, while that is a bit large, I have seen worse.

 

[JayBeeKay]

Thank You

It's puzzling why a company would deliberately produce a defective product, When for the no additional cost, they could do it right.

The difficult part would be getting correct indexing of the cyl notch / ratchet / chamber And on my gun, that part is close enough that it would take fine measuring equipment to locate any error.

But it makes me think that maybe they ream the throats oversize to compensate for the times when there's an error in the cyl chamber / bore indexing ?

Because it wouldn't have added anything to the production cost, it they'd reamed the chamber to spec.

I won't be recommending a Uberti to any friends who are want a gun for something other than shooting a close targets, and to look at the nice fit / finish work.

 

[caman]

Thank You

It's puzzling why a company would deliberately produce a defective product, When for the same cost they could do it right.

The difficult part would be getting the cyl notch / ratchet / chamber alignment correct - And on mine that part is right.

But it makes me think that they ream the throats oversize to compensate for the times when there's an error in the cyl chamber - bore alignment.

Because it wouldn't have added anything to the production cost, it they'd reamed the chamber to spec.

I won't be recommending a Uberti to any friends who are want a gun for something other than shooting a close targets

My thoughts exactly. I won't be rushing out to buy another one in the near future, or ever for that matter.
As for warranty, forget it. Everything is in spec according to Uberti, and that is to their spec as they choose. They don't manufacture to CIP standards, which is the same as SAMMI with the exception of operating pressures.
I have tried to find a replacement cylinder. It seems from late fall of 2021 all the cylinders are .366'' throats. I have tried to contact Uberti in Italy twice, but received no replies.
What size groups are you getting, at what distance?

 

[JayBeeKay]

My thoughts exactly. I won't be rushing out to buy another one in the near future, or ever for that matter.
As for warranty, forget it. Everything is in spec according to Uberti, and that is to their spec as they choose. They don't manufacture to CIP standards, which is the same as SAMMI with the exception of operating pressures.
I have tried to find a replacement cylinder. It seems from late fall of 2021 all the cylinders are .366'' throats. I have tried to contact Uberti in Italy twice, but received no replies.
What size groups are you getting, at what distance?

The Uberti is actually pleasant to shoot, and it's beautiful to look at and hold.

My other .357 is a 3" SP 101 DA only, and I bought a few hundred rounds and extra components to handload, but I hardly ever shoot it because it's a little monster.

Yesterday, I loaded up some 158 gr Berrys HP bullets over 13 gr of IMR 4227, also some cast 158 SWCs over the same charge - and a few jacketed SPs over 15 gr of 2400.
I wasn't seeing any accuracy that really impressed me and I lost track of what loads were doing what.
But I put about 20 holes in a paper plate @ 20 yds.
Not exactly a good group..

When I ordered it, I got the El Patron Competition model, thinking that maybe they'd put some better QC into it, than they do with the basic models, being that it's a few $ more

If I get all the rough spots out of this revolver and get it slicked up, I may have someone re barrel it for .41 spl . Since the cyl indexing is very good, and I have a 5" .41 cal barrel blank sitting around.
I'm not sure about those Berrys plated HP bullets either.
I'll shoot a bunch of .357 mag loads using 2400 or 800x and jacketed bullets next time.

I have a TC Contender that it's pretty easy to shoot offhand 20 yd groups of 2" with iron sights... So that's my standard of comparison.

 

[BRatigan]

The floating firing pin in the Ubertis requires you to hold your trigger position until the round fires. If you let off the trigger just before the hammer strikes the firing pin, then the pin will not hit the primer. It's by design. I realize I didn't say that very well. Bottom line is to keep pressure on the trigger until after follow through. That has been my experience.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I do not know why Uberti has been cutting oversized chamber throats of late.

I measured the chamber throats on a couple of 357 Magnum revolvers when this topic came up a few weeks ago. Off the top of my head I seem to recall a S&W 357 Mag had chamber throats right around .357 or so, and so did a Ruger New Vaquero. Just what I seem to recall. Not a very thorough sample, I only measured the chamber throats on one each of many revolvers by those manufactures.

I doubt if Uberti is cutting oversized chamber throats to make up for misalignment of the chambers with the bore, that is what the forcing cone at the end of the barrel is for.

It might interest you to know that over sized chamber throats are not all that unusual. I have a couple of 2nd Gen Colts, chambered for 45 Colt, and this model was well known to have oversized chamber throats.

Here is the SAAMI drawing for 45 Colt. Chamber throat diameter is .4555 +.004/-.000. That means the max allowable size would be .4595. I don't have the figures handy, but I seem to recall my 2nd Gen Colts have chamber throats a little bit bigger than that. Stardard diameter for 45 Colt bullets is .452, but .454 is also available, which helps compensate for the oversized chamber throats of a 2nd Gen Colt.





I have not bought an Uberti revolver in a long, long time, so I am not familiar with the model you bought. Reading what it says on the Uberti Website, the Patron Competition has a lower hammer spur, which some CAS competitors prefer. That is the only difference between the Patron Competition Model and the 'standard' Patron model. Uberti claims the 'standard' Patron model is 'factory tuned'. I can tell you for a fact that serious CAS shooters hire well known CAS gunsmiths to slick up their pistols, I doubt if any of them would consider Uberti's 'factory tuning' to be satisfactory for serious competition.

That is what you paid extra for, some 'factory tuning', which is all hand labor. I doubt Uberti is going to tool up differently to make cylinders with tighter chamber throats for any of their models.

 

[.45Coltguy]

The chamber throats on my Pietta .45 Colt[Great Wester II model] mic out at .452". In my Uberti/Taylor's .45 Colt[Old Randall model], they mic out at .453". That Taylor's will out shoot my Pietta all day with the same handloads. The tolerances on these two Italian replicas seem to be very good. I'm very happy with them.