Uberti va Pietta

[ironcharlie]

I'm interested in a cap and ball revolver. Both these companies make the common varieties, Colt and Remington. Is there a difference in quality?

 

[expat_alaska]

I think it depends upon what you are looking for. I have 8 Pietta 1851 Navy .36 "type" pistols based upon 4 base guns (1851 Navy Second Model Squareback, 1851 Navy Third/Fourth Model, Leech & Rigdon, Rigdon & Ansley, Schneider & Glassick, Griswold & Gunnison, Augusta Machine Works, Columbus Firearms Manufacturing Company. I like .36 caliber more than .44.

I have no Uberti guns, and no replica "1858" Remingtons, which is a misnomer for the Remington New Model Army/Navy 1863. I don't like them for fit to the hand.

The Piettas are less expensive to purchase than the Ubertis, but the Ubertis have a bad arbor to arbor recess fit as compared to the Piettas.

If you want a Pocket, a Walker, or a Dragoon it will have to be a Uberti as Pietta does not make them.

Just my $.02 worth.

Regards,

Jim

 

[mjsdwash]

I love my Pietta 58, its very well made, much better than the price suggests. The nipples are all the same size, and it shoots well. Hand fit is good, but the receiver has a purple tint to the blue (like some of the old army Rugers/blackhawks get). I don't mind the color

 

[Stormson]

Pietta for colts, Uberti for Remingtons... Unless you have really large hands, then you might like the Pietta remmis...

 

[drobs]

All 6 of my Cap & Ball revolvers are Pietta's. I like Uberti for 1873 cartridge revolvers and have 2 of those.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

I don’t disrecommend Uberti’s, at least not the Remington models. I have never owned one but have shot many and they are quality guns and look great. I own eight new-bought Piettas ranging from dates ‘96 to ‘17, all steel frame Army/Navy Colts and Remington style with a .36 Griswold being the latest. They all get used regularly and some have been fired thousands of times. After some initial exchanges (to Cabellas) each was pretty much range-ready out of the box but eventually all really benefited from smoothing up the internal action parts. I love those things and each has rendered me yeoman service and still do. I never hesitate to recommend Piettas.

I’d stay away from brass frames on the first few but eventually a Confederate repro is fun too, but limited on loads.

Like mjsdwash’s Remington I have a 5.5 inch and a .36 Remington style from 2011 [CH] that are each turning plumb color on the receivers. Some originals have that too. Copper content in the alloy. Looks real good.

Mr. Ironcharlie, don't overthink this. Just do it.

 

[BullRunBear]

Years ago Pietta had a bad reputation compared to Uberti. Don't know if it was deserved but it was a given. I can say that the several Piettas I've bought in the last ten years, both Colt and Remmy styles, have been well built, reliable, and nicely finished. With their usually lower price, I consider them a good value.

Jeff

 

[arcticap]

I think that Pietta produces a higher volume of guns and offers the best bang for the buck.
Cheaper and more widely available parts & replacement cylinders.
Sometime around 2000 Pietta modernized and their improved quality & value led them to become the largest & most popular C&B maker IMO.
Uberti certainly has their strong points but overall I will buy Pietta again.
There's plenty of great Uberti C&B's, however they also seem to have more defects even though they cost more.
Always look at the return policy or warranty before you buy either brand.

 

[grter]

Note it also depends on what year they were made. I had the opportunity to handle a 2012 made pietta ( [CI] date code) 1858 New model Army. For the money it was fantastic.

I later handled a 2017 made ( [CS] date code) Uberti 1858 New model Army and the difference was night and day. The Uberti action was much smoother, positive, and easy to work. Everything on the Uberti was tighter, the Uberti also has a clearly visible crown on the end of the tapered barrel but the Pietta's barrel which is thicker at the tip unlike the uberti doesn't. An original I handled also had the same type of taper just like the Uberti but no crown.

Sights on the Pietta are not visible when the hammer is at rest but are on the Uberti like on an original Remington 1858 that I handled.

The Pietta had a quirk. In half cock if you used the loading lever you had to be very careful to not rotate the cylinder past perfect alignment with the rammer because a tiny bit past was all it took for the hand to click onto the next cylinder ratchet and not allow you to rotate the cylinder backwards to line it up with the rammer again. It's a minor nag but I got used to it. The Uberti had no such problems allowing plenty of wiggle room to line up the rammer with the chamber.

Currently made Ubertis have forged steel frames (the stainless steel model is still cast though.) I think that is nice. In reality does it matter much I suspect not (it might ?) but I still like the fact that it is forged regardless as it should be stronger.

Is the Uberti worth the price difference I say absolutely yes. Handling it and cycling the action answered all those questions.

I consider the Pietta a gateway cap and ball revolver leading to other things like Ubertis.

Finally all in all the Uberti is very very close in spec to an original more so than the Pietta but I have to say the Pietta is also very close to an original.

I would choose the Uberti over the Pietta anytime but I would still be happy with a Pietta if I couldn't afford Uberti or were unable to find a Uberti.

 

[AlexanderA]

In my experience, Ubertis have a nicer finish and are closer to the originals. But I also hear that Pietta has been improving lately.

 

[ShotgunDave]

I'm going to have to parrot most everyone here. I currently have three Piettas and two Ubertis. The Piettas are great guns and great value for the money. The Ubertis have the edge in looks but not by much. All of them can benefit from a little cleaning up of the internals. There is the whole Uberti arbor problem but it's not on every gun and it's easily rectified. Like Mr. Dogg said above, don't overthink it. Buy what YOU like and enjoy shooting it.

 

[Tommygunn]

In many ways the Uberti is superior. The one Uberti fault has been mentioned; the short arbor, present on maybe 99.9% of all Colt style repros they make. I have some from the 1990s, and some new ones from after they modernized their manufacturing, and all have the short arbor, except one which is a 1871 Open Top. It appears to have the actual correct length arbor.
I attribute this to a manufacturing defect.
It's said that people who shoot the shorties eventually have the guns barrel assembly loosen up. I've never had it happen, but that does not prove anything because there could be people who shoot much more often who DO develop gun problems.
The good thing is its fixable. One of our members does it. Or, a quick cheap method is to slip some small washers into the arbor hole in the barrel to take up the space.

Today's Pietta revolvers are better than those of 15-25+ years ago and I can certainly recommend them. Ubertis are closer to actual size of originals in the Remington style.

 

[arcticap]

The Pietta Remingtons are beefier, that's another reason why I like them.
I would also like a Pietta .36 Remington because they are built on the same .44 frame and hold more powder.
And they take .375 balls instead of needing .380's.

Someone recently posted how thier brand new Uberti 1858 mainspring was too weak to bust a cap.
And he had to replace it with the mainspring out of his old Uberti to be able to fire it.
That's not the kind of quality control that one would expect for a more expensive gun.
Probably only a fluke that could happen with either company but nonetheless, it's just another example of an Uberti defect.

Many members would always comment about the sexier & more graceful lines of the Uberti 1860's being more true to the original design,
especially when compared to the Pietta 1860.
But that's cosmetic considering how the Uberti 186o internal arbor problem has gotten worse over the years despite the retooling that they've done.

I once had a Euromanufacture .36 Remmy that had the smaller frame, and in the end I thought it was too small and sold it instead.
I would rather have the beefier Pietta version.
But these are mostly matters of personal preference.
If given a choice between an arbor of proper length and a short arbor, I would buy the gun with the arbor of the correct length out of the box.
That doesn't mean that the Pietta is more accurate, it's just one less defect that a person needs to deal with when buying a new gun.

People make their choices based on price, looks, defects, quality, fit & finish, warranty etc...
There's plenty of defects to go around when it comes to new reproductions, there always has been.
It's just that while the number of Pietta defects has declined over the years, the number of Uberti defects has seemed to increase.
That's part of the Uberti company not making as many C&B guns as Pietta does.
Uberti makes tons of other products while Pietta concentrates more on C&B guns.
Some Uberti's are better than Pietta, but the percentage of Piettas without as many defects has increased, IMO anyway.
And that's why many consider Piettas to be the better value.

 

[grter]

I have heard differently. Since the use of CNC machinery defects in both Uberti and Pietta have substantially declined and the precision tolerances are generally fantastic despite the arbor issues of the Uberti products.

The days of crude or even cosmetically good looking revolvers with gross defects, super stiff barely aligned actions that feel like sandpaper are thankfully of little concern these days.

Uberti has always been a step up in quality from Pietta and in the years past it really mattered because the Uberti was more likely to work properly. Today because of modern computer controlled precision milling it may not matter as much because they both likely will work properly.

Regardless Uberti is still a step up in quality even today

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Uberti seem to be better on overall finish. Pietta has come a long way and from what I'm seeing are better out of the box regarding function. The most the Piettas would likely need is a little smoothing up, Ubertis arbors will always be wrong and need to be corrected to shoot and function properly.

So really for the money and for someone that doesn't want to have a gun reworked or the knowhow to do it themselves the Pietta is the best bang for the buck these days.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

Regardless Uberti is still a step up in quality even today

Not really, they used to be and their finish is still better but if you are buying a Colt open top cap and ball the arbor WILL be wrong on a Uberti, they have been since the 1970's and they still are today. The Pietta with CNC machining today are ready to go out of the box, some are a little rougher than others and can all use an action job but at least their arbors are almost always right.

 

[bannockburn]

I have two Piettas of recent manufacture: a Remington NMN and a Colt Model 1860. Both are very well made with a slight edge to the Colt in it's overall fit and finish. Very pleased with both of them and a great value for the money (got them on sale from Cabela's).





The only Uberti I have is a Beretta Stampede. First rate quality in terms of it's operation and it's blued finish.

 

[AlexanderA]

The only Uberti I have is a Beretta Stampede. First rate quality in terms of it's operation and it's blued finish.

Well, Uberti is owned by Beretta, and the Stampede is made in the Uberti plant. However, the Beretta Stampede is not the same as the Uberti Cattleman. The Stampede has a transfer bar and a frame-mounted firing pin, making it more like a Ruger than an original Colt. Even the new Cattleman II still has the firing pin in the hammer (although it's retractable), and no transfer bar.

 

[bannockburn]

AlexanderA

However, the Beretta Stampede is not the same as the Uberti Cattleman.

Never said that it was; just that it was my only revolver made by Uberti.

 

[AlexanderA]

The comparison is not complete unless we include the defunct (but commonly available) makers like Armi San Marco and Armi San Paolo (Euroarms).

 

[paul harm]

I think the OPs comparison was Pietta and Uberita, not anything else. But like a lot of threads, they kind a move around to sometimes other things. I own just the Piettas, so can't compare them to anything else. I'm very happy with the fit and finish, and don't mind the heavy barrel. It helps keep the shooting hand steady. JMHO.

 

[expat_alaska]

Delete. paul harm beat me to it.

 

[jmar]

I've owned 2 Piettas and their handsprings both broke within the first week. Upon examination their hands look like cast pot metal and their springs bobby pins. I owned a Uberti Walker for a brief stint and the hand and spring both looked like machined spring steel.The Walker never broke. I may have a sour relationship with Pietta though because the first gun I ever purchased from them would not even function and I had to return it. I did not know much about guns back then and would have not been able to diagnose or fix the problem.

 

[JN01]

Too bad Uberti can't make their arbors a hair longer.

Too bad Pietta won't stop crapping up nearly every surface of their guns with stampings.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

I may as well be the one to say it...
Unless you're really hung up on historical correctness ( and even then they all have their sins)
Get your hands on a used Ruger Old Army.