There looks to be three Italian revolver manufactures, Pedesoli, Pietta and Uberti.
Cimarron, Taylor and EMF resell some or all of the Italian guns. Do they do anything more than resell them? I mean, do they modify them in any way? I'm kind of at a loss if the guns are the same why anyone would buy a Taylor or Cimarron rather than just buying a Uberti or Pietta.
Also, are the Italian guns all metric? Or do they make any true reproductions of Colt's revolver?
Do any stack up against a Ruger Vaquero?
Howdy
It used to be that Pietta always ran second to Uberti. Uberti products were always better for fit and finish. I can tell you for a fact that a few years ago when I bought a pair of Pietta 1860 Army Colts I was disappointing with the finish and wished I had spent a bit more money on a pair of Ubertis. Recently that seems to have changed. A lot of the Cowboy shooters are raving about the new Pietta cartridge revolvers.
There used to be a lot of talk that some importers, Cimarron in particular, were importing superior Italian clones than the other importers. Some claimed better fit and finish, some claimed better wood. This was mostly hype generated by reading the Cimarron website. The simple fact is, they all roll off the same assembly line, and inside they are all the same. One importer may specify minor variations such as different barrel lengths, or an all blue finish, but down inside they are all the same.
There also used to be a lot of talk about some of the importers doing custom tuning to the Italian guns. Stop and think about that for a moment. Consider the cost of custom smithing a firearm. If that was happening, the guns would cost much more than they do. No, pretty much the guns show up at the importer and they put them on the shelf ready to ship out to dealers.
There used to be a division of Uberti called Uberti USA that dealers could order direct from. Because of corporate changes a few years ago, Uberti USA was eliminated. The parts company VTI Replica Gun Parts was started by Maria Uberti, who I believe used to run Uberti USA. So today, if you want to buy an Uberti, you have to buy it from one of the remaining importers, such as Taylors or Cimarron. Of course if it is a cartridge firearm you have to order it through a dealer.
Exactly what do you mean by a 'true reproductions of Colts revolvers'? The Colt Single Action Army evolved over time, it was not a static piece that did not change from 1873 to the present. There were many changes that occurred to the design over time. No, none of the Italian clones is a perfect replica of a Colt. Besides that, a few differences that immediately come to mind between a Colt and the imports: Colts have a hardened insert in the recoil shield to prevent the firing pin hole from peening or being elongated, most, if not all of the imports lack this feature. The cam on the hammer of a Colt is a separate, replaceable part, it is a cast on feature with the imports. Most, if not all, of the parts in a Colt are still machined forgings. Uberti uses cast parts, I can clearly see the parting line on an Uberti hammer. Details such as knurling on the hammer spur are made with a separate knurling tool after the part is made, it is a cast on detail on most imports. Most of the imports do recreate the original 'V' groove rear sight of the early Colts, Colt went to a much easier to see square groove with the 2nd generation. Because of Federal import regulations, all of the import guns must have some sort of hammer block, Colt has no such requirement and has never had a hammer block in the SAA. First and 2nd Gen Colt barrels had tapered threads that were an interference fit in the frame. 3rd Gen Colts and all the imports have straight threads. Yes, the early imports used metric threads, I do not know what they are using today.
I can also tell you that every Italian import I have been inside, both revolvers and rifles, shows evidence of the CNC machinery being run too fast so that the most parts possible could be produced per day. Despite how pretty they are on the outside, all of these guns exhibit rough surfaces and burrs on the inside, the result of cranking up the feed rates on the equipment to make more parts per hour. You don't see that in a Colt.
As stated, the Ruger Vaquero is a completely different animal. Although it bears a resemblance to the SAA, the mechanism is totally different. Not just the transfer bar. The mechanism was totally redesigned in the 1970s and bears no resemblance to the SAA lockwork at all. Not only are all the old flat springs gone, replaced by coil springs, the parts in a Ruger are generally more robust than in a Colt or clone, this is why they are often referred to as tanks.
Might also pay to look into USFA. You'd have to buy used as they are no longer being made (because the owner of the company arguably is bonkers) but they were made in the Colt Gateway building in Hartford CT and were by all accounts, very very nice reproductions.
USFA moved out of the old Colt building quite a while ago into a new facility across town. Yes, they made very, very good reproductions of the SAA, better than anything the Italians made, some even say better than Colt. However they are no longer being produced.
