Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

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hunterdan
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by hunterdan »

I've got an 1873 Uberti in 357 mag. Was my first revolver and it started my love affair for revolvers. For me, it is extremely accurate and it was priced right. My local shop was selling them nib for $250. Mine is the 4.75" barrel and is a dream to shoot with 38s and is rather tame with the 357s. It shoots to poa and they plain Jane sights line up easy for me. The trigger is absolutely beautiful. No creep,very crisp and very light. I would love to find another to have a matching set. I'd even settle for a 45 colt version. Here is mine with my 92. Image

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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by joec »

Model 52 wrote: The reason is the are replicas of the original 1873 SAA and other than modern steels etc they are the same as the originals which where all Colt guns. They might be a bit more robust that you think if you watch this also keep in mind Italian as most European ammo is a bit stronger than our USA made stuff. Now I do believe a 45 Colt loaded with black powder can stop a deer as they sure have stopped a horse of two over the century or so they have been around. It is just a matter of distance and accuracy I would think.
Most firearms will tolerate initial proof loads without noticeable damage, however a steady diet of high pressure loads at far lower pressure than a proof round will cause long term wear and damage to most of those same weapons.

In this case, it's not the cylinder walls I'd worry about as much as it is the frame and the potential for stretching to occur over a number of rounds. It's not that older single action colt and colt clones blow up with steady use with hot loads, but rather they get loose and rattly over time due to stretching of the frame.

The degree to which an Italian made clone will be susceptible to this probably varies quite a bit. In a firearm you need parts that are "tough" for strength, but you also need parts that are "hard" for good wear resistance. Unfortunately, hard steel is brittle steel that is not very tough. That's where face hardening of steel parts in guns comes into play and again the trick is to get the outer surface hard for good wear resistance while leaving the inner core soft and tough in order to handle the loads without permanent expansion or breakage.

What I saw on the video convinced me that Uberti is relying on over engineering in the time honored tradition of the old west and that perhaps quality assurance is not as high on the priority list as it could be. For example, the technician was torquing and timing the barrels onto the frames with an obviously not very precision made stick and using a calibrated eye ball to ensure the front sight is perpendicular to a frame (that is itself not flat across the top). I suspect a similar low tech approach is used in the other areas of the plant as well and that effects how I regard the precision of the metallurgy and hardening processes involved. It's good enough for standard .45 Colt loads, but it does not inspire me to treat it like my Blackhawk. Now, none of that is particularly bad as again for the intended loads the pistol is over engineered, you have a generous margin of safety, and assuming it survives the trip to the proof house, all other failures with regular .45 Colt loads will be non catastrophic in nature. Consequently there is no need to go any farther and spend more time and money for higher QA that exceeds the need and engineering requirements of standard .45 Colt ammunition.[/quote]

Ah, I don't believe I ever compared the Uberti to a Blackhawk other than to say the Blackhawk is stronger and can take higher pressure loads. The Uberti as I stated will take a bit more pressure however I wouldn't load it any stronger than standard SAAMI loads as recommended and actually prefer black powder loads out of mine. I don't consider this for hunting other than very close range (inside 50 feet or so). If I was going to hunt with a hand gun it would be the Ruger Blackhawk models and not a Colt or Uberti based on an 1873 SAA. This is mine a Cimarron/Uberti 45 Colt as well as a 45 ACP cylinder that came with it. I've only fired 50 rounds of the ACP through it. However this is used for my Cowboy action shooting. I also have a 4.75" and 5.5" barrel to go with this one with 7.5" barrel.
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by pricedo »

Image

I don't know what Uberti did to screw the barrel into my 1873 45 LC Cattleman revolver carbine's frame or how perpendicular the sights are but the gun is very accurate.
If the sights are off plumb these old eyes of mine aren't picking it up.
What they are picking up is the approx 1" diameter solid black circle bulls-eye punched right out of the target paper by 5-shot groups at 25 yards.
Not bad for iron sights & a good reflection (at least in my eyes as a results orientated shooter) on the Uberti revolver line of firearms.
I'll take that gun deer hunting any day. :mrgreen:
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by jmay »

Yep quality seems pretty good to me. Took mine out last wknd and could consistently hit paper plates @ 50 yards not bad for 5.5 inch barrel assembled with sub par methods.
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by pricedo »

jmay wrote:Yep quality seems pretty good to me. Took mine out last wknd and could consistently hit paper plates @ 50 yards not bad for 5.5 inch barrel assembled with sub par methods.
I think we could revise that to "sub MOA methods".
That's the way it's lookin thru my spotting scope. :mrgreen:
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by Gun Totin' Gal »

Joe - you are dead-on about the SAA and the Uberti. I wanted something to use heavily so I wouldn't wear out my new Colt SSA (3rd gen). Anyway, bought my USED Western Arms 44/40 (also with stag grips, 71/2") after I saw that it was really an Uberti and definitely after I fired it. The forcing cone was pretty built up with lead, but a careful soldering iron fixed that. What a great gun. You're right about the loads. The Fiocci was too hot and kept jamming the gun. The brass was backing out. A pal offered to do some softer reloads and all was well after that.( 200 grain lead bullet and about 51/2 grains of WIN 231.) Accurate as all get all out, same kinda Colt SAA trigger, too! Light and sweet.
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Re: Uberti New Cattleman 357 mag

Post by joec »

Gun Totin' Gal wrote:Joe - you are dead-on about the SAA and the Uberti. I wanted something to use heavily so I wouldn't wear out my new Colt SSA (3rd gen). Anyway, bought my USED Western Arms 44/40 (also with stag grips, 71/2") after I saw that it was really an Uberti and definitely after I fired it. The forcing cone was pretty built up with lead, but a careful soldering iron fixed that. What a great gun. You're right about the loads. The Fiocci was too hot and kept jamming the gun. The brass was backing out. A pal offered to do some softer reloads and all was well after that.( 200 grain lead bullet and about 51/2 grains of WIN 231.) Accurate as all get all out, same kinda Colt SAA trigger, too! Light and sweet.
I actually have 2 Uberti's and a ASM. The ASM is 4.75" barrel and dead on accurate however front sight is narrow as is the back grove. I have a Uberti Cattleman 5.5' barrel I can't hit the inside of a barn with it if I was standing in it. Shoots way low and just haven't gotten around to adjusting the front sight. Now the Cimarron is also a Uberti built gun however they tend to tune it a bit and go though it and in my case refinished it however they are about $50 to $75 more than the cattleman is. Now the grips are from a kit that I fitted to the gun for my hand. Now I avoid shooting 200 gr in mine and prefer 250 - 255 gr soft lead bullets. If I don't load with black powder then it is Trailboss or Unique however I also worked up some with HP-38 with good results. Now my Rossi m92 is a different story as it can shoot pretty stout loads as long as my old shoulder can take it.. I also load it for CAS events the same as my SSA guns however I am also planning on doing some hunting with it soon also. I've gotten 500 of RD 290 gr and some Lee 300 gr both hard cast and gas checked. So far RD have been a bit more accurate for me but still haven't worked the load up as much with the Lee's as I have with RD's design.
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