Uberti 1862 pocket not detonating caps

So the missus tried and liked Lyman's Plains Pistol last week, but it is just too heavy for her. Yesterday, we looked at a Pedersoli Deringer at Cabela's, but the action sucked, and even she copped to it being 'too small'. She is very recoil sensitive, generally only shooting .22 LR.

So I have had an Uberti 1862 Pocket in the case that I had not shot yet. Seemed a good compromise to her in size and weight. Put some caps on (no powder or ball) so she could try, and not one detonated on the first try. Funny thing, each and every one detonated on the second strike. Played around some more with mixed results. These were CCI #10 caps I have been using in a Remington. I used a Pietta 1851 Navy as a control, and no problem with every cap firing.

In my simple brain, this would seem to be a weak mainspring. But it was weird that it would work or not work in sequence strings. Any thoughts or recommendations would be welcome.

Is changing out a main spring in one of this reproductions much of a task? I remember having a bear of a time with an old H&R some years back. It was not complicated, just difficult...

Cshanging the spring is a sinch, but for your cap trouble i have seen this many times on different C&B Revs. some time the cap doses not seat firmley on the nipple and when you drop the hammer it just pushes the cap futher on the nipple and the second strike will pop the cap, you mite try changing to a larger #11 cap or even a new set of nipples, good luck to ya.

The caps are likely too small and so the first strike is seating them further than your hand or capper can, and the next strike sets them off.

Try a Rem #10 or a CCI #11 standard (non mag). If those still don't work try a Rem #11 or CCI/Win #11 magnum.

I have one I bought at a gun show years ago. Would not work either! After much work, I realized the hammer was not falling quite far enough to ignite the caps. I filed a small amount off the recoil pad, near the top.....works every time! One of my favorites. Try, with caps only, backing the nipples out a tiny bit and try. If it fires, consider smoking (candle soot) the inside of the hammer and see where it hits the recoil pad. File a tiny bit. Mine has a sloppy weak mainspring but still works every time! Good luck. Bill

I also bought one two months ago but have not shot it yet. I do have Remington 10's, 11's & CCI 11 caps to try. Nice pistol, mine has a 5-1/2" barrel. I guess I'll have to check her out before going to the range :hmm: .

I have both Pietta and Uberti revolvers, and all have been suberb quality.

UNTIL, the Uberti 1862 arrived at my doorstep. It is a beautiful little gun, but Uberti really Screwed The Pooch on this particular build. Your complaints are pretty typical.

I replaced the factory nipples with the Treso/Ampco nipples, and now it fires just fine.

The wedge wasn't even finger tight, so I had to widen it to make it stay put.

There is a tiny high spot on the cylinder that rubs against the frame enough to lightly bind and also wear off the blue.

The little tiny bead front sight ain't nearly tall enough. At 50' it shoots about 16" high. I haven't been able to determine if it's just press fit or threaded, but the brass sight bead is soft and I fear snapping it off if I give it any pull or twist tension.

It's a great-looking little revolver. I take it out occasionally to look at it, otherwise it's in the box on a shelf until I can figger out how to install a taller sight without undue grief and complications.

Some Italian made guns come with nipples on which our #10 caps don't properly fit. I know it is a bit of an expense but you can get some replacement nipples from Track of The Wolf for around $30 to $35 for 6 of them. Our #10 caps will fit them perfectly. I might even go for the #11 nipples since #10 caps are so darned hard to find today. I think the price is about the same as for the #10 nipples. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/64/1

If it's brand new, try cleaning the internals.
They lay in a "packing grease" when manufactured aa they have no idea how long a retailer will shelve a gun until it's sold.
That heavy packing grease can significantly slow the mechanisms down.

Sorry to hear your issues with the Uberti 1862. Mine came from Cimarron Arms and was PERFECT - I have yet to check the nipples but everything else was again "perfect".

Mine was purchased two months ago and there was no heavy packing grease either inside or outside only a light film of "oil" and wrapped in a "plastic" bag. It was an easy task to clean her up. A buddy of mine purchased a 1851 "REB" .44 cal from Cabelas and his also had only a light film of "oil" and wrapped in a "plastic" bag. Maybe years ago they were packed in grease? :v

Wow, thanks for all of the great input. So starting with the easiest solution. I tried CCI, Remington, and Winchester #11 caps. Had 3, 4, and 3 good first strikes (out of 5, of course). Was able to second strike 1 Remington and 1 CCI (leaving 1 unfired CCI and 2 Winchester I had to pry off the nipples). So I disassembled and started removing nipples. They were real buggers, and I could not get one loose. I had a set of Pietta nipples, where the bases were much thicker than the originals (meaning the cap would be higher). Alas, the threads were too large, and did not fit.

Conclusion is that the nipples were seated too deeply. I will try some replacements.

Now - any tips to get this nipple out? The wrench cannot get a grip.

Thanks to all for suggestions. Seems I am on the track.

There are two different designs of nipples made for regular caps.**

One style is quite tall and it is used for single shot pistols and rifles.

The other nipple style is short. It is made for use in the Cap & Ball revolvers.

Although the threads are the same, the two styles of nipples should not be used in the guns they weren't made for. It's not a matter of being dangerous. It is a matter of using the right part for the right application.

**Yes, I know there are several other different nipples like the stubby ones used by Hoppes and underhammer nipples but I'm talking about normal nipples.

As for getting the stuck nipple out, assuming the drive flats haven't been messed up you can try soaking the threads in a good penetrating oil like Kroil, heating the cylinder and applying some ice to the nipple and then rapidly trying to remove it, tapping it with a small hammer or sometimes, profanity helps a lot.

By the way, to keep the cylinder from turning while you are trying to unscrew the nipple, if you have a vise, do not clamp the cylinder in the vise. Find two pieces of wooden dowel or metal rods that fit the chambers and stick them into two of the chambers that are opposite each other. Then, clamp the two pieces of dowel that are sticking out of the chamber mouths.

This will prevent damage to the cylinder and keep it from turning while you wrench away.

If you are seriously wanting to remove it and the wrench flats are badly damaged, drilling it out is the only alternative left.

You will have to clamp the cylinder in a vise to do this so don't use any more pressure than is necessary.

With the mouth of the cylinder pointed up (and something to support the cylinder under it) lightly clamp the cylinder.

With the mouth up, you will be able to use a small drill like a 3/32 in the nipple hole to enlarge it slightly. This will keep the drill centered and keep it from walking.

Now, use a 3/16 " (.1875 diameter) drill and drilling straight down, use the 3/32 hole to guide the drill and slowly drill the nipples threads out.

Drilling from this end of the nipple with a regular right hand twist drill will try to unscrew it and usually it will break loose and unscrew.

If it doesn't, the drill will remove virtually all of the nipple threads allowing you to pick out what's left of them.***

*** This method is more difficult on a Remington because the nipples sit at a slight angle to the chamber.

ZUG said:

Mine was purchased two months ago and there was no heavy packing grease either inside or outside only a light film of "oil" and wrapped in a "plastic" bag. It was an easy task to clean her up. A buddy of mine purchased a 1851 "REB" .44 cal from Cabelas and his also had only a light film of "oil" and wrapped in a "plastic" bag. Maybe years ago they were packed in grease? :v

Click to expand...

Mine is from couple of years ago. Hopefully yours is built with all the bugs and hiccups worked out.

You are a Gentlman, sir. Thank you taking the time to post such a detailed response. I will start by soaking the heck out of it.

Even better than Kroil is a 50/50 mixture of plain old automatic transmission fluid and acetone. The stuff is a miracle juice when it comes to penetrating into tight places such as the nipple threads. You also need the correct nipple wrench. There are several different ones for various applications. What you need is a nipple wrench that is specifically for your nipples. Look at the Track of The Wolf catalog. They have all of them. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/160/1

Other than that, all I can say is follow Zonies instructions. The man knows whereof he speaks.

Thank you, Bill. I see if the mixture helps. I need to get an order into TotW, so I will see about a different wrench as well.

If you have a dremel with a cutoff wheel nipple wrenches are easy to make and 10 times better than any on the market. I used a 1/4 drive 7/32 socket and made the opening tight enough that it does not slip to remove several very tight nipples from my revolvers & muskets.

Pretty cool, very inventive.

Pocket pistols generally use different sized threads than the full sized guns.

Seems the Track of the Wolf PTC-PI cones will fit the Uberti Pocket Models and Palmetto Remington New Model Pocket Revolvers. They have 5.5 x .9 threads.

Thanks, I will get some ordered.