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Two, actually. First was the dovetail wedge that holds the loading lever in place on my 1861 Navy fell off and was lost in the grass. Talked to Uberti, and they said they'd send me one. It's an old gun but has been shot only 12 times or so. The technician was read the serial number and was surprised it was so old (and I guess out of warranty.) After explaining I'd had the gun for 10 years but hadn't shot it, the operator said OK.

Second was my OTHER 1861 (the new one) was the hand was too thick which jammed up and wouldn't allow the cylinder to rotate. It's never been fired. My gunsmith buddy filed it down and now it works fine. I put the newer barrel on the old frame, but the two aren't necessarily the same and the wedge wouldn't interchange.
 
I've had similar problems with Uberti's and other Colt clones. I've also had a Ruger Old Army, that had to be de-burred. Seems like the pride in workmanship, has been lost. Metal's are better, machining process is better, but hand fitting skills, seemed to have been lost.

It's a shame, but poor fitting, has become the new normal.
 
hadden west said:
I've had similar problems with Uberti's and other Colt clones. I've also had a Ruger Old Army, that had to be de-burred. Seems like the pride in workmanship, has been lost. Metal's are better, machining process is better, but hand fitting skills, seemed to have been lost.

It's a shame, but poor fitting, has become the new normal.

Not lost, priced out of the market. The kind of hand work the old
timers did would probably add a couple of hundred dollars to the the price.
 
A follow up. I called Uberti about the part missing, which I THOUGHT I described...the dovetailed part near the muzzle that holds the loading lever in place. It took hours to reach a live voice, and after describing it, he said he knew exactly what I was talking about. He'd send me the part.

About a week later, I received a barrel wedge. I since found out the part I needed is called a "lug."
 
Myself and several others call these modern C&B revolvers " kit guns". Reason is that they all require work of some kind.

I for one am willing and indeed happy to do these upgrades on these revolvers for a couple reasons;

1 ... the price is down so even a po boy can afford them. Would be priced out of my reach if the smoothing and inner detail work was factory done.
2 ... then there is pride of ownership that comes with some " sweat equity". Nothing gives me ownership like fiddling with a gun. It makes me familiar with it in a way not possible any other way.
3 ... i know ... i said " couple". But there is a third that is important to me as well. That is the feeling of independence i get from the disassembly and "fixing" my own stuff and making it fit my needs and desires much like our forfathers had to do.


Nothing in the world comes with a turn key operation without somebody doing the final touch on it and i readily do so at the firm commitment of ownership of a weapon that will serve me for years to come and possibly my heirs later on.

Most of my BP guns look USED because they ARE used and enjoyed. This is the why of why i love black powder muzzle loading guns. I can never get the feeling from a gun that simply uses metal cartridges and powder that has no class. They are fun and i do shoot them BUT when i really desire to let the hair down ... a muzzle loading gun of some kind will be in hand and a special grin on me mug
 
before you install the new lug, strike a dimple into the flat in the barrel dovetail, and after it's tapped into place, peen the dovetail wings down over the top of the lug with a punch.

it will be there for the duration then.
 
The reason the nipples are seized is the after the cylinder completly manufactured, the nipples were installed, then the cylinder was blued.
 
Have you checked the arbor depth on your Navy? Uberti's are notorious for bad arbor/barrel interface. This also affects the cylinder gap. When it's set correctly, the arbor length sets the gap. The wedge just holds everything together. Then correctly fitted, the wedge will seat with just thumb pressure and the catch spring will hold it in pace. The last new Uberti I bought was a London Navy back in 2012 that was converted to cartridge. The arbor was almost .125" too short and needed to be lengthened to fit correctly. On the other hand, I have a Uberti Navy I bought back in 1983 that was perfect right out of the box.
 
Have you checked the arbor depth on your Navy? Uberti's are notorious for bad arbor/barrel interface. This also affects the cylinder gap. When it's set correctly, the arbor length sets the gap. The wedge just holds everything together. Then correctly fitted, the wedge will seat with just thumb pressure and the catch spring will hold it in pace. The last new Uberti I bought was a London Navy back in 2012 that was converted to cartridge. The arbor was almost .125" too short and needed to be lengthened to fit correctly. On the other hand, I have a Uberti Navy I bought back in 1983 that was perfect right out of the box.

See my how to article here:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...works-for-all-colt-open-top-revolvers.111245/

Enfieldguy is right on about this issue. Every reproduction BP open top revolver I have has a short arbor that will need shimmed for any kind of accuracy, and repeatability.
Ol Vern is spot on about the hand fitting not lost, but rather priced out of the market. It is time consuming to do that hand fitting, and time in labor cost jacks the price of a revolver way out of average Joe's budget. Back in the day every gun made was hand fit at the factory.
My finished shim. My arbor was .095" short on this Uberti 1847 Walker
IMG_1010_zpsp1sqzm5e.jpg

IMG_1008_zpspsc4ulyg.jpg

Finished Walker with shim in place, SlixShot Stainless Steel nipples.
IMG_1114%20-%20Version%202_zpswnxtvjn3.jpg
 
I've had my Uberti London model 51 navy since 1980. I haven't had any of the problems mentioned here. Out to 25 yards it is one of the most accurate handguns, including center fire, I own. Am I the lucky one ,or was quality control a lot better back then?
 
I believe you! Maybe you have the ability to hit the wedge with the same amount of force each time you seat it. If your wedge doesn’t work loose that is great! Carry on. The 51 shoots about half the powder charge in .36 caliber, versus my Walker .44 caliber with 50 grains of Swiss. That will help.
If you are curious if your one of the “lucky one” who has an arbor of the correct length, read Larson E. Pettifoggers Tuning Pieta articles. It shows you how to easily check the arbor length on Uberti and Piettas. Please let us know what yoy find if you check it.
I have read on this forum, and others, of owners of 1980 repros that shoot exceptionally well out of the box. Some say the Colt Black Powder Series 2nd Gen Signiture guns manufactured by Uberti, but assembled at Colt have better fit and finish than Italian built Ubertis. I have several of these myself. They are not shooters, so I have never checked the arbor lengths. Perhaps I will out of curiosity.
One member on this forum said he had Ubertis with short arbors, as are most, but he also said he has one circa 1980’s that has correct length arbor. So yes, you could very well be one of the “lucky one.” Or not, if it shoots to POA, it doesn’t matter.
If the arbor is short, the shim will make a huge difference in the feel of the gun. It will lock up solid when you seat the wedge. Feels like a top strap revolver, locks up like a steel vault.
Mike at Goonsgunworks http://www.goonsgunworks.com/makes a living fixing the short arbors on repro guns, along with other mods, such as pinning Belind the percussion cap so no jams from caps falling into action. He puts a set screw in the end of the arbor as well. Allows you to adjust edge depth to your liking, and adjust for wear over time. Also puts a hammer stop screw in trigger guard to prevent hammer over travel that puts stress on the hand. He will convert hand spring to a coil spring as in Roger Old Army as well.
 
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