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Anyone know anything about Italian mfg Cowboy guns?

K-tech

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 5, 2012
163
8
34
WI
To make a long story short, my dad has been drooling over some of the cowboy action reproduction stuff made in Italy by Uberti/Pietta etc; particularly Sharps rifles, Schofield and SA army revolvers, with the intention of plinking and maybe trying to live out his childhood Western fantasies. In either case, some of the prices they are asking for them isn't cheap so I would assume they are fairly well made guns, but this kind of stuff isn't in my wheel house. What are you guys opinions on the overall quality of these types of guns?
 
the Italian stuff is actually pretty good.

sometimes they are not always 100% accurate to the originals, however i rarely hear of any actual mechanical issues with them.
 
I have friends running Uberti revolvers and long guns in SASS competitions and they are very happy with them
 
They're great! They look good, they shoot good. They take a lot of abuse. And are perfect for SASS. Don't hesitate for a second, especially on the Uberti stuff.

I have a bunch of Colt's and originals. Beautiful kit. But I would not subject it to the abuse that I'd happily inflict on the Italian stuff... to have FUN with.

One of my favorite guns is an Italian (Uberti I think) Colt Conversion revolver, which is a BP style gun with a cartridge cylinder. Originals are rare, delicate and tough to justify shooting. The replica is an absolute blast to shoot.

Send us some pix of what you buy. But don't shy away from the Italian guns. They are great!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
i got a Cimmaron for the wife. We loved it. It was about the only gun she'd make a point to go to the range with.

If you get one, get the newer ones that are rated for full power loads. Unless you only plan to shoot BP, don't get the older ones that were only rated for BP. I don't know where the cutoff is, but it's somewhere in the 2000's I believe. That's not accurate, so you'd need to find out if buying an older one. The newer ones are all good for full power smokeless loads.

I hope this might be of help:
https://www.uberti-usa.com/sites/def...chuckhawks.pdf
 
I have several of the Schofield revolvers made by Uberti / Cimmaron, they are beautifully built pieces and work flawlessly.
They are expensive, but worth it if you want a period piece that you can shoot all day long.
The ones I have are in the .45 Long colt and work very well with standard modern pressure loads (I would not try the insane pressure loads in them however).

I also have a Pedersolli Sharps that works flawlessly.
Add to that a nice case hardened side by side shotgun and you have a nice western 3 gun setup.

Where I think they really come into their own, is they look, feel and function pretty much like the original, but they have a few tweaks done to them so that you can shoot modern commonly available ammunition safely which makes it fun to shoot often.
 
Well all of this makes me feel a whole lot more confident now. Thanks a bunch for all your feed back, guys. I will post follow up pictures when I get around to it
 
To make a long story short, my dad has been drooling over some of the cowboy action reproduction stuff made in Italy by Uberti/Pietta etc; particularly Sharps rifles, Schofield and SA army revolvers, with the intention of plinking and maybe trying to live out his childhood Western fantasies. In either case, some of the prices they are asking for them isn't cheap so I would assume they are fairly well made guns, but this kind of stuff isn't in my wheel house. What are you guys opinions on the overall quality of these types of guns?

I have experience with several makers and models/types of guns. I currently have two Uberti Colt 1860 Army replicas, one 1858 Remington replica and a Uberti 1873 with Turnbull color case-hardening. The fit, finish, and function are all excellent, and they are very close to historically accurate. I sold a pair of nickeled Uberti 1875 Remingtons that were equally impressive and reliable...just didn't need them as I don't do CAS. As to historical accuracy, the only immediately visible difference was in the cylinder pin, which is different from the original, but there are differences that are internal and subtle. Unlike Pietta, Uberti hides the manufacturer identification on the bottom of the barrel instead of the side of the barrels which, of course, adds to the authenticity of appearance.. Also, Pietta is not closes to historically accurate (e.g., Brass-framed Navy .44) and I have found many of their guns less well finished than Uberti. For their black powder replicas. Pietta gets the arbor length right while Uberti is notoriously short. This has not impacted my shooting of them...YMMV. In the past, I had a pair of AWA Colt 1873 replicas built by Armi San Marco, IIRC. They looked nice, shot well but I never really felt great about them.

As to rifles, there are several manufacturers. I have somewhat limited experience with 1874 Sharps replicas and believe those by Davide Pedersoli are the cream of the crop. Of course, rifles by C. Sharps and Shiloh, both American companies, are very high end and worth their price...you may not want to go the $3,000-$10,000 route. Friends who shoot Black Powder Silhouette matches have spoken highly of their Pedersoli Sharpsand have offered no complaints regarding them.

I have the strong sense that the Italian manufacturers are using excellent metallurgy and manufacturing in recent years. I have had no problems with any of my replicas though I do not own any replica rifles. I have been impressed by the SS version of the 1861 Springfield rifle by Pedersoli but have not tried one...yet.

Best of luck and best wishes to your Dad in his retirement.

Cheers,

Harry
 
They are well built and reliable. I shoot Pedersoli for Sharps and Rolling Blocks Uberti for Winchester replicas also have a beautifully made Schofield (Uberti?) as we'll as a Pietta 1858 Remington. All have worked flawlessly. I also owned a Shiloh Sharps 1874 but ended up selling it because the Pedersoli Sharps shot just as well.