Uberti or Pietta SAA Patterns-Which is best from which importer?

[Virginia Gentleman]

I know the Cimarron Model P from Uberti gets great reviews and so does the EMF Great Western II from Pietta.  Which in your experience is the better gun and why?  Things to consider are authenticity to the Model P Pattern, workmenship, durabilty of materials used, metal, steel, springs, heat treatment etc and performance on the range.  I have several Cimarrons and like them, but that is just my experience.  They are not up to USFA in quality, but seem to do the job very well and have not broken a part yet under hard use.  They are also much less expensive than my USFAs and Colts and that is why they are shot the most.  Compared to an early Colt, they do a very good job and seem to be made of modern materials that hold up well considering how much I have shot them with smokeless poweder loads.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Just my 2 cents worth. The Pietta '73 has a recoil plate machined into the breech face as original Colts did/do and also as USFA now has. Uberti does not have this. You can also NOT get a Pietta '73 with a BP frame in the U.S. Ironically, they are available in Canada, but not here. Go figure. Pietta was/is also elminating the patent dates from the left side of the frame as well last I heard. The Uberti also does not have a replaceable hammer cam. I am not sure about the Pietta.

Both are fine guns IMO and it always pays to have a good CAS 'smith go over any new Italian SAA clone for burr removal, chamfer forcing cone, etc. Good luck. 

[sack peterson]

My GWII has no patent dates.  I got it about a year ago.

GWII has a bushing with the cylinder pin.  Its the goofy hammer block style cylinder pin - I swapped a Colt pin right in.  Also has a coil hand spring, which is NOT Colt like, but I think a better feature.

I have a Uberti and a GWII.  I like the action on the GWII much better.  On both of them I see some subtle finish oversights that i would not expect to see on a Colt.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Colts until recently had finish flaws you could see a mile away.  My Cimarron Model P was finished better than some of the earlier 3rd gen Colts.  Neither of them compares to USFA, but that is another story.  The GWII I saw with the premium finish looked good or on par with the Cimarron US Finish guns.

[Curley Cole]

Howdy the fire

Well, ifn you all have followed my musings, you know I am pretty fond of the Great Western 2. The bottom gun in the picture is the latest GW I got, Debbie at EMF pulled it out when I had run out of things to buy...It is all blue, no CCH, It still has the patent dates on it (Alchimestia confirmed to me by email that he stopped putting them on due to possible problems with Colt.) When I got the gun I felt it had to have Colt eagle grips on it. Bob Shaw at Walker 47 fitted them and also put in a Colt Cylinder pin. He told me it was as close to a Colt as you could get, and if I wanted to he could roll stamp it with the proper stuff and no one could tell the difference.

Well, when I retired, I got a few extra $$ and finally got me a real Colt. I have to tell you that Sixgun Shorty got me a nice one. The action is great. My point is that other than the CCH, these guns are about as identical as they can get. They feel the same, the actions are the same, they shoot to the same point. When I took them apart (only cleaning not down to the springs,) they look the same. Inside the frame after you take the cylinder out the machine marks are very similar, neither one is any smoother than the other.
When I lay them on the loading table, every one wants to see the PAIR of Colts...I am glad I got them both, as I finally do have a Colt....but I was really surprised how much alike they were..

Just wanted to drop this in for yer viewing

good shootin
curley

[Virginia Gentleman]

Nice guns, but to me the current crop of Colt 3rd gens, while much improved in quality are just not worth the extra $600 to me.  If I want a really nice historically accurate SAA that is literally made to perfection, I go with US Firearms.  No pony, but twice the gun in quality to the SAA.  Back to the subject at hand, I have heard good things about EMF's GWII, but no patent dates, give me a break, Colt can't sue based on patent dates and that is a mark against the GWII in my book.  On the plus side, even though I really like Cimarrons, I like the fact that the GW has a firing pin bushing like the original and unfortunately the Cimarron/Ubertis do not.

[Curley Cole]

VG

I agree I would not pay the extra $$ to buy a Colt set. I got one because I have always wanted one..I got it to satisfy my need. All my GW except one have the dates stamped. Not to get a GW just for that reason is just cheatin yer self outta fine gun. I put my money where my mouth was by getting myself 7 of them. I also felt they were good enough to stock two of them with real elephant ivory.

It is my first choice, (alto I do have a pair of engraved Taylor 45's that shoot damn fine too)

just my 2 cents
curley

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

                    I'll co-sign on Curley's thoughts 


                                       TW 

[Marshal Deadwood]

Curley,,I'm a big lover of seeing guns stocked with Ivory,,or even good IVory subs...

...ya got a neat picture of them revolvers stocked with the 'real deal?'  If ya do, I'd loveee to see themmm !

Nothing like a revolver with Ivory stocks !
Congrat,,,I'm sure they look like a million ..

MD

[Old Top]

Marshal,

I beleive that Curly has a picture of his Nickle Plated, Ivory Griped Great Westeren on the Great Western theam below.

Old Top

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Marshal


           Like Old Top said, here's the link to Curleys ivory gripped Great Western ll

                         http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,23923.0.html


                                       tEN wOLVES 

[Curley Cole]

Marshal

here is a closer look at the grips of my Sunday go to meetin BBQ gun.....It looks even better in person

good shootin
curley

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

                   Curley did you have Eagle Grips do your Ivory's for you They're Beautiful, thanks for the close up.



                                               TW 

[Curley Cole]

10W

No, I get all my ivory and poly ivory from Boone Traders up in Washington (boonetrading.com) I used to do some scrimshaw and started trading with them then. They also have some excellent beads, (including chevrons, white hearts etc)

You can even get yer grips with the Colt or Ruger medallions in them, but I think that takes away from the ivory. I got mine for about $325 a pair. (the poly ivories are only about $38 a pair and they are the best around.)

thanks for the compliment. I had a few folks stop me at the gunshow today to ask me about them. They do tend to stand out in a crowd...

curley

[Virginia Gentleman]

Wow, for that price you could almost buy a second gun!

[Curley Cole]

VG

Guess it is all in how ya look at it. For the price of my Colt ($1299) I for sure could have bought another gun, in fact is what I did several times before, but I wanted to have one true Colt before I cashed in my chips.

I got a real deal on the real ivories ($under $400 for each pair) but I really wanted to have one set of ivories (real elephant) and then I got the second nickel plated gun so it had to match.

And It was well worth the expense. At the gunshow yesterday I had several folks approach me to admire my guns because the ivory was so pretty. And this is at a gunshow where there are thousands of dollars worth of guns. All in all makes ya pretty good to have yer gear stand out like that.

So, it was money well spent. And besides my gunsafe is pretty full..

good shootin
curley

[Virginia Gentleman]

How true, we work too hard in this life not to enjoy a few luxuries.  I am thinking of fancy walnut on my next USFA.

[Curley Cole]

VG

Yup that about sums it up. let us see some pix

curley