Taylor/Uberti 1858 Remington Conversion Review

[Varmint]

Recently I had the pleasure of acquiring one of Taylor Firearms Uberti 1858 Remington Conversion Revolvers in .38 Special for a plinking and small game gun.  I'm not a big action shooter but appreciate the classic designs from the past for both target shooting and hunting.  My first deer was taken with a lever action rifle as was my first wild pig.  My favorite hand guns have always been single action six guns.  I like the way they feel in my hands and perhaps all that time years ago as a young lad reading Louis L'Amour got the old ways stuck in my head.

Recently I had a hankering for one of the new reproduction conversions.  I looked at some of the various Colt clones offered by Cimarron and eventually settled on one only to find out it was backordered for several months.  After a short cry on my wife's shoulder she gave me permission to also order something else.  Bless her heart.

With one Colt clone already on the way, I did some searching and ran across the web site for Taylor Arms and saw their 1858 Remington Conversion.  I began drooling immediately.  The 1858 Remington Conversion seemed to jump out of the web page just begging me to fire it.  The web site also showed that the conversion also came with a black powder cap and ball cylinder.  How could you beat that!  The single action sported a loading gate, loading lever, and ejector.

So I placed an order for a 7 3/8 inch in .38 special only to find out that the cap and ball cylinders were unavailable and would have to be ordered separate at some future date.  No problem since I mainly wanted to shoot cartridges anyway.  I chose the 38 special over the 45 colt for one reason, ammunition costs.  I'm a reloader but frankly I wanted to do a lot of plinking with this gun at small targets without a lot of hassle.  The gun meets SAAMI requirements for 38 special so it can shoot standard factory ammo but not the +P or hyper velocity rounds.  The local gun shop sells 50 rounds for about $10 which is perfect for someone who wants to do some plinking or small game shooting.

After it arrived and the obligatory agony of the 10 day waiting period and background check, I finally had it in my hands.  The first thing that I noticed was that it was heavy, much heavier than any other single action that I had previously shot.  If you couldn't hit what you were shooting at you could certainly use the thing as a club. 

Unlike the old single actions with three different hammer positions, this reproduction came with four.  The first being the classic half cock for loading, the second a new fangled safety position I had never seen which was probably to get by some legal or liability issue, the third being full cock, and fourth the fully down or fired position.  The safety position is just plain annoying.  I never use it preferring to leave the hammer down on an empty cylinder.  The only other annoying feature was the ejector rod.  It is not spring loaded and is kept underneath the loading lever for the black powder cylinder.  Unlike your more popular colt clones or Rugers that have spring loaded ejectors, the Remington clone requires you to move the ejector in and out manually and release it from the loading lever.  This takes a bit more time and can be frustrating at first.  I found that it was faster just to shake the empties out which was possible with a clean and oiled cylinder.

The sights are of the fixed groove variety with a front post dovetailed into the barrel.  The handles appear to be some sort of wood although I could not tell you what kind.  The stain or sealant from the wood got on the brass where the bolt holds the handles on but I was able to scrape that off.  Otherwise fit and finish was good.  I broke it down and did not find any metal shavings, burrs, or sloppy machining which was good.  The gun did have a lot of oil on it which I cleaned off before firing.

Performance wise, the single action Remington clone was a dream.  I picked up a couple boxes of full metal jackets and a couple boxes of wad cutters and the gun seemed to shoot just as well with either.  I didn't have any cowboy loads to fire through it so I do not know yet how those will fare.  Since it meets SAAMI requirements, modern factory ammo isn't a problem as long as you don't use plus or hyper velocity ammo.  A few shots to see where it was shooting and I found that it was a little low but the right and left was perfect.  My big fear had been that it would be shooting 10 inches to the left and 10 inches high making it a pain to shoot.  I proceeded to try it out on some ground squirrels and rabbits that happened to be around with excellent results.  The gun put two of each down for the count with little effort.  Reloading was a bit slow compared to a Ruger or other Colt clone due to the ejector rod but I was fairly satisfied other than that.  Recoil was very light as one would expect from a .38 Special, especially one that weighed this much.  Report was not very loud at all in hunting situations which is also a nice feature of a .38 Special.

In summary, I'm very pleased with this single action.  It shoots well, feels good in my hand, and is very enjoyable to shoot.  The price was not too unreasonable and the quality is good for an Uberti/Taylor clone.  The brass trigger guard really makes it a handsome piece.  The gun comes in a modern bluing which is a slight drawback when looking at a more historically accurate looking piece.  Bottom line:  I can't wait to shoot it some more!

For more information on the Taylor 1858 Remington Conversion you can visit the Manufacturers Web Site at http://www.taylorsfirearms.com/

Hope you found this review helpful.

Varmint

[Major 2]

Good observations on your 38 Remy....

I'll point a few things for you ... the 38 cal. is a bit heavier than the 45 do to the thicker barrel...
Your Grips are Walnut , but they have a heavy varnish finish...
I removed mine and refinished with True oil... it quite easy
Here is mine finished ...


The ad is misleading there was plan early on to offer the C&B cyl. with the conversion.
But from the time of the original concept , to the time of actual production , the new Forged Frame Conversion Remington along with an extra C&B Cylinber was not produced.
That's not to say they won't , just at this time it is not a option.

[Varmint]

Thanks Major 2 for the additional info.  Your refinished grips came out nicely!  I sure hope the C&B cylinder is made available sometime down the road.

Varmint

[Cimarron Lawman]

Your gun should shoot .38 Special +P with no problems. Uberti's 1875 Remington will shoot .357s, and the 1858 Conversion is made with the same steels and is a similar (top strap) design. The cap & ball 1858s are made of softer steel and, if converted, should not be fed +P ammo.

[Deadeye Don]

Your gun should shoot .38 Special +P with no problems. Uberti's 1875 Remington will shoot .357s, and the 1858 Conversion is made with the same steels and is a similar (top strap) design. The cap & ball 1858s are made of softer steel and, if converted, should not be fed +P ammo.

Are you recommending he shoot +P loads in his Uberti remington conversion??

[Cimarron Lawman]

Well, I didn't use the word recommend. But yes, that gun should handle +Ps easily.

1. Uberti's 1858 conversion is made of better steel than their cap & ball '58.
2. .38 cylinders have lots of steel around the chambers.
3. As I said, Uberti's '75 Remington, made of the same steel, handles .357s.
4. .38 +Ps really aren't that hot, if you look at the pressures. .357s are way hotter.
 
Perhaps the word conversion is the problem. Take that away, and it's just another top-strap cartridge gun.

Obviously, I'm not talking about CAS. But if a defense load is desired, that gun should handle it.

[Varmint]

It states clearly in the instructions that +P ammo is not recommended in this firearm.  But we're all adults and can make our own decisions.  I'm a strong believer in personal responsibility. 

[Deadeye Don]

Well, I guess I will leave the hot load discussion to people who really know what they are talking about, but I personally follow manufacturers instructions regarding ammo and not using +P loads.  It is true that 357 mag. loads are fine but I think these are recommended to be within the "cowboy" load designation.  Perhaps some other knowledgable people can jump in here.  SAFE SHOOTING.  Deadeye.

[Arcey]

Personally, I think the owner's manual is knowledgeable enough.

Also, personally, I don't want a single action revolver for defense.  They're to play cowboy with. 

Defense is spelled Glock.  Light, double the capacity, smaller and they'll happily eat +ps all day long.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to write it for us.

I agree with following the manufacturer's recommendations. They test these things until they fail. If the gun could handle it, they'd have said so.

[Cimarron Lawman]

Because of fear of litigation, gun manufacturers tend to be overly cautious.

I shot +Ps in my Cimarron Model P without a problem, but I respect the fact that some may find this risky.

[Varmint]

Is someone breaks into my house and I only have +P or 357 ammo, I'm gonna use what I got.  Heck I might even find a way to shoot lead balls out of the darn thing if I had to in a survival situation.  It would be a bit reckless though in my review of this gun though if I endorsed something that the instruction manual doesn't recommend.  I would hate to write something that even remotely might lead to early retirement of a firearm.  But it is good to know the construction of the firearm is as robust as you pointed out.  The darn thing should last for a long, long time.

[Abilene]

Sorry to get into this post so late, just saw it for the first time.

I don't care what Varmint was told by Taylors, the .38 conversion will never have a cap-n-ball cylinder available.  The .38 guns are made as cartridge guns by Uberti and have a .357 bore.  That's way too small for a .36 percussion which needs a bore of .370-.375.  They were probably confusing the gun with the .45 conversion, which with a .452 bore can handle a .44 percussion cylinder since they use the same bore (ain't calibers confusin'?  ).  Cimarron got some of the larger .44 percussion cylinders for the '58 conversions, but they are not included with the gun as they take considerable fitting.

[willyboy]

Well,I finally got my hands on one!Man what a neat gun! mine is a Kirst,with the crude 'L' ejecter,and fits nicely between my percussions,my '75's and my 1890's. Life is GOOD.

[Coyote Hunter]

Yer right Abelene...I bought mine right after they came out, in the .45 with 5 1/2 bbl. I went for it because they and Cimarron advertised showing a percussion cylinder to come with it. When my gun came, it didn't have it, although the box was cut for an extra cylinder. I wanted to know where my extra C&B cylinder was. I was told they would come later. After 2 years, I gave up. Since then, I've been told there won't be any.

I understand I was buying it for the conversion, but the interchangable C&B cylinder was supposed to be part of the draw to it, which I would be one of the few who probably would use it as a history lesson.

The gun is an excellent gun, I just felt the price should have been discounted for the lack of the extra cylinder as advertised.