Current Pietta Quality

John E. Ringo · May 28, 2009, 12:11:24 PM

Been reading some horror stories about new Piettas. Soft screws that get mangled the first time you turn 'em. Hammers that deform almost immediately. Cylinder gaps the size of North Dakota. Misaligned chambers. Well, you get the idea.

I saw a new one in Gander Mountain that had little dents/impressions all over it, as if from mild "bangings" against the display cabinet. Can steel possibly be this soft?

Has Pietta quality taken a nosedive?

Pettifogger · May 28, 2009, 12:37:00 PM

Can you refer us to some of these horror stories? Most of the comments on all the CAS wires is that Pietta quality has gotten better. Other than soft screws (which afflicts all the Italian guns) I haven't heard any of the other stuff you mentioned and none of the ones I have purchased the past several years has these problems.

Hoof Hearted · May 28, 2009, 01:46:57 PM

Quote from: John E. Ringo on May 28, 2009, 12:11:24 PM
Been reading some horror stories about new Piettas. Soft screws that get mangled the first time you turn 'em. Hammers that deform almost immediately. Cylinder gaps the size of North Dakota. Misaligned chambers. Well, you get the idea.

I saw a new one in Gander Mountain that had little dents/impressions all over it, as if from mild "bangings" against the display cabinet. Can steel possibly be this soft?
Has Pietta quality taken a nosedive?

Gander Mountain must have some tuff display cabinets! Obviously not wood, aluminum or glass

Other than Pietta's inability to correctly shape a grip (especially on the 1860's), I see a bunch of them and they are equally as good as the Uberti (although they both have differing minor issues).

HH

Indian Outlaw · May 31, 2009, 06:32:54 PM

I've seen all of the issues Ringo mentioned. But criticizing Piettas is almost anathema on cowboy boards these days, and I honestly don't know why. Whenever someone starts a "Piettas Suck" thread, people jump in quickly to defend them. I used to start such threads but have given up.

I've purchased four. Took them all back.

Hoof Hearted · May 31, 2009, 07:05:05 PM

Quote from: Indian Outlaw on May 31, 2009, 06:32:54 PM
I've seen all of the issues Ringo mentioned. But criticizing Piettas is almost anathema on cowboy boards these days, and I honestly don't know why. Whenever someone starts a "Piettas Suck" thread, people jump in quickly to defend them. I used to start such threads but have given up.

I've purchased four. Took them all back.

Indian Outlaw

I'm not defending Pietta

In fact most that know me will say that I am the first to stand up if I've been wronged

The fact is I've had a bad one or two and maybe it's wrong (I need to rethink my ways) but since they are so cheap (compared to the centerfire handguns the Italians produce) many of us "Put up" with some minor flaws or the occasional lemon. BUT (this is the clue) if you buy from Cabela's (other retail outlets may do the same), all you have to do is call them and they'll send a call tag and replace the pistol. I have done this a few times. Of course the defective pistol ends up in the bargain bin and I've also bought a few of those and fixed them. Kinda nice to buy a Remington that had a bad spring or shavings in the action for half price.

Everyone has their favorites (Ford vs Chevy) and if the QC was perfect we'd be easily paying twice as much. It's just what the world has come to

When and if USFA comes out with their Army model I bet you could buy half a dozen Piettas for their asking price.

By the way, what are you replacing the bad Piettas you bought with? I'd like to know if you've had good expereince (or bad).
HH

Pettifogger · May 31, 2009, 07:55:49 PM

They are $200.00 guns. It's amazing they can even built them, ship them, and sell them for that price. I look at them as deluxe do-it-yourself kits. The first thing I do when I get a new cap and ball, regardless of maker, is completely disassemble it and inspect and correct everything before there is any chance for abnormal wear. The only recurring problem I have seen with Piettas, and its mostly on the Colt copies, is the cylinder bolt is to wide and rapidly wears the cylinder notches. I like to remove and properly fit the bolts before the gun is cocked if possible so as to eliminate nicks in the cylinder notches.

P.S. The current Pietta Remingtons seem as good as anything on the market. A little stoning and deburring is all they usually need.

Wolfgang · June 01, 2009, 07:37:52 PM

My first cap & ball was a Pietta and I loved it ( then ) and still do now. I have three of them and all are excellent functioning shootable revolvers. All one could want in a $ 200 gun. ( I bought 'em all used and didn't pay near that much for any of 'em ). Ya can get a bad product from any company. And I imagine that the odds of mathematics being what they are you counld get multiple bad products from any company. In General the 3 Piettas I have are better then the 2 ASMs and the Euroarms that I also have though those are acceptable shooters too. ( The brass frame ASM was extremely rough and needed work. Was it origanally a "kit gun" ? Maybe so. ) www.drburkholter.com/cf6.html

Good shootin', . . . .

reloader4410 · June 03, 2009, 10:14:27 AM

Quality has improved. I have several pietta's & uberti's both are great, also have ASM's my uberti R&D's also fit & function in the ASM's. Bought a brass frame ASM kit gun someone buggered made a cut down but never got it to function, got way to mutch in it,its a wall hanger. I will never buy a kit gun again.

waffenmacht · June 11, 2009, 01:19:04 AM

I bought mine about 2 years ago (not sure how current that is) but it is great. Somewhat soft screws, yes. But everything else is perfect.

Slowhand Bob · June 11, 2009, 07:03:30 AM

I have six of the Cabellas Pietta Remingtons and all came from the box as shooters. This is not to say that they didn't benefit from some action work to smooth them out and lighten the springs a bit. You can lay these out side by side with my cap and ball Uberti Colts and suddenly the Pietta finish starts looking like spray paint but these are old models, made far before Cabelas reached $200 price tags (more like $140). I purchased a few Pietta Colt clones and this was a different story altogether, these never made it through one single stage without major problems related to QC. I ended up keeping one '51 Navy for holster fitting and traded off the rest to a pard who actually got them working great. Last year one of the distributors had some great sales prices on the Pietta '51 Navies and I decided to buy a mate for the old one. Its not much of a mate though, the finish is noticeably better (equal to current Ubertis) and even the action is a bit smoother and lighter than my old one. The real proof will be in the pudding, if I ever try to shoot it.

Indian Outlaw · June 20, 2009, 04:46:46 PM

The current Uberti Remington screws are hard, as hard as the screws on my last Ruger. I wonder if Uberti screws will fit Piettas?? Or, in lieu of that, can screws be hardened? Does fire bluing harden them?

Jim Bob · June 20, 2009, 05:10:56 PM

The last Pietta I bought was an 1860 Army Colt. manufactured in 2008 (sorry it's not a Remington). Yes the screws are soft but it points natural and shoots true. Fit and finish is as good as any other Italian repro that I own and I own a few. This might sound rude but I don't care what others may say I love all my Piettas.