Cimarron 7th Cavalry review (pic heavy)

[OD#3]

Hey Fellas, I took delivery today of one of the Cimarron/Uberti 7th Cavalry revolvers.  This was the first SAA clone I've owned since the early 90's, when I bought an EMF Hartford.  That ASM was lots of trouble and a real disappointment.  So I was very pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of this piece.  I'd scoured the forums for info on these before I bought it, but pics were few, as were details.  I thought I'd give my impressions along with some detailed photos, so the next guy will have an easier time deciding.

First impressions were great.  The action was very smooth, the case colors were darker and more colorful than the old Uberti washed out gray, and the timing appeared perfect.  Here it is fresh out of the box.





I didn't care for the knurled base pin screw; it spoils the looks.  But I found the included original-style screw buried in the bottom of the box.  The hand was expertly fit, so the chambers parked exactly in the center of the loading gate on half-cock.



I expected cast checkering on the hammer, but this knurling appeared to be cut.  Closer inspection revealed it to have been done via laser or some other type etching.  It is shallow but attractive and gives good purchase for the thumb.



There was no endshake to speak of, and cylinder gap was very tight.  I didn't measure it, but the eyeball says that it is very good.



The cylinder is smooth and nicely beveled.



Here are a few "authentic"-looking markings, starting with the last four of the serial number on the cylinder.











I like the trigger guard bevels.  That says "1st gen and earlier 2nd gen" to me.  By 1970, when my Colt was made, these bevels had shrunk to barely a line.  Now Colt just gradually tapers from the trigger out to the frame sides, polishing the edge.  Pietta does that as well, and that one little area was what steered me away from a GWII or Cimarron Frontier model.  I know it is silly, but some aesthetic details that really shouldn't matter to me do.



The grip cartouche is laser engraved.  I'd have much preferred a stamping. 



"US" and patent dates.



I do wish Uberti followed Pietta's lead and used a firing pin bushing/recoil plate.  I hope this doesn't develop burrs.



The cylinder bushing was a nice fit, though.  And it required no force to remove with my fingers.



Ugly but necessary proof marks.




Cocking effort was much less than on my Colt.  I expected to find a narrowed mainspring, but this one is standard width.



Laying it side-by-side with my Colt mainspring, however, revealed that it wasn't as thick as the Colt's.  We'll see how it holds up (Uberti spring is on the right).



Standard trigger return and bolt leaf spring.



The hand looks rough in this photo, but it was smooth where it matters, and I can't fault Uberti's work on the leg height.  Again, the chambers park dead-center of the loading gate, and the bolt pops into the notch precisely when the trigger engages the full cock notch.



Sadly, the cam isn't a separate pressed-in stud like Colts (I think Pietta uses the separate stud now too).  And it was a tad rough.  You can see where a tiny burr on the bolt leg is scraping across it.  I dressed the cam down very lightly and removed the burr on the bolt leg.  My "fluff and buff" included a little polishing of some tiny burrs on the bolt top as well.  There was just a slight grittiness felt as the bolt was sliding into the notches before.  No "after" photos of the work, but here are the bolt and cam as received.





I wish Uberti applied more preservative to the bore.  My initial cleaning left a lot of rusty bore patches behind, but the cleaned bore fortunately didn't suffer any pitting that I can see.  Here she is all cleaned up and with the proper base pin screw installed.





I hope this review is helpful for those trying to decide whether or not to get one of these.  My overall impression is that this is very high quality for the money.  I paid about $500 from Grabagun for this.  That is about 50 bucks more than my EMF Hartford cost me back in the early 90's, and that ASM was a real disaster. 

I've two things left to do to this one:  shorten the base pin (don't you just hate that useless swiss safety?) and tweak the timing.  I noticed after I got it back together that the timing wasn't quite as perfect as I initially thought.  The bolt is just a tad late, rising at the end of the lead.  I think there's about 1/4 of the bolt top face protruding over the bolt stop notch when it pops up.  I don't want the notches to get peened, so I guess I'll have to strip it back down and remove a little from the bolt leg.  Fortunately it is late instead of early; I can fix that myself.

I'll try and post this in the "review" forum as well, just in case this isn't the best place for a clone review.

[Lefty Dude]

Nice review.
Be sure to check that Base pin screw often when shooting. Mine was always loose after a cylinder was shot. I keep the knurled retainer in the piece now. As added security for the base pin retainer I bought a small rubber O ring and placed it on the screw, this keeps a small amount of tension on the screw and prevents it from backing out.
Yes I know it is not PC, and might look strange. But it works and under heavy loads I like the security.
I shoot only 250 gr. RNFP in mine and it is very accurate, 200's not as much.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Nice review. Thanks!

CC Griff

[yahoody]

I have the Scout's nickel version from Cimarron.  One of the best SAA's I own.  (mostly USFA and Colt's)   But used the Scout to qualify at our range for 200 yard pistol.  Did it easier with the Cimarron than I did with my custom 1911.   

[Abilene]

I have the Scout's nickel version from Cimarron.  One of the best SAA's I own.  (mostly USFA and Colt's)   But used the Scout to qualify at our range for 200 yard pistol.  Did it easier with the Cimarron than I did with my custom 1911.   

Well, the Scout model does have 50% more barrel length than the 1911 

[yahoody]

Well, the Scout model does have 50% more barrel length than the 1911 

Yes, 8.5" sight radius on a 7.5" SAA and only 7" on a 5" 1911.   And people complain about the old pinched framed, tapered sights SAA

[Lefty Dude]

Yep; and with the pinched Frame and tapered front sight, makes for a very accurate Six-O-Clock hold.

[MightyThor]

I will bump this thread with my own review.  My trigger was crunchy when I got the pistol, but I have other Cimarrons that had the same problem and they all clean up with a little careful stone work on the hammer.  This one did too.  Prior to doing anything else, I took it out of the box, put a 4 inch round wood fence post in the soft dirt of the back stop and paced off roughly 50 feet ( about 10 feet past the end of the 40 foot shipping container at our place) and, shooting without a rest I started tearing up that fence post.  I wont say I hit it every time, but that was cause I was having too much fun to settle in and do it right.  When I quit screwing around, and concentrated I put 8 out of 10 on the wood.  What I really like is that long barrel.  With my old guy eyes, I could easily pick out the front sight in the V and if I controlled my trigger pull the gun hit right where it should.  I am so impressed I may start to use it as my carry gun.  thinking about an inside the pants holster.  Lucky for me I got long legs.

[LonesomePigeon]

I am constantly tempted to get one of these from Cimarron with the bone charcoal "US Finish". Or get one and cut the barrel down to 4 5/8" and have it nickeled. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody did that with an original Cavalry at some point.

[yahoody]

I am constantly tempted to get one of these from Cimarron with the bone charcoal "US Finish". Or get one and cut the barrel down to 4 5/8" and have it nickeled. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody did that with an original Cavalry at some point.

I must have missed the rational behind that comment.  Why would anyone bother to cut down one of these guns when you could buy a factory version for under $650, nickeled or US finish?  Under $550 is you just buy what they make.

In the last few months I have purchased 4 Ubertis in 44 Special and 44-40.  Pleased with all 4 of them, one in each barrel length and a second 7.5" version, the flat top target.  Exceptional SAA guns in every way and really, really good shooters!   More than I can say for most of my Colts.   I am using a 240 lead swc in the 44 Specials and shooting POA/POI.   

I have added the original Uberti Colt style hammers and done trigger jobs on all of them but it is so easy/quick why wouldn't you?   But it sure isn't required either.  I just like the cosmetics.   All that is needed for a decent trigger to re-cut the trigger/sear at a better angle and stone the hammer notch as or if required.  If you just do the trigger you don't even have to mess with replacing the coil hand spring.   I also replace the cylinder retaining screw and add some finger nail polish to keep it in place.

For my use the  Uberti springs are wonderful.  No replacement or tuning on them required.

By any comparison the current Ubertis are exceptional handguns.

[treebeard]

I am contemplating buying a 7th Cavalry and after reading the reviews having a hard time between the Uberti and Pietta versions. Anyone here have the Pietta version for comparison other than what was mentioned above?

[Abilene]

Unless it has changed, the Pietta model doesn't have as many of the markings, like the s/n on the grip parts, and maybe some others.

[treebeard]

Unless it has changed, the Pietta model doesn't have as many of the markings, like the s/n on the grip parts, and maybe some others.

Went over to the Cimarron website and they advertise the Pietta version with the Ainsworth cartouce. Serial no. On cylinder and gov't
Proof marks so they must have upgraded the markings. Anyway I enjoyed the review—well done

[Abilene]

Went over to the Cimarron website and they advertise the Pietta version with the Ainsworth cartouce. Serial no. On cylinder and gov't
Proof marks so they must have upgraded the markings. Anyway I enjoyed the review—well done

I just looked there.  No mention of the company marking on the butt, but it's nice they added the serial number to the gripframe parts, which they had not done before.

[treebeard]

OD#3 mention of the use by Pietta of pressed in recoil plates and cam studs caught my attention as I view these as positives. Maybe he will kick in and let's us know if he was fortunate in being able to view these two versions side by side?

[Abilene]

OD#3 mention of the use by Pietta of pressed in recoil plates and cam studs caught my attention as I view these as positives. Maybe he will kick in and let's us know if he was fortunate in being able to view these two versions side by side?

Hmm, on looking closer, I notice that the Pietta and Uberti versions have exactly the same descriptions on Cimarron's website.  I think someone might have been cutting corners there and found it easiest to just use the same description. Note that the Pietta description also says it is available in charcoal blue (it is not).  One of the reviews of the Pietta said it did not have the markings as described.  I know it has the U.S., the grip cartouche, and the serialized cylinder, but maybe that is all? 

I am considering an Uberti Cimarron Cavalry model while they still have the proper hammer.  I hate the Pietta cylinder pin (though easily changed), and like the markings better on the  Uberti.  The lack of a firing pin bushing or removable hammer cam don't bother me.  Those rarely cause problems on the Ubertis (don't dry fire without snap caps).  I am also not sure if the Pietta has the proper sights or if they are the same squared sights as their pre-war guns.  Also, I really want charcoal blue, so that kind of is the deciding factor anyway.

[Coffinmaker]

Picky Picky Picky   

[OD#3]

What the heck happened with Photobucket?  Have they changed their minds and started allowing 3rd party hosting again?  This was an old thread that I never expected to get any more attention after Photobucket disabled 3rd party hosting without the exorbitant fee.  I tried to download all my old photos from Photobucket but gave up after a few failed attempts.  I started using Imgur after that.  But here is this old post in all its photo glory again.  I don't know what's up with that.....

To answer some questions, I did happen to have a recent production Pietta around the same time as I got this Uberti, but it was a "Thunderball".  Contrary to every one else's experience, mine was a disaster and required a LOT of work just to get working.  Turned out nice, though.  It DID have a pressed-in firing pin bushing and a stud on the barrel for the ejector rod housing.  But the stud was dovetailed in---weird.

I no longer have this US Cavalry, but I remember that it ultimately needed more work than this initial review suggests.  I ultimately had to get a new hand, and I had to spend a long time stoning the left rear of the inside of the frame (recoil shield area) to blend that step you can see in on of the pictures.  It caused case rims to catch occasionally.  I also had to turn the barrel to correct POA/POI.  What I ended up with, though, was one of the nicest single actions I've ever owned.  However, I eventually traded this US Cavalry to a friend for his Cimmaron/Uberti Thunderer.  I had to work on that one too, but I wasn't able to get it as slick as that US Cavalry.  I did, however, note that things like the hammer cam were already polished.  As you can see from my pictures on this thread, the tooling marks were appalling on the hammer cam for this US Cavalry.  Perhaps Uberti has improved in this area since then.   

[Abilene]

Thanks for the updates!

As for Photobucket, I have no idea since I never used them.  I have a website ($14/month) so I can store photos there if needed.  But if formerly "missing photos" from when Photobucket changed their policy are now showing up again, that is great!

[Oregon Bill]

Appreciate all the posts here. I've been looking at Uberti Colts lately and the cavalry model in particular. Very good information.