EMF Rem 1875 outlaw--more work, or dump it?

K

kiov

New member
Hi,
I've gotten lots of great info from these forums, but have never posted.

A few months back I bought a NIB EMF Rem.1875 outlaw for about $350 new, which was a great deal as I had shopped around. Unfortunatly before i could even get to the range a thin strip of metal fell out of the gun! It made it so when i cocked the hammer the cylindar would not turn unless i held the gun just right--it would not turn at all if it was upside down or pointed downwards.

I took it to a gunsmith here in town recommended by the gunshop (Tom and Joes in Westminster--who by the way would not take the gun back even though it was same week and unfired and had no marks at all---no criticism, just saying that's what they said.) The gunsmith ordered the part and replaced it for about $35.

Sadly, when i got it home i noticed that it would occasionally lock up when i tried to cock it, but if I wiggled the hammer and the cylindar it would turn again. It had never locked up before and I'd cocked it plenty of times.

I took it back the smith agreed to check it out, without admiting that he had messed up the timing. He wasnt very happy and mentioned that some other guy had complained too much and so he wouldn't do busniess with him again...hint hint. The next week I got a call that it was all set. He said he welded some metal onto the hand to get the action right. It still would lock up if you didnt smoothly cock the hammer, but i paid the $45 as they said that's just the way they are. Funny it never did that out of the box from the factory, but i didnt feel like arguing with the smith as i'm no expert--just a life long shooter of my dad's guns which always worked.

I took it to the range and it shot 2 rounds before locking up tight! I was real careful to cock it smoothly, so that is not the issue. I finally got it to turn after fooling with it a bunch. Now I dont know if i should:

1. take it back to the gunsmith and tell them that the action was still not right, and that it had seemed much better before they ever worked on it, both times. Just worried I'll pay them more and never get the gun properly timed.
2. Find a new gunsmith (any recommendations for Denver-- I went to T&J's Gunsmithing--who may be affilated with Tom and Joe's where i bought the gun, but they didnt tell me that. Tom just said i'd be easier to take it there than to ship back to the factory. He said they did good work.)
3. Clean it up and sell it as is. only two shots fired. then buy something like the new ruger or another USFA rodeo. Thing is i really like the Rem's feel and it's also nicely finished and fitted--on the outside at least!

thanks in advance for any advice.

Kiov
NRA member
 
Send it back to EMF, maybe they will fix it in spite of your local half trained orangutans' screwups.

Sell it? Who do you sell a gun to that you know for sure doesn't work?
 
Jim,
thanks for the comments. That's what i should have done in the first place. I wonder, though, if EMF will work on it since a smith has been messing around with it. I guess that would at least void the warrenty.

Good point on selling it. If I sell it, I would tell the person that it needs some work so i probably wouldn't get much for it. I've just heard of people who get bad guns and the problems only end when the get rid of it. I dont want to keep dumping money into a lemon. I just wonder why it was on sale in the first place?

kiov
 
Those EMF 1875's seem to be a hit and miss proposition in terms of quality control. The EMF 1875 Remingtons are made by Uberti for EMF. The guns marketed under the Uberti label seem to exhibit much better attention to fit finish and overall quality than the guns made for EMF. I have one of each an EMF and a Uberti 1875 Army Outlaw they are both older guns, the Uberti features the post style fromt site while the EMF has the blade style site. Both revolvers are in .45 Colt caliber. The front site on the EMF gun has the groove cut for the site at an off angle causing the front site to be canted to the right. This groove is a rounded groove cut into the barrel that resembles a key groove in a motor shaft. The EMF revolver has always had accuracy problems aside from that front site issue. The Uberti 1875 on the other hand has always been a good shooter and very functional. It appears to me that the Guns made for EMF are a lower grade product than the ones bearing the Uberti brand.
 
Mike,
Thanks for the details. i knew Uberti made those guns but didnt know they were any different. Cimmeron and Navy Arms also sell uberti guns and those are probably better too as they cost more. I guess i was trying to get a bargain and just got some cheap goods which aren't worth the money.

Problem is those other dealers dont carry the 1875 rem, but only have the colt clones, and, i think, the Rem 1890 police model.

The Hartford armory makes Rem clones, but they retail at about $1600! Bet they're great guns, but thats way over my budget.

My question is would a good gunsmith be able to polish things up and get it going right for a reasonable price?

thanks again,
Kiov
 
Yes I'd say that a decent gunsmith could probably get you're 75 Remington up and running. Don't get me wrong I love those Remington revolvers. I've got eight Remington revolver clones alltogether 1858 Percussion and 1875 Cartridge guns. I am displeased with that one 75 clone. Unfortunately I bought that one used at a CAS match so I don't have any factory warranty to fall back on. The Uberti and EMF 1875's aren't an exact copy of the original 75 Remingtons for example they use a base pin release copied after the one on the Colt SAA. Originals used a different system. Also the firing pin on these is a different design than originals and there can be some firing pin issues as these begin to develop wear and tear. The pinned firing pin tends to develop a wobble over time causing them to sometimes strike the frame and not have enough force to detonate the primers its fixable but unique to the EMF and Uberti copies of the 1875.

Those Hartford Armory Remingtons are superb revolvers and absolutely authentic to the originals, but then they are a bit over my budget too.

Check out the gunsmithing forum over at http://www.frontierspot.org/index.php?sid=f55d23f4782ac03edc4fcd22ad4fedd3

There are several good gunsmiths there who specialize in single action revolvers
 
Mike,
thanks for the info. I didnt know uberti had changed the design from the originals.

sure would be nice to have an exact copy of the original with todays tolerances.

kiov
 
Kiov:
From what I'm hearing Hartford Armory is stating that their revolvers are built strong enough to handle modern full house loads. I haven't yet had the opportunity to shoot one of the Hartford Armory revolvers, One of my friends tried out their 1890 Remington and said that it was a very fine tuned pistol and handled very well and that the craftsmanship was excellent. My EMF 1875 was the first of the reproduction revolvers that I bought for CAS competition and I didn't know the difference between the Repro's.
 
Mike,
I checked the website and those Hartford Pistols are going for about $1500. It seems that on the early models the cylindar gap was too small, but i think they have rectified that. As much as I'd like one, I think I'll be satisfied with my EMF clone. Its fit and finish are really nice and I will content myself with fairly low-power loads.

I went to the Forums you mentioned and found the name of Steve Young. I called him and it turns out he is one of two EMF approved gunsmith's for warrenty service. He suggested that I call EMF and tell them what happened.

EMF agreed to pay whatever cost to fix the gun due to the broken handspring, excepting any costs added by the poor work of my originial gunsmith.

I am having Steve do an action job, which he quoted me at $110. That seems a little high to me, but this will be the third time to a smith for this gun and i really want it fixed correctly. I also want to be able to shoot it for many years without it grinding itself to pieces.

kiov
 
Kiov:
I've heard nothing but good things about Steves work and I've been considering sending him my 75 for some tune up and replacement of that site blade. My EMF 75 is functional but accuracy has always been horrible, even before the site blade fell off.
 
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