Uberti SA Question!

F

frankt

New member
My hunting buddy has an Uberti Single Action revolver in .38/.357. I don't know which model it is but he has had it for 10 years or so.

He brought it to me the other day and said it would just not fire. I looked it over and did not see any problems.

On the hammer below the firing pin is a spring loaded piece of metal. I am not sure what it's purpose is but I suspect some type of inertia safety?

I wiggled around on the firing pin pulling it out and in by hand and then tried to fire the gun and it fired perfectly twelve times in a row.
Any one know how that firing pin works and if there is a problem I should be looking for?
Thanks!
 
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I found a picture of it. Any Ideas!
 
That is the safety block. It deploys when the hammer is in the safety notch. I think it's the best "safety" ever in a fixed firing pin S.A. revolver ever!
I would check firing pin protrusion and any upset material caused by a "too loose" firing pin.

Mike

www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
 
So does it "lock" the firing pin back when it is in the safety notch and then releases when the hammer is cocked to allow the firing pin to go forward?
 
Doesn't it have one of those double notched cylinder pins? If it's on the second notch, the SA won't fire.
Happened to me with a Uberti. It was put there as a safety so that they could be imported, but useless otherwise as real load six safety.
 
In such cases, this is what I try at first. Make sure the gun is clear of cartridges. Cock the hammer to full cocked position and hold the gun muzzle up. Place a yellow No. 2 wooden pencil, eraser down, down the muzzle until the eraser contacts the standing breech, and is over the firing pin hole. Then pull the trigger.

The pencil should jump nearly clear of the muzzle. If it doesn't, the firing pin is not protruding far enough and is either broken or blocked by some built-up residue, often referred to as "gunk."

Bob Wright

P.S. The obvious: Did he note if the primers were indented, and if so, how deeply?
 
Uberti of old functioned just like the Colt's, four clicks to full cock.
The hammer block has nothing to do with the firing pin.
When the hammer is set to the safety notch the tip of the trigger pushes
up on a thru pin in the hammer setting the hammer block.
So at safety the trigger rests in the hammer safety notch and the hammer block rests between the hammer and the guns frame. When going to full cock
the hammer block folds out of the way.

Please note the newer series Cattleman II has different lock work and is
a horse of a different color.
 
+ 1 to HappyValley

At last count,I have six Uberti SA revolvers. Have a 357 Bisley - love it - it has the 2 position cylinder pin. On the second notch with the pin in all the way - or close to it if between notches it acts as a hammer block. Might not be the problem but worth taking a look at. I haven't done it yet but that issue is an easy fix by shortening the cylinder pin so when all the way in it no longer acts as a hammer block. I'm sure some lawyer thought it was a great idea.
 
bedbugbilly said:
I haven't done it yet but that issue is an easy fix by shortening the cylinder pin so when all the way in it no longer acts as a hammer block. I'm sure some lawyer thought it was a great idea.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't it be easier to simply not insert the pin to the second notch?

The reason for it is the BATFE. Ubertis are made in Italy (:duh). That mjeans they are imported, and BATFE regulations require that imported firearms have some sort of safety mechanism. This is why the Heritage Rough Rider revolvers have that dumb-looking "cross bolt" safety on their frames, too. Various foregn gun makers have come up with all sorts of mechanisms to satisfy this requirement, and it's a silly regulation because the exact same firearm made in the United States would not require such a device -- whether a Rube Goldberg thingamajig or the most ingenious and superbly engineered whatchamacallit imaginable.
 
Wouldn't it be easier to simply not insert the pin to the second notch?
Click to expand...

No.

I can't tell you how many times I have been at a CAS match and somebody starts clicking away with a revolver because he did not realize that the pin was in the front notch. I have one Uberti Cattleman I bought used about 15 years ago that came with one of those dumb two notch cylinder pins. The first thing I did was discard the pin and replace it with a more conventional pin with a single notch in it.

The kicker is, when the pin is inserted all the way in, with the cylinder latch in the front notch, the 'safety notch', the amount of pin protruding from the frame under the barrel looks normal. With the pin in the 'fire' position, the pin looks odd because it is protruding in front of the frame by an extra quarter inch or so. This may be part of the reason shooters sometimes show up at the firing line with the pin in the wrong position.

It is common to simply grind away the rear of the pin so it functions normally.

I am completely aware of why Uberti installs this type of pin, so their revolvers can be imported. However as a safety device it is useless. Unlike other safeties, which are easily flicked on or off with the thumb, with this one you have to manually depress the cylinder latch, then pull the safety pin forward to the front notch, so the revolver can fire. Pretty useless as a safety device, I can't imagine anyone who would carry a revolver with such an awkward safety device engaged.

Which is probably exactly why Uberti no longer supplies that type of pin and instead has recently gone to a retractable firing pin in the hammer.
 
I am completely aware of why Uberti installs this type of pin, so their revolvers can be imported. However as a safety device it is useless.
Click to expand...
I agree completely. I have made two replacement pins for mine to replace those things. It would have been less work to just grind off the tip, but I chose to keep the original pins just in case some future owner wants the guns to be the way they were shipped.
 
The two notch cylinder pin is often called a Swiss safety.

Have a Cattleman that came with the Swiss safety, ordered the right pin from VTI
and replaced it.
Where it's at right now (two notch pin) I don't know -- don't care!
 
Mine came with a double notch pin and it looked ridiculous in the firing position so I ground it off.
 
Stupid Lawyers.
Click to expand...
More like stupid owners that sued because they didn't know how to operate a SAA properly.... And got away with it. Manufacturing then had to change, laws created ... More protection from our selves :rolleyes: .

Last night I picked up a Cimmaron Model P, I had ordered in. Nice to get the call that it is in and pickup same day! Anyway, It has the floating firing pin and no safety notch hammer. I do wish it was just a straight up SAA replica... But close as I can get without spending a fortune on a Colt SAA. Surprisingly nice trigger, action seems smooth, throats are correct size, bolt drops where it should, locks up tight and barrel looks clean with rifling :) ... oh and looks nice. Comes dripping in oil! From the outside it appears ready to run. The proof in the pudding is when I get a change to shoot it in a couple of weeks.
 
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