Why i won't buy a Pietta: Open Letter

Will do Sir - next time I'm home, hopefully April. Will take it out and do some blasting as well. Contemplating placing a bulk order for Goex Black Powder.
 
Jmar makes a good point about the "in your face" markings of Pietta vs Uberti.

I currently own both Pietta's, Uberti's, Armee San Marcos (A.S.M.) and Connecticut Valley Arms (C.V.A.) and have in the past owned F.I.E., Armee San Paulo (A.S.P.), Navy Arms and a few I've probably forgotten. Overall, I find that in my opinion Uberti to have the best quality of fit and finish.

I appreciate Uberti putting their markings under the loading lever. But that isn't the only reason I prefer Uberti's over Pietta's (and I own Pietta's too). I also think Uberti's are fitted and finished just a little bit better than Pietta's. There is one MAJOR reason I prefer the Uberti 1858 over Pietta's, and that is because on the Pietta's, the loading lever catch is soldered (rather than dovetailed). So is the front sight of the Pietta. But on the Uberti 1858 both the loading lever catch as well as the front sight are both dovetailed. On the Pietta, you cannot remove the cylinder pin from the revolver unless you melt the solder and remove the loading lever catch so the cylinder pin can slide forward and out of the receiver for removal. Then you have to re-hard solder it back on. Same with front sight removal which has to be melted and re-hard soldered back on.

However on the Uberti 1858, you can easily remove both the loading lever catch and the front sight by just drifting them out of their dovetails with a hammer and flat punch. This difference is a major concern if you are re-finishing the revolver or need to completely disassemble it for any reason.

You can also adjust your windage by drifting the Uberti 1858 front sight left or right in its dovetail. You can't do that with the soldered on Pietta front sight.

So for at least the 1858 Remy, Uberti is my choice for the above reasons.
 
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I think for the VAST majority of shooters, Piettas come out on top.

Why?

Because they're cheaper. That's why.
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Well, I would rephrase that if I was posting. I would substitute "more inexpensive" instead.

Since Pietta went to CNC machining ~2000, their quality is pretty much on par with similar Uberti models.

Jim
 
Well I'll foot stomp again about it. My Pietta NMA and my Pietta 1862 Sheriff took a little trip to Georgia and when they came back they may say Pietta on the barrel but they are the slickest smoothest operating single action I've ever pulled the hammer on. So you take what I paid for the thing like 260 shipped and then add the service fee and shipping and I have a FINE shooting and operating revolver for right around 400 bucks maybe a shade more. The things would rival a revolver costing WAY MORE! The ones that come back from Goon will never leave my possession. I know I yak about it alot but they are just THAT good.
 
Well I'll foot stomp again about it. My Pietta NMA and my Pietta 1862 Sheriff took a little trip to Georgia and when they came back they may say Pietta on the barrel but they are the slickest smoothest operating single action I've ever pulled the hammer on. So you take what I paid for the thing like 260 shipped and then add the service fee and shipping and I have a FINE shooting and operating revolver for right around 400 bucks maybe a shade more. The things would rival a revolver costing WAY MORE! The ones that come back from Goon will never leave my possession. I know I yak about it alot but they are just THAT good.
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I've never had him do anything but I frequent four or five of the same forums as he does and everybody that he does work for raves on it just like you do. I've not heard one single dissenting voice. His work has to be top notch.
 
IMHO

Each company has their own lawyers and interpretations of the laws. Pietta is obviously (to me) being extremely conservative in their approach to the risk of law suits.

That said, I've had a lot of fun learning how to "defarb", that is remove those offensive markings.

If you search this forum you will find many examples of mine and others. My defarbed and antiqued '51 Navy and '60 Army revolves look good. All three are reliable and accurate.

If you want to leave your pistols in factory new condition you're best off getting a more expensive Uberti. If you like home do-it-yourself projects and like the look of a well used handgun, try defarbing and antiquing.
 
Why I won't buy a Pietta

Not Black Powder but Ruger Vaquero. It has a manual stamped on the barrel very deep with lost of raised metal.
It runs the whole gun. Only thing I think will work is to have the barrel replaced with an unmarked custom barrel at a huge cost.

And have the muzzle redone like a Colt.
 
Not Black Powder but Ruger Vaquero. It has a manual stamped on the barrel very deep with lost of raised metal.
It runs the whole gun. Only thing I think will work is to have the barrel replaced with an unmarked custom barrel at a huge cost.

And have the muzzle redone like a Colt.
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If it's a New Vaquero it still won't look like a Colt up close and still won't operate like one.
 
I have a new stainless Pietta Shurf's Model that's extensively laser engraved.
Have not had a chance to shoot it yet, but in terms of workmanship it's the best-done Italian repro that's ever gone through my hands in owning & shooting them since 1969.

Tight, smooth action, good trigger.
Even the laser work, which I normally dislike, looks decent.

Also have a new stainless Ruger Vaquero short-barrel Birdy waiting to be fired.
I've had some bad luck with Ruger stainless single-actions in the past, but this one's very well fitted & finished, decent trigger, tight cylinder.

The warning's abbreviated & moved under the barrel, where you have to look for it to see it.

Both guns are very nice. Both .45 Colt.
Both are loaners, both are very tempting to keep.
The range time next week may make them both very hard to return.

The Pietta particularly surprised me.
Had sworn off Italian clones for personal use, but this one might change that.
Denis
 
I've been shooting black powder competitively for going on 5 years now.

I've got guns with custom barrels, and I've got stock guns. None of my stock guns can hold a candle to my guns with custom barrels.

In terms of revolvers, I have:

Uberti Walker
Uberti 1858 blued
Uberti 1858 stainless
Pietta 1860
Pietta 1858
Pietta 1851 (.44 brass)

The Ubertis are slightly better machined than the Piettas. On the 1858 in particular, the Uberti has a crowned muzzle, a smother contour on the nose of the loading ram, and a dovetailed front sight.

Unfortunately, none of the revolvers are clover-leaf accurate off of a bench at 25 yards. They might do a 2-4" group off a bench at 25 yards. I don't see any particular accuracy benefit of Uberti over Pietta.

I think in order to get clover-leaf bench groups with an Italian revolver you'll have to have a custom barrel and cylinder work.

Steve
 
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JRA Richmond Carbine with Hoyt barrel and Euroarms P1853 with Whitacre barrel.

I don't have any revolvers with custom barrels, I've only seen the results.

Steve
 
Thanks for the info.

Eventually, might try to build an accurized Colt replica. However, that is well over a year away, my next planned acquisition is a Pedersoli percussion Sharps, most likely in Berdan .54 rifle form.
 
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