Why is there a shortage of Uberti cap and ball revolvers?

[His lordship.]

I have been reading that people are having to wait for months to get their Uberti cap and ball revolvers, checked with some sellers online and they claim a backorder.  Is it because the company ceased production due to the recession?  I am hoping to add one or two this summer and would like to be able to do so as I only have an 1851 Colt right now.

Has anyone owned the Starr revolver?  I have never had one, might be interesting to try.  My main concern is that I have read that they are more difficult to operate than a Colt and they are made by Pietta.

Thanks.

[bedbugbilly]

Chris - I don't have an answer for you on Uberti.  I'm not trying to get a big controversy going here on who makes the best revolvers, etc. - that is not my intention.  Don't downplay the Piettas though.  I bought a '58 Remington Navy from Cabelas that was made by Pietta and I absolutely love it.  The quality was very high - good fit and finish - tight and crisp.  It was ready to shoot right from the box.  If I had one complaint on it, it would be that they don't seem to know how to make grips that fit - mine overlap the frame.  No big deal though, they can be fitted but I am going to put faux ivory ones on it anyway.  I on the other hand, looked at several Ubertis at Cabelas and walked away from them.  The actions felt like they were all "burred" up and I really wasn't impressed with the finish on one of them.  Now granted, it may have just been the pistols that I happened to look at.  I'm not a competitive shooter - those days are over with.  Some prefer Uberti for a specific reason - some prefer Pietta for a specific reason.  My point is this - if you are frustrated with the wait on the Uberti guns - check the Piettas out.  If you are buying online, that is difficult but if you can make it to a dealer that has them, look them over and handle them.  And don't forget that there are a lot of "used" pistols out there as well.  I'm not talking about the ones on some of the auction sites where they want more than you can buy them new.  Check out the gun shows.  I wanted a '61 Colt Navy for a long time but didn't want to pay the price.  I found one yesterday at a show for $180 - made by ASM for CVA in 1988.  They guy had never used it and it was mint in the original box with the paperwork - I don't think the cylinder had ever been turned.  The quality is top notch and I'm sure that it will give years of service.  Good luck in your quest for getting your Ubertis that you'd like and hopefully you can locate some.  Best wishes.  Bedbugbilly

[AtlLaw]

I can't say either Chris.     I can only say that I waited 6 months for my Uberti from Midway.  Got so tired of not being able to scratch that itch that I bought a Pietta 1860 Army from Cabela's; real cheap on sale!

Now, having one of each, I can say that, based on my limited sample, a slight edge in quality goes to Uberti, but not enough to stop me from taking advantage of a good deal on a Pietta!

[madcratebuilder]

I have been reading that people are having to wait for months to get their Uberti cap and ball revolvers, checked with some sellers online and they claim a backorder.  Is it because the company ceased production due to the recession?  I am hoping to add one or two this summer and would like to be able to do so as I only have an 1851 Colt right now.

Has anyone owned the Starr revolver?  I have never had one, might be interesting to try.  My main concern is that I have read that they are more difficult to operate than a Colt and they are made by Pietta.

Thanks.

Uberti has a large line of revolvers.  I'm sure they have to change the 'line' to build different models.  I think the biggest problem is wholesalers didn't want to set on a large amount of stock with the current economy.

As far as the Starr revolvers, I have both the SA and DA models.  My two have excellent fit and finish.  Probably not a good revolver for someone with out a LOT of C&B experience.  A more complicated lock works, the SA model requires a different loading procedure than most try to use.  Using typical loading procedures can cause damage to the cylinder notches, bolt, hand and ratchet assembly.  You do not load the Starr SA from the half cock position.

[FourBee]

Some Uberti's from Cimarron are beginning to filter in.   Why the back-order, I don't know.  I finally got a Uberti from Cabelas.   Its finish looks great, but it did have some out-of-the-box action issues.  Issues with the operating mechanisms are annoying to say the least.   

 A very old Brass Pietta I own works great, but the cylinder bolt was craftly fitted to give the action a quick fix.   Eventually it began to show on the cylinder stop notches.   

EMF sent me one of their Pietta's last year.  Its action is flawless.    As was said about the grips, they could have stood a little more on the finished work, but thats not even an issue in my book.

[NickSS]

Like most companies Uberti makes pistols in batches and then goes to a different model.  Depending upon sales the batches are bigger or smaller.  Right now cowboy action is the big money market and Uberti has a big piece of it.  So I imagine they are making large batches of 1873 model Ps in different calibers and less C&B revolvers as a consequence.  I have a lot of uberti and piatta pistols of various types and see little difference between them for practical purposes.  The Uberti's are closer the the original in size in all respects but Piatta makes a good shootable revolver.  In fact my favorite C&B revolver is a Piatta 1858 Remington that I bought at Cabella's about 20 years ago for $99.  I have several thousand rounds through it and it still shoots extremely well.