Got my new revolver... but I can't keep it...

[AtlLaw]

Y'all may remember I got into leather...    uh... let me rephrase that!     I got into doing some leatherwork!     Gun Belts, holsters, sheaths, that sort of stuff.  Anyway, I decided I'd make an all out double gun rig for my .36 cal revolvers.  Trouble was, I only had one 36, my Uberti '61 Navy.
 
Now a true enthusiast doesn't let anything stand in the way of a bad case of the "I want," so my pension check went to Midway and a Uberti '62 Police arrived today!   
 
My first thought was that the revolver is a lot smaller then I imagined it would be.  Not only is the barrel shorter and the cylinder smaller, it's a five shot, but the frame and grips also feel slighter then the '61's.
 
Not that all that is bad don't cha know!     It fit my hand and balanced perfectly!  It will be wonderful as the cross draw revolver in my rig!   
 
I started to tear it down for it's out of the box cleaning and the first thing I noticed was that one of the receiver/barrel assy alignment pins was missing!    Well, it wasn't missing, it was stuck in it's hole in the barrel assy, broken off from the frame.   
 
So, the revolver is going back to Midway for an exchange.     It's already boxed up, I didn't want to get to attached... 

[mechanic]

Man that stinks....talk about delayed gratification! 
 
Maybe the second times the charm...
 
Ben

[Nobade]

When you get it back, check to make sure it is fitted properly. Mine bent the cylinder arbor right away because it was too short. The arbor MUST bottom out in its hole at the same time the barrel hits the frame for the gun to last very long and work right. It is easy to either make shims for the bottom of the hole or to add a set screw to the end of the arbor to make it longer, and this needs to be done before it is fired. If it is not right, the pins will break like yours did or the arbor will bend. If it is short enough the barrel will hit the cylinder.  I don't know why the factories have such a hard time fitting things up properly, but I have never seen a Colt style percussion revolver from Italy that didn't need attention there.

[AtlLaw]

...check to make sure it is fitted properly....

Thanks Nobade!  I have never heard that but it answers some questions I have had abouty the Colt design!   
 
I'll check all my revolvers when I get home!

[StrawHat]

I consider the Italian replica revolvers to be top quality kit guns at a moderate price.  some are better than others but all of them need some TLC.  Here is a link for tuning the Uberti's
 
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=7988.0
 
And one for the Pietta's
 
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=5659.0
 
As for your choice of the Pocket Police model, excellent!  You are correct, it is a much smaller revolver than the 1861 as it was built on the smaller frame of the Baby Dragoon but used the better metalurgy and technology of the 1860s.  Colts use of the rebated cylinder allowed them to increase the caliber from 31 to 36 albeit at the expense of one shot.  As you mentioned, the 1862 revolvers were 5 shot models like the early Baby Dragoons.
 
Attached is a photo of some of the various Pocket Models that have come to live with me. 
 

 
The Pocket Police is a favorite of mine!