Hey folks - I ran across a hardly used Navy Arms SAA revolver a few days ago, made by Uberti. Has anyone had any experience with these? Any bad and good things about them? I don't shoot cowboy action, but am just a single action fan. I've surfed the web a little and I keep running across posts on other forums where people talk about Uberti's lack of quality prior to around 2000 or 2001. I can't find any information as to when this gun was made, so I thought I would try here. If anyone has any info to pass along, I would greatly appreciate it. I currently own one Uberti in .357 magnum, which has been a great gun, and I'd like to buy this one, since it is a .45. Thanks in advance for any help!
my experience is that they are not accurate. Mine is 20 years old, and for playing around is a good gun, but not for serious accuracy.
one day:
25 meters, one hand
other day, same load:
and on an on...I just cant trust this revolver for serious accuracy. The chambers differ in dimesions from one to the other, as they are too large, around 11,62 mm in diameter, and are not perfectly round (the drill was blunt or wrongly sharpened?) and the bore is too small for such big chambers, around 11,48 mm.
Both my COLT and Taurus Gaucho are more logical in chamber dimensions (around 11,58 mm and are perfectly round especially the COLT). With both brands I got much better accuracy than with the Uberti. More consistent...in other words, if you found a good load, you just have to do your part...but not with UBERTI...one day great, next day, same load, you do your part...and the gun will let you down...(it happened to me once in bullseye competition, where accuracy does matter).
because of the too large chambers, I tend to get more cracked cases in my reloads, and more leading in the rifling too, something that I fix quickly with the excellent Blue Wonder gel.
however the steel seems good, better than softer Piettas, and has never failed me, but the trigger bolt and hammer, that needed replacement with time.
if you dont shoot bulls eye at serious distances, like 25 yards or meters, it is a good option, but years away from other brands.
all the best
pd: note that the gun is more "aged" in the first picture. There some days of difference between both pictures, days that dedicated to "aging".