Throat Size in a New Gun

[dangt]

Four days ago I purchased a new Uberti 1873 Cattleman at a local dealer who ordered the gun from Taylor's.  Before shooting, I cleaned the gun and looked it over carefully .  As a handloader, I wanted to determine the best cast bullet fit  before just putting any old ammo through the gun.

Caliber is .357 Magnum.   Bore groove measurement taken with lead slug , measured with Micrometer :   0.356"  .

Cylinder throats  ( all six equal, same measurement) measured with machinist's gage pins:   0.365"! 


This is not my first gun.  This is not my first Uberti SAA.  I have never seen such large cylinder throats for any caliber on any revolver.   This throat measurement is 0.003" over the SAAMI specs maximum for .357 Magnum.

 I have not shot the gun and so have not found out if accuracy will be poor or if leading in the throats will be severe.  My only question to forum members is have you found any cylinder throats this much oversized on Uberti guns and has anyone tried to use a  warranty claim for such a condition, from Taylor's?

[Kent Shootwell]

Give them a call, I’d want to return it for a exchange.

[Abilene]

Check with Taylors.  I don't know their policy, but if you buy a Cimarron and don't shoot it, you can return it for exchange or refund.  If you want to keep the gun, I would think warranty would take care of it.

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[dangt]

I called Taylor's this morning and spoke to a man after asking help with a warranty question.  He looked up the Uberti factory drawing for .357 Magnum chamber dimensions  that showed "maximum of .366".  He kindly emailed me a copy of that drawing. 

If I understand the possible tolerance call-out, the throat dimension that Uberti uses is .366" plus or minus .004".  If I can, I'll present a copy of the drawing here.  I very well my be interpreting the tolerance call-out incorrectly but nonetheless, my own gun is apparently within Uberti's  manufacturing intent. I have no grounds for a warranty claim and could not expect to get a different cylinder with throat dimensions  closer to SAAMI specs.

[dangt]

I do have the option of returning the gun for a refund.  I will keep it and if I am unsatisfied with loading the largest diameter cast bullet that can be seated in a case and chambered, I'll eventually consider rebarreling and rechambering to a larger caliber............or sell the gun to someone who does not care about this issue.

Thanks for encouraging me to call Taylor's to find this out. The issue is with Uberti, not Taylor's.

[dangt]

My solution for these oversized throats was replacing the cylinder with one chambered in 38 Special.  I did have to fit the ratchet column length and shorten the new cylinder bushing.  The new cylinder's throats measure .358" using gage pins.

38 Special satisfies me more than .357 Magnum anyway.

[dangt]

The following month I bought a new 44-40 Cattleman II .   This gun's throat size is .432" with a groove dimension of .428".    A whole lot closer to a good match, throat to groove size,  than the .357.