Model P or Frontier

[William R. Foster]

Considering one or the other. Cant really seem to find reviews/ comparisons of them. Are both approved? Do they have to be old model (harder to find in stock it seems other than direct). Just want to make sure i start off on the right foot. I have been told the pre war model P has a floating firing pin but the old model does not. Do not know if this is so. Also do not know if that is the case with the frontier either. 

[Abilene]

Pre-War is fine with NCOWS.  (Heck, they approve Vaqueros  ).  The Pre-War ubertis all have "floating" firing pin now. The Uberti Old Model I believe has the standard firing pin for now but that could change at any time, so you would want to verify which it has if/when you order.  Joe Neumann at Cimarron had told me they were going to keep getting the standard firing pin Old Models for 2 years.  But shortly afterward he said that could change in an instant.  I think what they have in stock right now in OM is fixed FP.  The Piettas all have standard fixed FP's.  I've not heard of them having any plans to change.

I have been a part timer with Cimarron for a long time, and although I haven't been to a show with them for over a year, I have handled lots of those guns.  When they started importing Piettas, the Ubertis were way more authentic in markings, etc.  But Pietta has come a long way.  My main gripe with them right now is the cylinder pin has grooves only on one side, not all the way around.  Makes it more of a hassle installing it correctly.  If I owned a Pietta I would just replace the base pin with a Colt or Uberti pin.

[William R. Foster]

Thanks bud. I appreciate the info. I personally do not want the floating FP so ill have to verify before order. Appreciate it.

Pre-War is fine with NCOWS.  (Heck, they approve Vaqueros  ).  The Pre-War ubertis all have "floating" firing pin now. The Uberti Old Model I believe has the standard firing pin for now but that could change at any time, so you would want to verify which it has if/when you order.  Joe Neumann at Cimarron had told me they were going to keep getting the standard firing pin Old Models for 2 years.  But shortly afterward he said that could change in an instant.  I think what they have in stock right now in OM is fixed FP.  The Piettas all have standard fixed FP's.  I've not heard of them having any plans to change.

I have been a part timer with Cimarron for a long time, and although I haven't been to a show with them for over a year, I have handled lots of those guns.  When they started importing Piettas, the Ubertis were way more authentic in markings, etc.  But Pietta has come a long way.  My main gripe with them right now is the cylinder pin has grooves only on one side, not all the way around.  Makes it more of a hassle installing it correctly.  If I owned a Pietta I would just replace the base pin with a Colt or Uberti pin.

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[William R. Foster]

Curious, but what do you see most of at shoots? Old model? Pre-war? Fixed FP? Floating FP? Ideally i want to remain as authentic as possible, but it seems the old models are hard to come by outside of direct from Cimarron.

Pre-War is fine with NCOWS.  (Heck, they approve Vaqueros  ).  The Pre-War ubertis all have "floating" firing pin now. The Uberti Old Model I believe has the standard firing pin for now but that could change at any time, so you would want to verify which it has if/when you order.  Joe Neumann at Cimarron had told me they were going to keep getting the standard firing pin Old Models for 2 years.  But shortly afterward he said that could change in an instant.  I think what they have in stock right now in OM is fixed FP.  The Piettas all have standard fixed FP's.  I've not heard of them having any plans to change.

I have been a part timer with Cimarron for a long time, and although I haven't been to a show with them for over a year, I have handled lots of those guns.  When they started importing Piettas, the Ubertis were way more authentic in markings, etc.  But Pietta has come a long way.  My main gripe with them right now is the cylinder pin has grooves only on one side, not all the way around.  Makes it more of a hassle installing it correctly.  If I owned a Pietta I would just replace the base pin with a Colt or Uberti pin.

[Abilene]

Keep in mind that I am shooting SASS, not NCOWS (yet).  Rough estimates here, but...

1/3 or so shooting Rugers.  Mostly .38's.  A few .32's or .45's.

1/3 or so shooting Colt repros, more Ubertis than Piettas around here.  Most of those repros are Pre-War.  Still mostly .38 but a higher percentage of .44's and .45's than the Ruger guys.

Of the remaining less than 1/3 are the opentops and conversions, schofields, Remingtons, percussion guns with conversion cylinders, etc.  Lots of calibers.

And oh yeah, maybe 5% shooting real Colts.  Pre-War of course  

Personally I have not seen an Uberti with the new firing pin at a match, although if someone showed up with a new Uberti I'd probably have no idea.  Keep in mind that these have only been out around a year.  There have been a few issues I've heard about, but mostly they work fine.  But like you, I really don't want one, either.  

[Coffinmaker]

Another consideration when selecting the "appropriate" handgun, is 3 feet.  Nah, you don't actually have three feet.  From 3 feet, you can't actually tell the difference.  The Uberti Old Model, Pre-War, Pietta all look alike from 3 feet out.   

Now, when it comes to that stupid, flaky, unnecessary, lawyerfied retractive firing pin, I would draw the line.  Of course, being a Pietta fan anyway, I don't have to concern myself with that stupid, flaky, unnecessary lawyerfied retractive thingie anyway.   

[Cliff Fendley]

Seems like I see more pre war models but I prefer and shoot old models.

If you can find one I would suggest the old model if you plan to create any particular persona in NCOWS because it will fit in any time period.

If you're just out for the fun and shooting then either is fine.

[bear tooth billy]

My wife bought a pair of 38 Piettas on sale from Cabelas a few years ago for $300 each.
I smoothed them up a bit and put spring kits in them. They had a funky non legal finish, so I stripped
them and did my first attempt at rust blueing. I really like them, have had no problems, and find
myself borrowing them and leaving my 44/40s at home most of the time. Hard to beat for $350

                     BTB

[Tascosa Joe]

Abilene:  The reason NCOWS approves of Rugers is:  When NCOWS started most Italian imports were crap and Ruger and Colt were the only decent quality pistol around.  We probably would drop the Vaquero but after 25 years it is too late to make the change.

Some of the earliest Colt 1873's were chambered for .44 Russian or German and were shipped thru the London Agency to Continental Europe for testing.  Check the book "Colt and the London Agency".

[Abilene]

Abilene:  The reason NCOWS approves of Rugers is: ...

Oh sure, I knew that, I was just funnin'.  Makes perfect sense, too.  One thing I admire about NCOWS is that you stick to your guns (pun intended    ).  I still enjoy SASS a great deal, but I'm sorry to see more and more "race-gun" changes approved.

[OklaTom]

I shoot both the Uberti Model P and the Pietta Frontier (all Cimarron, duh... been a dealer for a long time).  I, too, prefer the Old Model frame, and not just for the fixed firing pin.  But some of mine are PW.  News flash is, if you end up with the new firing pin set-up on a PW, and OM hammer and trigger is darn near a drop in to set it right.  As parts do wear and fail, when the new hammers and triggers came out, I set aside a small stock of old hammers and triggers to maintain what I have.

Oh, as Abilene said, the Pietta have that cylinder base pin that is slotted only on one side.  Good news is a few bucks for a Uberti base pin and that problem is solved, too - unless Pietta has changed their specs since the last one I bought.