Pietta SAA Patent Marks

[Fox Creek Kid]

Can someone with a newer (2013 & later) Cimarron Pietta SAA post a photo of the patent date markings for us, please?

[Fox Creek Kid]

I found am EMF Great Western II with patent dates:  


http://mobile.gunauction.com/search/mobile_displayitem.cfm?itemnum=12152149

[Coal Creek Griff]

I don't know if you're still looking for a picture of the patent dates, but here is what is stamped on my Cimarron Pietta Frontier (44WCF) purchased in March, 2013.

CC Griff

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[Fox Creek Kid]

That be it!! Thank you, sir!!   Interestingly, the former is more correct. Wonder if Pietta changed it or is using different stamps? 

[Coffinmaker]

I don't mean to be contrary.  Well ...... maybe I do.  But.  Why would it make a difference?  Neither a Uberti SA nor a Pietta SA is a "Colt" so whether the Patent Dates are "more" or "less" correct is to ME, a moot point.  I don't actually see any reason for the guns to display a facsimile of Colt's patent dates at all. 
Like of like lipstick on a Pig.  Still a Pig.  With totally "correct" patent dates, still a Pietta.

Some years back, there were some nefarious characters defarbing Ubertis, making em look "old" and passing them off to unsuspecting and trusting gun buyers as "originals."  Some, even fooled some collectors.  I personally prefer my Italian copies to be obvious copies.

Coffinmaker

[pistol1911]

How can anything be more correct ? It is either correct or not correct.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I don't mean to be contrary.  Well ...... maybe I do.  But.  Why would it make a difference?...

Then why don't we just all shoot Glocks. After all as Hillary said, "what difference does it make?"

I have Colts. I was just curious as I knew Pietta was fearful of being sued and I have read their SAA repro is a real gem.

[Coffinmaker]

FCK,
From a strictly mechanical standpoint, Pietta guns are, in my opinion, the best value for dollar for CAS use, on the market today.  For the most part, they are also very close in dimensions to Colt as well.
Out of the bag, Pietta SAA copies are at about the same level as most of the Importers "match ready" guns.  They (Pietta) require much less work to make them superb.  Pietta was smart enough to go to the coil spring and plunger for the hand well before Uberti did.  There was also a short period of time, Uberti was incorporating coil and plunger with the Gripframe screw, which, is not a very good idea as the plunger is not centered on the hand.  Over the last couple of years, Pietta has also been marketing guns, specifically intended for CAS and in no way do the guns mime Colts.  Wide triggers, wide hammers, Army style grips on SAA copy frames, thunderer styled short barrel guns for mounted shooters, well timed and set up from the factory.  The only real problems I've personally seen have been some recent examples with odd unfinished machining.  I would expect that comes from selling everything they can make in a production "run."

I have personally been impressed with their Percussion guns as well.  a couple of seasons ago, I switched from cartridge guns to Cap guns and found Pietta guns to have fewer mechanical issues out of the bag than Uberti.  And again, Pietta has been catering to the CAS shooters and "fun" shooters much more than "Traditional" shooters.  As examples of their .44 "Navy" guns attest, as well as their "Snubbies."  I personally shoot their 3 inch 1860 and 1851 Snubbies in Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter and it is a gob of FUN!!  While several of Pietta offerings in Cap Guns are not necessarily "historically" correct, they are a ball to play with.

Coffinmaker

[Abilene]

...  Pietta was smart enough to go to the coil spring and plunger for the hand well before Uberti did.  There was also a short period of time, Uberti was incorporating coil and plunger with the Gripframe screw, which, is not a very good idea as the plunger is not centered on the hand....

You sure about that?  Uberti went to the coil hand spring about 15 years ago, at least on the Model P.  I don't think Pietta was making SAA's back then.  True, Uberti's short venture into placing the spring and plunger in the gripframe hole was not so smart, though I do have one of those that works fine.  

The Pietta SAA is a pretty good physical copy of a 2nd Gen Colt, minus the markings and their cylinder pin that I hate   .  The very best thing they have going for them is Allesandro Pietta (Alchemista) being a cowboy shooter and knowing what CAS needs are.  They only started putting the patent dates back on the frames when Cimarron asked them to.

The Uberti-made Model P is a pretty good copy of a 1st Gen Colt, minus the lack of a firing pin bushing in the recoil shield.  Their early guns were not accurate copies at all.  Most of this is due to changes made to the guns by Mike Harvey.  There's a pretty good youtube video about that:


As for wanting our CAS guns to be as authentic as possible or not, that is all strictly personal preference.  I am happy to see Pietta put the patent dates back on the frames, reduce the size of their giant barrel markings, and bring back the BP frame models.  Some of the other Piettas from various importers that have a transfer bar I do not care for.  Like I said, personal preference.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Guys, in early 2000 I bought a NIB EMF Hartford .45 SAA by ASM that had the coil handspring plunger. Hell, I thought it was defective when I took the backstrap off as at that time I had never heard nor read of such a thing!!    I sold the gun however.

[Coffinmaker]

I have a nice pair of Uberti Thunderers, with Navy type grip frames swapped on.  I think I got 'em about 10 years ago for my Mrs.  Thought it was odd at the time that one of them had the Spring and Plunger thru the left Gripframe screw hole and a drilled out screw for the spring, and the other one had the frame drilled for the Spring and Plunger, with an itty bitty tense tiny screw to retain the spring.  The little screw has caused my no end of aggravation.

When I converted SAs and Cap Guns to Spring and Plunger, rather than Uberti parts, I used/use Ruger parts so the Spring and lPlunger are retained by the Gripframe.  Sooooooo much simpler and no infuriating itty bitty screw to mess with.

Coffinmaker