Malamute 

Unfortunately, there is no "Date" when Uberti switched over to the New, Improved, Guaranteed to Fail Ladle.  The actual correct term for the part is "Ladle."  We are talking about rifles built the last 15 or so years.  Prior to the change, the Ladle was made with a welded cartridge stop.

Unfortunately, when Miroku copied the Uberti, they screwed up.  The Miroku ladle is just as apt to fail as the Uberti. 

It is either a DIY fix or a Gunsmith fix.

Ha, Well 

I'm a fan of the "None of The Above" camp (snicker snicker snort).  My conversions ALL sport barrels cut to the same length as the Ejector Housing.  Quite good looking they are too.  This is also true of my Open Top "Chameleons."  I added Barrel/Cylinder sets to my Open Tops, so as to chamber and shoot ALL three offered cartridges.  .38, .44 and .45 Schofield.  A disclaimer, when I acquired my Open Tops the .45 chambering was for 45 Schofield.  45 Colt wasn't offered at the time.

My Pietta 1860 .44 conversions and 1851 .44 conversions sport barrels Four and a Quarter inch length.  Balance is superb.

That's a pretty good length as well.

I am a 1860 Richard's guy. All mine have the long barrel except the R/M I recently bought. I really wanted Richard's  5 1/2 in .44 but aren't available. The 5 1//2 R/M is .45. Wish I hadn't rushed into buying it. I am now lookin to buy a Richard's  in .38 Richard's with Navy frame to create a 1861 conversion for my collection.

"Modern" .44 Colt dates to the mid 90s, when Armi San Marco offered the first of the Richards conversions chambered in the round,  (I still have one of these)  Uberti picked it up soon after ASM went under, offering it in their various open top/conversion revolvers.  The last few years they've simply ran the chambers further out to accommodate .44 spl brass.  Black Hills offered the caliber for nearly 20 years, only dropping it a couple of years ago, and Starline still makes the brass.  My ASM RIchards and both my Uberti .44 Open Tops will only accept the Colt length brass or shorter.  THe number of ASM/Uberti .44 Colts far exceeds the orginal 8000 or so of Colts production in the 1870s.

Hi RoyceP 

Ah well, not quite.  If loading "original" 44 Colt, you would be correct.  However, modern 44 Colt cartridges are the same case diameter as 44 russian, just with a slightly smaller rim.  They (modern 44 Colt) load just the same as any of the other modern .44 cartridges.  Lots of folks describe the .44 Russian and 44 Colt as 44 Magnum Short and Ultra Short.

A modern built Uberti Open Top, chambered for 44 Colt utilizes standard .429 bullets, inside lubed, same same as .44 Magnum and .44 Russian.  There was a time when Uberti Ope Tops for Cimarron would not chamber .44 Special.  I haven't seen one of those guns for years.

I got mine maybe 10 years ago. It has 44 Cal stamped on the front of the trigger guard. I am unaware of any "modern" 44 Colt caliber like you are talking about. The 44 Russian I load, 44 special is another one. My Uberti open top shoots to point of aim with the 44 Russian loaded very conservatively.