Rough day at the range for an old Uberti 1860

[petermhansen]

It's been a couple of years that I was idle with my BP shooting and recently re-caught the bug and joined this board. As a reply to to my intro post regarding my 1860, Sourdough said that the date code indicated 1995 manufacture. I bought it cheap and used from the Canadiangunutz equipment exchange board, and while the action is in great shape, the bore is kind of rough. I am guessing the original owner was not diligent about cleaning after shooting.


So after a long gap I went to the range yesterday with the 1860 and my Great Plains .50 pistol. As usual the Great plains ran flawlessly, was accurate and gave a very satisfying 40 gr FFFG BOOM! The 1860 was an entirely different story. I had spent caps getting caught and making it difficult to cock and cycle to the next chamber. At one point after I'd guess around 5 or 6 cylinder reloads I was entirely shut down by 2 chambers that refused for fire. Not a misfire, but the caps actually didn't ignite. I replaced the caps and tried again but no luck. As the range was closing soon I decapped the nipple and took it home after drowning the cylinder in water before transport. As it turned out I discovered a smashed-flat cap under the hammer hidden in all black fouling. I'm guessing it was acting like a shim and keeping the hammer from fully seating.

I have researched a couple of sources for tuning clone cap and ball pistols for reliability, both a guide from Larsen E. Pettifogger (I don't recall if I got it from here or The High Road) and videos by Duelist1954 on youtube. Both mention upgrading the nipples, but the each recommend a different brand to use, and both sources are referring specifically to Piettas. So I'm looking for some wisdom on what people would recommend on an older 90's model Uberti. I see that Duelist1954 also recommends filling in the groove in the hammer face with JB weld. I am using a small hoard of #10 Remington caps, but they are now impossible to find locally as Remington goes through receivership. I have found a source of #10 and 11 CCI cap when the Remingtons run out.

I'm guessing the nipples are the original ones. Duelist1954 seemed to favour Slix shot nipples while Pettifogger seemed to advocate Treso nipples. Has anyone got any experience with new nipples on a Uberti?

My other issue is the rather mediocre accuracy, especially compared to the Great Plains pistol. I always assumed the Great Plains was so much more accurate because the powder and ball was already in a long heavy barrel and was not being sent from a cylinder through a forcing cone. But then I am seeing posts and video where people are getting decent groupings from a cap and ball. I am no super marksman, but at 10-15m I can get a pretty tight grouping, particularly if I cheese out and fire from a sand bag rest. Even resting, the 1860 is a bit better, but not great.

I am loading 25 gr GOEX FFFG, with a lubed wonderwad and a .457 ball (it goes in without excessive force and leaves a nice circle of shaved lead, so the fit seems perfect). The Uberti manual calls for 22 gr min, 30 gr max, and I have a 25gr spout.

If I can get the cap reliability sorted out I have been considering investing in a new barrel and ditch the pitted bore I currently have.

[AlaskanGuy]

wow... sounds like the gun needs work for sure...  you can sometimes find barrels on ebay.. i have seen them more then once.  as far as a cap rake, you better talk to some of these specialists like the outlaw kid or fingers, or heck, anybody but me... what do I know.

[Captainkirk]

First off, you've been bitten by the typical "Colt cap-sucker". The issue you had dd not involve the nipples, nor does it require replacing them, unless you want to.
What you need is a cap rake and action shield installed. Goon's Gun Works does this mod and it works...well, excellent is an understatement. I believe the Outlaw Kid does this too, and if you're handy with tools it shouldn't be outside your wheelhouse to DIY. Many times on the Colt replicas (Uberti especially!) poor grouping can be attributed to a short arbor issue. Virtually every Uberti made has this problem, while the Piettas don't seem to. Pettifogger goes into the issues in great detail. The Open Range articles are here in the library. Goon (Mike Brackett) is an expert in fixing short arbors and correcting other C&B issues as well. Mike is a member here on Colt Country.

Link to the Pettifogger articles:

https://theopenrange.net/tuning-the-uberti-open-top-revolvers/

Link to Goon's Gun Works:

http://www.goonsgunworks.com/

The Plains pistol is a surprisingly accurate gun. I find mine shoots well with around 35gr 3F and a (very tight!) .495 PRB. The Lyman barrels are tight at the muzzle but once the ball is downstream, it goes in and seats firmly with no issues.

[ShotgunDave]

Glad you got to shoot your guns Peter. Bummer that you had problems.

As stated, Uberti revolvers have a short cylinder arbor. All of them do. You will need to address that before you can work on the accuracy of the gun. Get that sorted and you might be surprised how much better it shoots.

As for the caps getting stuck in every nook and cranny, a cap rake will cure that. It's not hard to install at all, and if you're handy with tools even a little, you can accomplish it. You really don't even need a drill press. A hand drill will work if you take your time.

There are a lot of different ideas floating around out there, on how to fix the problem. Guys like Duelist54 advocate filling the slot on the hammer face, and polishing it as well. That procedure has limited success, and you lose the ability to lower the hammer between cylinders to make the loaded gun safe. As you stated, others advocate changing the nipples, which also works but sometimes doesn't. The near sure fire way is to install cap rakes.

[sourdough]

you can sometimes find barrels on ebay.. i have seen them more then once.

The folks on Ebay are usually way overpriced, if you can find a new one there. VTI has a new barrel for $130, Taylor's $137.

https://www.vtigunparts.com/store/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=15&cat=Uberti+1860+Army

https://taylorsfirearms.com/catalog/product/view/id/3363/s/1860-army/category/465/

Regards,

Jim

[mike116]

I would be putting a lot more lead down that barrel before I started thinking about a new one.   I'd make sure of the arbor and wedge fit first before anything else.