New Pietta 1st Gen !

BBq_Woa!

BBq_Woa!

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 95.3%
61   3   0
Location
Hamilton, ON, Canada
Hey folks
fresh from Marstar, my new Pietta 1st Gen .357 Magnum 4.75"..
I don't do christmas, per se, so this is a good way to spend the evening!

Right off the bat, and especially after an hour playing with it, here are my thoughts;

Superbly built.
tight, sharp, clean action, smooth motions in the hammer, trigger and loading gate.
the cylinder is perfection, lock up of all componants is without play at all.

Finish is superb.
Shiny, tight, no gaps or imperfections or dings..
Gorgeous pistol
I was of course expecting a beautiful peice of work as it is an 1873, but I am very pleased.

I was initially expecting just "very good" as I have played with a few Ubertis, and was under the impression they are superior, and of course more expensive..
Not the case, at least when it comes to the gun I received.
exactly the same. no difference whatsoever.

475-ish from Marstar.
Totally happy.
can't wait to give it a shoot.
Now I need to find a holster!
Here are a few humble pics from my iPhone.
web.jpg

web.jpg

web.jpg

-Derek
 
By the way,
I was hoping to find some ammo for whenever I get to the range,
and I don't know whether this exists outside of handloads, but can one purchase .38sp or .357mag with smokey powder?
I would find it extremely satisfying to shoot this thing and make a big nasty cloud each shot..
 
Very nice looking gun, a beautiful mix of steel,brass and wood. The 1873 is a legendary gun and to shoot black powder would keep it real. You may have to load it yourself using modern brass but I think there are other CGN'ers who know how to do that. Would love to see a range report and see that piece in action.
 
Looks very nice! I love the brass grip frame!

I have a "2nd gen" model but with the blued steel frame, case color receiver and walnut grips. Also, in .357 Mag.

DSCN0380.jpg


DSCN0382.jpg


Pietta [top] and real 2nd gen Colt SAA also in .357 Mag for comparison [bottom]:

DSCN0379.jpg


IMHO, Pietta makes a very pretty SAA.

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
They are nice guns aren't they. I've got two that I'm using for CAS cartridge shooting.

If you want black powder or black powder substitutes for smokey shooting that is more in keeping with the old west then you'll need to get into reloading and do your own. Down in the US there's companies that load and sell BP cartridges but I haven't seen any up in Canada so far.

And just a note of warning. Black powder cartridge loads are not very tolerant. There's special considerations that you want to look up and read about. Such as the case has to be stuffed full and the charge lightly compressed to avoid a pressure peak that can be damaging or even dangerous. Also with true BP you need to boil away the regular wax lube on the cast lead bullets and replace it with a beeswax and Crisco lard mixture. No petroleum grease or wax based lubes allowed as they'll make the BP fouling residue very tarry and difficult to clean.

You're also going to find that the front sight is intentionally made too tall and it needs to be filed down to suit whichever ammo you finally settle on for regular shooting. For myself since I also have a fixed sight S&W Model 10 I developed a .38Spl load that shoots to POA (that's Point Of Aim) for the Model 10 and then filed down the sights on both my Piettas to shoot well and to POA for the same ammo.

I also found that the POI (Point Of Impact) changed with the Piettas depending on if I shot them one or two handed. I'd already decided to go with one handed for my CAS shooting since that's the way the cowboys on the TV shows shot :D This made the shots hit a little higher since the gun was able to kick in my one handed grip moreso than my two handed grip. So keep that in mind as well.

There's likely more than one bullet and powder load you can use and still have the POI's for them match the POA but plan on a lot of trial loads to find the right combinations. Especially if you end up reloading black powder and shooting that since BP is even slower a powder to burn so you may find that the stock sights are just fine instead of shooting low like with most smokeless loads.
 
Until you've shot black powder you don't know what smoke is.... :D

Hey, metropolis, that graphic in your sig line is just over a half meg payload. If it manages to slow down MY display I hate to think about the poor folks that use dial up or have slower computers. For the greater good I suggest you lose it.
 
I have the sameone, good fit and finish on mine as well. Have had it for a couple of years and on problems so far, though I don't shoot it a lot. Still working on the sights, shoots a little left and low.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom