Pietta 1873 Single Action .22
- Thread starter Beater
- Start date
I got one the 22lr/22Mag 3 days ago.
It came lightning fast through the mail, I still haven’t seen any of the paperwork. As soon as all that is cleared up I'll go try it out at the range.
The gun came in a Styrofoam box and was dripping in oil/packing grease.
The revolver itself looks and feels really great. The 22 Mag cylinder looks like it has either a spot of caked on grease on it or it is some minor rust/pitting.
I am not sure what it is and since everything was dripping in oil, I don't think it's rust.
I had no experience with any single action and just from "playing" with it, I like it enough to buy more in the future.
Will add a range report and pics as soon as I can.
It came lightning fast through the mail, I still haven’t seen any of the paperwork. As soon as all that is cleared up I'll go try it out at the range.
The gun came in a Styrofoam box and was dripping in oil/packing grease.
The revolver itself looks and feels really great. The 22 Mag cylinder looks like it has either a spot of caked on grease on it or it is some minor rust/pitting.
I am not sure what it is and since everything was dripping in oil, I don't think it's rust.
I had no experience with any single action and just from "playing" with it, I like it enough to buy more in the future.
Will add a range report and pics as soon as I can.
I happen to stumble on it on Wolverine's site when I was buying my Uberti. It only works on Pietta/Uberti 4.57" 45LC revolvers. It was $170. Haven't shot it as yet.
https://www.wolverinesupplies.com/ProductDetail/UBE0410CONV_Uberti-Conversion-Kit-for-1873-cattleman-from--45LC-to--22LR
https://www.wolverinesupplies.com/ProductDetail/UBE0410CONV_Uberti-Conversion-Kit-for-1873-cattleman-from--45LC-to--22LR
They shoot well. The sights aren't very good for target work though and the lack of recoil takes some of the fun out of plinking. I sold mine pretty quick. I would recommend a .38 special for cheaper single action plinking or a dedicated .22LR target pistol for target shooting.
--- Update from my previous post---
So I went to the range and fired about 500 rounds or so in my Pietta .22 lr
No pics yet they were terrible ill try to get better ones.
The good:
Gun functioned flawlessly, in 500 rounds of bulk 22 ammo I did not get a single failure. The rim is hit pretty hard and every round of Remington golden bullets I used went off.
I have various issues with that ammo in all my other 22s. The Pietta just kept on shooting. (most have a hickup here n there, some will not tolerate em at all)
Also tried winchester 333 box, the case would stick a little more sometimes but I had zero issues using the ejector to push em out.
Action is really smooth, I don’t own another single action, nor am I an expert in any way, but I liked it so much I will definitely buy more of em. (Thinking a Ruger 357/9mm convertible next)
Even after 500 rounds the thing just kept on going, it was filthy and just did not seem to care at all, I feel I could've shot another 500 no problem.
Cleaning was also really easy except for the bore itself, my brass brush was too long to insert it from the breach. Bought another and used wire cutters to shorten it.
The boring:
The gun weighs a ton, just the cylinder feels as heavy as my 9mm PPQ. Because of this, the gun as no recoil AT ALL it feels like shooting a cap gun.
This can be viewed as a good thing for some, for example I let my elderly mother try it, and while she was bothered by the weight, shooting the thing did not make her wrist hurt. (She broke it when she fell on an ice patch in december.)
She couldn't shoot my SIG 226 in 22lr.
So if you want an exiting thing to shoot this ain't it, but it is a great gun to initiate someone to firearms.
The ugly:
The fit and finish is ok at best. you can see lots of tooling marks after removing the cylinder but those don't show when the gun is assembled.
The wood grips are also not completely flush with the frame near the hammer. It also seems like there is a copper coloured weld at the base of the front sight that was painted over. The paint was completely gone after a shooting/cleaning session.
the gun came with an extra 22 MAG cylinder that was in a bag full of oil. it had a few brown spots that I thought was caked on grease or something but after cleaning it, I found out that is was 2 pitting spots. I cleaned those as best I could oiled up the whole thing completely then put it in a ziplock with another spoonful of oil and tried to take as much air out of the bag as I could before shoving it back in the box.
Final thoughts.
I got the gun from Marstar during a sale. Overall for the price I paid, I am happy with it. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like a single action or not so I did not want to invest alot of money into one.
Truth be told if I knew I was going to like it this much I would've sprung for a single six. Then again I may have skipped the single actions completely if I had not caught the sale on that Pietta.
So I went to the range and fired about 500 rounds or so in my Pietta .22 lr
No pics yet they were terrible ill try to get better ones.
The good:
Gun functioned flawlessly, in 500 rounds of bulk 22 ammo I did not get a single failure. The rim is hit pretty hard and every round of Remington golden bullets I used went off.
I have various issues with that ammo in all my other 22s. The Pietta just kept on shooting. (most have a hickup here n there, some will not tolerate em at all)
Also tried winchester 333 box, the case would stick a little more sometimes but I had zero issues using the ejector to push em out.
Action is really smooth, I don’t own another single action, nor am I an expert in any way, but I liked it so much I will definitely buy more of em. (Thinking a Ruger 357/9mm convertible next)
Even after 500 rounds the thing just kept on going, it was filthy and just did not seem to care at all, I feel I could've shot another 500 no problem.
Cleaning was also really easy except for the bore itself, my brass brush was too long to insert it from the breach. Bought another and used wire cutters to shorten it.
The boring:
The gun weighs a ton, just the cylinder feels as heavy as my 9mm PPQ. Because of this, the gun as no recoil AT ALL it feels like shooting a cap gun.
This can be viewed as a good thing for some, for example I let my elderly mother try it, and while she was bothered by the weight, shooting the thing did not make her wrist hurt. (She broke it when she fell on an ice patch in december.)
She couldn't shoot my SIG 226 in 22lr.
So if you want an exiting thing to shoot this ain't it, but it is a great gun to initiate someone to firearms.
The ugly:
The fit and finish is ok at best. you can see lots of tooling marks after removing the cylinder but those don't show when the gun is assembled.
The wood grips are also not completely flush with the frame near the hammer. It also seems like there is a copper coloured weld at the base of the front sight that was painted over. The paint was completely gone after a shooting/cleaning session.
the gun came with an extra 22 MAG cylinder that was in a bag full of oil. it had a few brown spots that I thought was caked on grease or something but after cleaning it, I found out that is was 2 pitting spots. I cleaned those as best I could oiled up the whole thing completely then put it in a ziplock with another spoonful of oil and tried to take as much air out of the bag as I could before shoving it back in the box.
Final thoughts.
I got the gun from Marstar during a sale. Overall for the price I paid, I am happy with it. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like a single action or not so I did not want to invest alot of money into one.
Truth be told if I knew I was going to like it this much I would've sprung for a single six. Then again I may have skipped the single actions completely if I had not caught the sale on that Pietta.
gmart…nice honest write up.
Personally, I find 22lr HG's boring to shoot but I believe everyone should have one. I prefer to shoot revolvers but when in comes to rimfires semi's are less boring.
I've owned a few single and DA/SA 22lr's and eventually sold them. The extra 22mag cylinder (that came with the SA) was used once. 22mag is too expensive for plinking IMO.
Since you bought it cheap keep it for your mother to shoot….and save up for a 617 or get a semi.
Personally, I find 22lr HG's boring to shoot but I believe everyone should have one. I prefer to shoot revolvers but when in comes to rimfires semi's are less boring.
I've owned a few single and DA/SA 22lr's and eventually sold them. The extra 22mag cylinder (that came with the SA) was used once. 22mag is too expensive for plinking IMO.
Since you bought it cheap keep it for your mother to shoot….and save up for a 617 or get a semi.
