Uberti vs Pietta
- Thread starter Wendell
- Start date
You get lucky if they fit. I have two Uberti 1860’s that barrels and cylinders won’t swap. 20000 difference in serial numbers. Each company made their own replicas which aren’t exactly true to the originals.
It's likely that it won't work. and crazy lucky if it did work and maintained good "timing" of the parts.
The issue is that the tolerances and shaping of the trigger, bolt and hand all work together as a tuned set. And that relies on the teeth for the hand on the back of the cylinder being just right.
The issue is that the tolerances and shaping of the trigger, bolt and hand all work together as a tuned set. And that relies on the teeth for the hand on the back of the cylinder being just right.
A cylinder might "fit" into a revolver and it might even articulate perfectly but there is another concern that it's important to address and that is the chamber to barrel throat relationship. I had an 8-shot Model 627 down here in Mexico, and when I went to register it I installed the 6-shot .38 Special Cylinder from my S&W Heavy Duty. Well, guess what? The .38 Special cylinder articulated perfectly in the 627 frame. Cylinders lined up when the bolt-stop fell, with a beautiful pre-timing that older Smith's could only hope for. I never tried "snapping a cap" to see if the frame-mounted firing pin would fire a primer, because when S&W made the N-frame cylinder hold 8-shots they had to move the cylinder charge holes a little further up from the extractor star and closer to the cylinder edge to fit all 8 holes. So the 6-shot N-frame cylinder of the Heavy Duty would have the problem of it's charge holes not aligning with the barrel mouth, and perhaps the primer would not take the hit in the required spot to fire it.
My 6-shot Heavy Duty was and is my pride and joy. I still own it, albeit have it sitting in a friend's safe about an hour and a half from where I am sitting. I am in Irapuato at the moment, while the gun is in San Miguel. But I hope to visit my Heavy Duty very soon. The .38 Special cylinder will not accept a .357 round all the way because of the chamber-step, but with the Elmer Keith load of a 170 grain Lyman 358429 SWC over 13.5 grains of 2400 in a .38 Special case it's as powerful as any other 4-inch .357 Magnum out there. And it's "Mexican Law legal".
So my point is that firing the 6-shot N-frame cylinder in a 627 frame -- even though it fits and articulates -- would be dangerous because the bullet would leave the cylinder and smash into the lower side of the barrel mouth. Oooops. I installed the 6-shot cylinder simply because when you register a gun for the first time with the Mexican Army, they "inspect" it. Is it a legal caliber (.38 Special is, .357 Magnum is not, so remarking is required)? They'll go so far as to try to see if a .357 Magnum cartridge will chamber and allow the cylinder to close -- which of course will not happen with the Heavy Duty cylinder installed. Which is why I installed it. I think I registered the first 627 in Mexico, and even if I didn't, I had no problems registering mine as a 6-Shot (remarked) Model 23. The Army Sergeant was not up on his S&W firearms enough to say any different and the deed was done. But just because a cylinder fits, that isn't all you need to know. Check with a rod about bore diameter to see if the rod passes all the way through the barrel-cylinder gap right down to the chamber face on all six cylinders as they align. If it does I guess you're good to go.
I sold my 627 when I left Mexico in 2016. Now that we're dabbling in moving back, I sort of regret that decision. I still think it's one of the best revolvers out there, although being an 8-shot a lot of the shooting sport games limit it's usefulness in the attempt to keep everything fair. When .38 caliber is the best you're allowed to have legally, an 8-shot gun with a 225+ power-factor is pretty decent. No "civilian legal" automatic available in Mexico comes even close even though any .380 Cal auto is the same power as any 9mm +P load out there. At least I kept the Heavy Duty, which doesn't need remarking or special tricks to be 100% legal here and it's such a neat, classic gun that I'd feel pretty safe with it on the nightstand. (But I'd have felt a bit safer with the 627 but it's water under the bridge now). In this photo, the 627 is pictured with 8-shot speedloaders loaded with the Elmer Keith load mentioned above. It was my nightstand gun when we lived in San Miguel and it was a hoot to shoot. Yes, I guess I sorta miss it.
My 6-shot Heavy Duty was and is my pride and joy. I still own it, albeit have it sitting in a friend's safe about an hour and a half from where I am sitting. I am in Irapuato at the moment, while the gun is in San Miguel. But I hope to visit my Heavy Duty very soon. The .38 Special cylinder will not accept a .357 round all the way because of the chamber-step, but with the Elmer Keith load of a 170 grain Lyman 358429 SWC over 13.5 grains of 2400 in a .38 Special case it's as powerful as any other 4-inch .357 Magnum out there. And it's "Mexican Law legal".
So my point is that firing the 6-shot N-frame cylinder in a 627 frame -- even though it fits and articulates -- would be dangerous because the bullet would leave the cylinder and smash into the lower side of the barrel mouth. Oooops. I installed the 6-shot cylinder simply because when you register a gun for the first time with the Mexican Army, they "inspect" it. Is it a legal caliber (.38 Special is, .357 Magnum is not, so remarking is required)? They'll go so far as to try to see if a .357 Magnum cartridge will chamber and allow the cylinder to close -- which of course will not happen with the Heavy Duty cylinder installed. Which is why I installed it. I think I registered the first 627 in Mexico, and even if I didn't, I had no problems registering mine as a 6-Shot (remarked) Model 23. The Army Sergeant was not up on his S&W firearms enough to say any different and the deed was done. But just because a cylinder fits, that isn't all you need to know. Check with a rod about bore diameter to see if the rod passes all the way through the barrel-cylinder gap right down to the chamber face on all six cylinders as they align. If it does I guess you're good to go.
I sold my 627 when I left Mexico in 2016. Now that we're dabbling in moving back, I sort of regret that decision. I still think it's one of the best revolvers out there, although being an 8-shot a lot of the shooting sport games limit it's usefulness in the attempt to keep everything fair. When .38 caliber is the best you're allowed to have legally, an 8-shot gun with a 225+ power-factor is pretty decent. No "civilian legal" automatic available in Mexico comes even close even though any .380 Cal auto is the same power as any 9mm +P load out there. At least I kept the Heavy Duty, which doesn't need remarking or special tricks to be 100% legal here and it's such a neat, classic gun that I'd feel pretty safe with it on the nightstand. (But I'd have felt a bit safer with the 627 but it's water under the bridge now). In this photo, the 627 is pictured with 8-shot speedloaders loaded with the Elmer Keith load mentioned above. It was my nightstand gun when we lived in San Miguel and it was a hoot to shoot. Yes, I guess I sorta miss it.
