uberti/pietta cylinder swap

dr1445 · March 8, 2014, 07:14 AM

My 1970 remington 1858 lyman/uberti has the # 415 stamped on the frame, cylinder, ram and marked on the grips. I find the cylinder takes pietta nipples, the chambers run .378 tapering down to .376. Not having any .380 balls I swapped in the cylinder from my pietta 36. it seemed to function fine and there were no problems firing at the range, except it shoots about 5” high at 20 yds. Is it unusual that the uberti and pietta cyl's can be swapped?

44 Dave · March 8, 2014, 08:25 AM

I do know that older Ubertis use the 6x.75 mm. thread on the nipples, which are most times listed as "pietta" threaded now.

enyaw · March 8, 2014, 10:04 AM

I think it's unusual those cylinders swaped out. Just goes to show...you don't know till ya try it.

I'd wonder how well the chambers line up with the bore.

I'd want to take a little flash light and look down there to see.

Any out of kilter shows up as some cylinder face that shines silver(even if the cylinder is black). I call it the "Silver Moon" of misalignment.

There may have been a little off in the alignment of the chambers to the bore and shows up as "shoots higher".

Hawg · March 8, 2014, 12:49 PM

I think one of the cylinders is longer than the other one but I don't remember which is which. I'm betting they won't swap the other way around.

dr1445 · March 8, 2014, 04:03 PM

hh your right it doesn't go the other way, the timing is out with the u cyl in the p. i did not have a pencil beam light handy to check the bore/cyl line up. i did fire some single rounds with the factory set up and it also shot high.

dr1445 · March 9, 2014, 10:45 AM

Looking closer at the bolt stop actuation between the revolvers, I can see the bolt kicks up sooner on the uberti, the pietta later. The uberti bolt stop rides the cylinder almost twice as far as the pietta. Is it better to delay the bolt stop kick in for less drag on the cylinder? How best to delay the kick in?

Hawg · March 9, 2014, 02:13 PM

You can bend the bolt leg where it rides on the hammer cam to adjust it somewhat. The only bad part of having it come up too early is scoring the cylinder. On the other hand you don't want it coming up into the notch and peening it either. If having a drag line on the cylinder doesn't bother you then leave it be. If you lower the hammer from half cock you're going to end up with a drag line anyway.

dr1445 · March 9, 2014, 03:08 PM

the drag line is already there, for sure i am going to live with it. how about a new bolt stop would it engage later?

Hawg · March 9, 2014, 03:51 PM

It would most likely have to be fitted so you would be back to square one.

dr1445 · March 10, 2014, 06:45 AM

Now that I am getting an idea of how things function and what to look for, I find the bolt stop pivot hole has gone oval making a loose fit on the pin. There seems to be enough material to drill the hole bigger an install a small bushing, but that might not entirely solve the problem. I can see one side of bolt stop hole has what appears to be a tapered lead ground in, but it is not symmetrical, as it is oriented towards the muzzle end. I would guess it might have been altered.

March 8, 2014, 07:14 AM	#1
dr1445 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2009 Location: CT Posts: 199	uberti/pietta cylinder swap My 1970 remington 1858 lyman/uberti has the # 415 stamped on the frame, cylinder, ram and marked on the grips. I find the cylinder takes pietta nipples, the chambers run .378 tapering down to .376. Not having any .380 balls I swapped in the cylinder from my pietta 36. it seemed to function fine and there were no problems firing at the range, except it shoots about 5” high at 20 yds. Is it unusual that the uberti and pietta cyl's can be swapped?

March 8, 2014, 12:49 PM	#4
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	I think one of the cylinders is longer than the other one but I don't remember which is which. I'm betting they won't swap the other way around. Last edited by Hawg; March 8, 2014 at 12:54 PM.

March 8, 2014, 08:25 AM	#2
44 Dave Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2013 Posts: 584	I do know that older Ubertis use the 6x.75 mm. thread on the nipples, which are most times listed as "pietta" threaded now.

March 8, 2014, 10:04 AM	#3
enyaw Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 2008 Posts: 134	I think it's unusual those cylinders swaped out. Just goes to show...you don't know till ya try it. I'd wonder how well the chambers line up with the bore. I'd want to take a little flash light and look down there to see. Any out of kilter shows up as some cylinder face that shines silver(even if the cylinder is black). I call it the "Silver Moon" of misalignment. There may have been a little off in the alignment of the chambers to the bore and shows up as "shoots higher".

March 8, 2014, 04:03 PM	#5
dr1445 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2009 Location: CT Posts: 199	hh your right it doesn't go the other way, the timing is out with the u cyl in the p. i did not have a pencil beam light handy to check the bore/cyl line up. i did fire some single rounds with the factory set up and it also shot high.

March 9, 2014, 10:45 AM	#6
dr1445 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2009 Location: CT Posts: 199	Looking closer at the bolt stop actuation between the revolvers, I can see the bolt kicks up sooner on the uberti, the pietta later. The uberti bolt stop rides the cylinder almost twice as far as the pietta. Is it better to delay the bolt stop kick in for less drag on the cylinder? How best to delay the kick in?

March 9, 2014, 02:13 PM	#7
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	You can bend the bolt leg where it rides on the hammer cam to adjust it somewhat. The only bad part of having it come up too early is scoring the cylinder. On the other hand you don't want it coming up into the notch and peening it either. If having a drag line on the cylinder doesn't bother you then leave it be. If you lower the hammer from half cock you're going to end up with a drag line anyway.

March 9, 2014, 03:08 PM	#8
dr1445 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2009 Location: CT Posts: 199	the drag line is already there, for sure i am going to live with it. how about a new bolt stop would it engage later?

March 9, 2014, 03:51 PM	#9
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	It would most likely have to be fitted so you would be back to square one.

March 10, 2014, 06:45 AM	#10
dr1445 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2009 Location: CT Posts: 199	Now that I am getting an idea of how things function and what to look for, I find the bolt stop pivot hole has gone oval making a loose fit on the pin. There seems to be enough material to drill the hole bigger an install a small bushing, but that might not entirely solve the problem. I can see one side of bolt stop hole has what appears to be a tapered lead ground in, but it is not symmetrical, as it is oriented towards the muzzle end. I would guess it might have been altered.