Pietta .45 SAA

Thorerik · February 24, 2014, 01:55 PM

Here's an instance where when you try to save money you end up spending money. I bought two SAA from Cabela's a couple of weeks ago and took them to the range yesterday. I had a lot of trouble with both of them jamming. It appears that there is a burr on the face of the hole the firing pin comes through so when you attempt to cock and rotate the cylinder the burr drags on the face of the case head. Anyone had any issues like this? I was looking for a service center in the US but there appears to be none. I can't take them back to Cabelas as they don't allow gun returns to the store. This was the final nail in the coffen concerning ever buying anything at Cabelas again. Just to buy these guns I had to go through a 5 hour process from just talking to a sales rep to actually walking out the store with the goodies. I guess I will have to de-burr it myself. Lesson learned, buy at Sportsman's Warehouse, they offer full assistance on any firearm you buy from them. Quick and easy.

Driftwood Johnson · February 25, 2014, 09:05 AM

Howdy

Yes, this is fairly common. I had the problem with a used Uberti Cattleman that I bought a bunch of years ago. The burr was so bad the gun was completely bound up with live ammunition in it. I had a great deal of trouble removing the cylinder so that I could empty the gun.

The firing pin on a Colt style Single Action revolver is designed to 'find its way' through the hole in the frame. That is why the pin is free to rotate up and down slightly in the hammer. As the hammer falls, the firing pin rubs against the sides of the hole in the frame. As the frame material is rubbed over and over this way, it can raise a burr on the face of the frame exactly as you have experienced. Real Colts have a hardened steel insert pressed into the frame to prevent this from happening. The imports do not have this pressed in insert because it adds to the expense of making the gun.

I have heard it said that excessive dry firing can cause the burr, although frankly I don't see why dry firing would be any different than live fire, unless the gun is dry fired a whole lot.

There are a couple of solutions to this problem. The first, and easiest thing to do is to file down the burr. Take a fine cut flat file and lay it flat on the recoil shield where the firing pin hole is. Pressing down on the body of the file to keep it flat on the recoil shield, take a few light strokes to remove the burr.

Unfortunately, the burr will probably return because the firing pin will continue moving material around. What I did was to take a very long drill, that would reach all the way through the barrel to the recoil shield. I wrapped the sides of the drill with tape so it would not scratch the bore. Placing the tip of the drill in the hole I very carefully and very gently chamfered the hole. This way, any new burr material that showed up would fill up the chamfer and not rise up to cause problems. I caution you to be very careful if you try this approach. Just remove a teeny, tiny bit of metal. Remove too much and you will enlarge the hole too much, allowing primers to flow back into the hole, binding up the gun. Just remove a teeny amount of metal, turning the drill gently by hand with your fingers. One revolution of the drill is probably all you need.

By the way, Pietta does not make a SAA, nor does Uberti. What they make are replicas of the Single Action Army. Single Action Army and SAA are registered trademarks that belong to Colt. No other manufacturer uses the words Single Action Army or SAA because they know Colt will sue the pants off of them if they do.

Thorerik · February 26, 2014, 11:48 AM

Thank you for your reply. I just got out the jeweler's file and took care of it. I did notice that does appear that there is a hardened insert. What surprised me was that these guns didn't work right from the start, they came from the factory with the burrs. I really had to work to get the cylinder out of the frame. Other than the burr it seems that the guns are good quality and are easy to shoot.

Doc Hoy · February 26, 2014, 03:29 PM

...About a year and a half ago.

One was an Uberti Cattleman and the other was a Ruger Vaquero. Both brand new.

I hand load all of my ammunition but at that time I also had some factory cowboy loads in .45 LC.

About one or two rounds out of six did not go off. Handloads, factory loads, no difference. I retried the rounds and sometimes I would get the round to work but other times no joy.

The primers were pressed in correctly. didn't matter what headstamp was on the case. There was a dent in every primer successful or not. But in all of the rounds the dent in the primer was not very deep. That was true of the Uberti and the Vaquero alike. It seemed to be peculiar to Winchester primers because when I went to CCI the problem seemed to disappear.

I happened to have a model 92 from Rossi in .45 LC and that worked fine every time.

I went through heck with these revolvers until they finally decided to wear in and start working every time. Both are now real good consistent shooters.

No one would believe the story and I even had a tough time accepting that two different revolvers, different manufacturers and all (and one of them was Ruger of all things!) I accused Winchester of putting out a bad product. At least a defective batch of primers.

But in the end I guess I have to admit that the revolvers just needed to wear in a bit.

Thorerik · February 26, 2014, 04:39 PM

Earlier I had two Ruger Vaqueros in .45 LC. I never had one lick of trouble with them, very fine weapons to say the least. I sold them, sorry I did, but didn't want to spend the extra bucks when I saw the Uberti's. Saved about $250.00 per gun. I have had some trouble when competing in CAS with misfires both with the Uberti and Ruger guns. I use Winchester and CCI primers. It's funny to see a depression in the primer but it didn't go off, even with repeat tries. I have also developed a practice when reloading using a progressive press to look inside the case for powder before placing the bullet. It's a real bummer to have to stop your competition because you shot a squib.

Doc Hoy · February 26, 2014, 05:27 PM

Thor is the first person who has validated my experience with his or her own.

Thank you for proving I am not crazy, Dude! (Well I still am crazy but at least I might not be wrong about this issue!)

Driftwood Johnson · February 26, 2014, 07:10 PM

Howdy Again

Here is a photo of the recoil shield on my one remaining Uberti Cattlemn. There is no hardened bushing pressed into this frame. You can see the hole is a little bit chewed up where I did a less than perfect job of chamfering the hole. I did a better job on the gun that was giving me trouble, but I no longer have that gun.

This is the hardened bushing pressed into the frame on one of my 2nd Gen Colts.

I just checked a couple of the older model 'original model' Ruger Vaqueros. As far as I can tell, there is no separate bushing pressed into them. However when checking a New Vaquero, there is plainly a bushing pressed into them.

S&W double action revolvers also have a hardened bushing pressed into their frames.

February 24, 2014, 01:55 PM	#1
Thorerik Junior Member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Posts: 9	Pietta .45 SAA Here's an instance where when you try to save money you end up spending money. I bought two SAA from Cabela's a couple of weeks ago and took them to the range yesterday. I had a lot of trouble with both of them jamming. It appears that there is a burr on the face of the hole the firing pin comes through so when you attempt to cock and rotate the cylinder the burr drags on the face of the case head. Anyone had any issues like this? I was looking for a service center in the US but there appears to be none. I can't take them back to Cabelas as they don't allow gun returns to the store. This was the final nail in the coffen concerning ever buying anything at Cabelas again. Just to buy these guns I had to go through a 5 hour process from just talking to a sales rep to actually walking out the store with the goodies. I guess I will have to de-burr it myself. Lesson learned, buy at Sportsman's Warehouse, they offer full assistance on any firearm you buy from them. Quick and easy.

February 26, 2014, 03:29 PM	#4
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	I bought two such handguns in .45 LC ...About a year and a half ago. One was an Uberti Cattleman and the other was a Ruger Vaquero. Both brand new. I hand load all of my ammunition but at that time I also had some factory cowboy loads in .45 LC. About one or two rounds out of six did not go off. Handloads, factory loads, no difference. I retried the rounds and sometimes I would get the round to work but other times no joy. The primers were pressed in correctly. didn't matter what headstamp was on the case. There was a dent in every primer successful or not. But in all of the rounds the dent in the primer was not very deep. That was true of the Uberti and the Vaquero alike. It seemed to be peculiar to Winchester primers because when I went to CCI the problem seemed to disappear. I happened to have a model 92 from Rossi in .45 LC and that worked fine every time. I went through heck with these revolvers until they finally decided to wear in and start working every time. Both are now real good consistent shooters. No one would believe the story and I even had a tough time accepting that two different revolvers, different manufacturers and all (and one of them was Ruger of all things!) I accused Winchester of putting out a bad product. At least a defective batch of primers. But in the end I guess I have to admit that the revolvers just needed to wear in a bit. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

February 26, 2014, 05:27 PM	#6
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Okay now dog gonit, People! Thor is the first person who has validated my experience with his or her own. Thank you for proving I am not crazy, Dude! (Well I still am crazy but at least I might not be wrong about this issue!) __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

February 25, 2014, 09:05 AM	#2
Driftwood Johnson Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2014 Location: Land of the Pilgrims Posts: 2,033	Howdy Yes, this is fairly common. I had the problem with a used Uberti Cattleman that I bought a bunch of years ago. The burr was so bad the gun was completely bound up with live ammunition in it. I had a great deal of trouble removing the cylinder so that I could empty the gun. The firing pin on a Colt style Single Action revolver is designed to 'find its way' through the hole in the frame. That is why the pin is free to rotate up and down slightly in the hammer. As the hammer falls, the firing pin rubs against the sides of the hole in the frame. As the frame material is rubbed over and over this way, it can raise a burr on the face of the frame exactly as you have experienced. Real Colts have a hardened steel insert pressed into the frame to prevent this from happening. The imports do not have this pressed in insert because it adds to the expense of making the gun. I have heard it said that excessive dry firing can cause the burr, although frankly I don't see why dry firing would be any different than live fire, unless the gun is dry fired a whole lot. There are a couple of solutions to this problem. The first, and easiest thing to do is to file down the burr. Take a fine cut flat file and lay it flat on the recoil shield where the firing pin hole is. Pressing down on the body of the file to keep it flat on the recoil shield, take a few light strokes to remove the burr. Unfortunately, the burr will probably return because the firing pin will continue moving material around. What I did was to take a very long drill, that would reach all the way through the barrel to the recoil shield. I wrapped the sides of the drill with tape so it would not scratch the bore. Placing the tip of the drill in the hole I very carefully and very gently chamfered the hole. This way, any new burr material that showed up would fill up the chamfer and not rise up to cause problems. I caution you to be very careful if you try this approach. Just remove a teeny, tiny bit of metal. Remove too much and you will enlarge the hole too much, allowing primers to flow back into the hole, binding up the gun. Just remove a teeny amount of metal, turning the drill gently by hand with your fingers. One revolution of the drill is probably all you need. By the way, Pietta does not make a SAA, nor does Uberti. What they make are replicas of the Single Action Army. Single Action Army and SAA are registered trademarks that belong to Colt. No other manufacturer uses the words Single Action Army or SAA because they know Colt will sue the pants off of them if they do.

February 26, 2014, 11:48 AM	#3
Thorerik Junior Member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Posts: 9	Thank you for your reply. I just got out the jeweler's file and took care of it. I did notice that does appear that there is a hardened insert. What surprised me was that these guns didn't work right from the start, they came from the factory with the burrs. I really had to work to get the cylinder out of the frame. Other than the burr it seems that the guns are good quality and are easy to shoot.

February 26, 2014, 04:39 PM	#5
Thorerik Junior Member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Posts: 9	Earlier I had two Ruger Vaqueros in .45 LC. I never had one lick of trouble with them, very fine weapons to say the least. I sold them, sorry I did, but didn't want to spend the extra bucks when I saw the Uberti's. Saved about $250.00 per gun. I have had some trouble when competing in CAS with misfires both with the Uberti and Ruger guns. I use Winchester and CCI primers. It's funny to see a depression in the primer but it didn't go off, even with repeat tries. I have also developed a practice when reloading using a progressive press to look inside the case for powder before placing the bullet. It's a real bummer to have to stop your competition because you shot a squib.

February 26, 2014, 07:10 PM	#7
Driftwood Johnson Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2014 Location: Land of the Pilgrims Posts: 2,033	Howdy Again Here is a photo of the recoil shield on my one remaining Uberti Cattlemn. There is no hardened bushing pressed into this frame. You can see the hole is a little bit chewed up where I did a less than perfect job of chamfering the hole. I did a better job on the gun that was giving me trouble, but I no longer have that gun. This is the hardened bushing pressed into the frame on one of my 2nd Gen Colts. I just checked a couple of the older model 'original model' Ruger Vaqueros. As far as I can tell, there is no separate bushing pressed into them. However when checking a New Vaquero, there is plainly a bushing pressed into them. S&W double action revolvers also have a hardened bushing pressed into their frames.