"How It's Made" Episode on the Uberti Cattleman

[JACKlangrishe]

A peek inside Uberti's factory.
I've seen a few episodes of this show but didn't expect this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYOJa8ZNxmE

[Beagle333]

Pretty interesting. Thanks!

[Jeff2222]

Cool thanks for sharing


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[Pistolay]

That was very interesting.

[Texas45]

Cool segment.
However that chick narrater sucks. All episodes Ive seen on Discovery have a male narrater who is much easier to listen too.


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[4V50 Gary]

Not color case hardened but an acid bath to impart the effects of color case hardening.

What's with the spiral fluted screwdrivers?

[AKexpat]

Yes, very interesting. I was hoping they would show how the wood was final shaped to fit the backstrap and trigger guard set, but it was not there.

Hawg has always postured that the wood was individually fitted to that set and I had doubts.

Not so sure now. I will defer to Hawg, for now.

A few of the part names used by the narrator were in error, but overall it was not a bad clip for the Discovery Channel, especially in this day and age of "citizen control".

Thanks for posting it!

Jim

[CWKahrFan]

Nice link... Thanks!

[JACKlangrishe]

Thanks! Here's some more goodies, see below.

AK- I immediately thought of you and Hawg when I saw that grip segment. Think I've been on this board too much lately! =)

Pietta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DpOahqxXPY | American Outdoor - Pietta Firearms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=730BR6rAsoU | Cimarron's Big Guns: Pietta Factory Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA9sQN2UTSc | F.LLA Pietta Engraving & Enameling Video

Uberti:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6xayygYVzU | Kenda Visits the Uberti Factory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y3Gy4pB0SY | Cimarron's Big Guns: Uberti Factory Tour

[AKexpat]

Jack,

I got a lot more from your post #1 than anything in your latest other post.

Sorry to denigrate those, but I am looking for more facts than the newer "bling".

At any rate, thanks for offering those links, sir!

And you do pay attention to the various posts as you stated between different forum members! Kudos, sir, and you are as addicted to these forums as I and several others are.

No shame!

Jim

Jim

[JACKlangrishe]

I agree. Some of the videos in my follow-up post felt a bit "promo", but I figured someone with more experience might spot something interesting that I'd miss, so why not post it.

Also, I know the How It's Made episode was filmed a few years ago, and some of their processes might have changed since then. I believe the follow-up videos are a bit more recent.

Glad you liked!

[Hawg]

If they didn't fit the wood and grip frames together then one set of grips would fit any revolver within that brand. Such is not the case and you could buy aftermarket grips that would bolt right on like you can a Ruger. Unless they have changed recently you can't swap grips around on Uberti or Pietta unless you just get really lucky.

[foolzrushn]

Yeah, and for what they are asking for grips on Ebay, it would be nice to know that they are going to fit.

[Hawg]

Yeah, and for what they are asking for grips on Ebay, it would be nice to know that they are going to fit.

They won't. Maybe they can be made to fit and maybe they can't. I had a Pietta Remington and I wanted grips with a cartouche. There was a guy on the SASS Wire with two sets. I got both of them and both sets had proud metal in different places. They couldn't have been made to fit without reworking the grip frame.

[Old Stony]

I sort of dropped my jaw when I saw in the video that they actually tightened the frame onto the barrel with a stick! Every gunsmithing thing I've ever read cautions against that, saying you will bend the frame! ( I've done a bunch of them over the years just like Uberti ) , but didn't expect that they would be doing it like that.

[shootniron]

I have seen that before, but watched it again...cause I am a real clone fan. I have and like the Ruger's. but I love my clones.

[Targa]

Very good, thanks for posting.

[denster]

Regarding the frame colors they are a true color case hardening. The salts mentioned are molten cyanide for the carburizing medium. How the quench is aerated determines how the colors appear not the carburizing medium.The Italians haven't figured out how to bubble their quench tanks. Midway has a good youtube video on color case hardening with colors more like what we are used to seeing on Colts.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Every time I see that video I get annoyed about how many errors are in it. If somebody is going to take the trouble to post something, why don't they have somebody who knows what he is looking at check the narration?

I will say the view of the frame being hammer forged and the subsequent shots of subsequent machining operations are very good.

Other than that, the video is chock full of errors.

Where to begin?

Did anybody notice the opening shot was of a cheap, die cast dummy pistol, not a real revolver? Why in the dickens did they put that in there?

The comments about machining the cylinder are completely wrong.

Yes, the backstrap and one piece grip are sanded down to fit as a unit so the grips match the metal perfectly. That is why the serial number of the gun is written on the grips, so the correct ones can be reassembled when the grip frame is sent to another department for blueing. That is how Colt always did it and that is how Uberti is still doing it. It is a manual operation, and the one piece wooden grip is matched to the backstrap and probably will not fit another one properly.

Color Case Hardening. Were to begin? It is a deceptive term. That is absolutely not old fashioned charcoal or bone case hardening, the way Colt still does it. True bone case hardening is a labor intensive operation and you are simply not going to get that for the price of an Uberti. I do not know if the process shown actually infuses extra carbon into the surface of the steel or not, but infusing extra carbon to harden the surface is what Case Hardening means. It falls under the general category of Carburizing.

And whats with him pounding the bushing into the cylinder? That is supposed to be a slip fit, the bushing should be easily removable with the fingers. I don't remember if I had to force the bushing out of the Uberti Cattleman I still own or not, but it should not be pounded into place.

Regarding screwing the barrel in. 1st and 2nd Gen Colts had tapered threads, like pipe threads. The more the barrel was torqued, the tighter it got. 3rd Gen Colts and Italian replicas do not have tapered threads, they are straight cut. You will notice he was freely spinning the frame onto the barrel. You could not do that with tapered threads. They also did not show him applying a thread locker, which is done to keep the barrel from unscrewing. Using a wooden stick to untorque the frame from the barrel with tapered threads is definitely risky business, because of the amount of torque involved. Springing the frame is a definite possibility. He was not applying that amount of torque.

By the way, I always get a kick out of watching him 'eyeball' the front sight to make sure it is vertical. I used to have a Cimarron/Uberti Cattleman and the front sight was most definitely canted to one side. Clearly the technician's eyeball was out of calibration the day he screwed in my barrel.

Lastly, the figure given for proofing the gun to 3X the normal operating pressure is way off base. European standards for proofing are that two overloaded cartridges that produce 30% more chamber pressure than standard commercial ammunition will be fired. Not 3X normal operating pressure.





Sorry, I have no comment about the helical fluted screwdrivers.

[Jim Watson]

I agree with denster, you can get very nice case hardening and coloring by what the British call "cyanide mottling." Probably the outstanding American example is the Stevens 44 1/2 with its ripple of colors from the way it was quenched.
Just because Colt used the older and slower pack hardening does not make others else wrong for using a different process.

My Cimarron/ASM has a canted front sight. Done by a gunsmith to correct windage. Why do so many SAs shoot left and get their barrels "tweaked", their sights bent, or even in one shop, the barrel bent to zero the gun?
(My Colt doesn't.)

[Driftwood Johnson]

I agree with denster, you can get very nice case hardening and coloring by what the British call "cyanide mottling." Probably the outstanding American example is the Stevens 44 1/2 with its ripple of colors from the way it was quenched.
Just because Colt used the older and slower pack hardening does not make others else wrong for using a different process.

So my question remains. Does this method infuse extra carbon into the surface of the steel or iron? If extra carbon is not infused into the surface, it is not 'case hardening' in the literal sense of the term. As I'm sure you know, Case Hardening means the outer surface, or 'case' of the metal has been hardened by infusing more carbon into the surface than exists in the alloy to start with. The colors of Case Hardening are just a byproduct of the process, they are not the reason the surface of the metal was hardened.

[Jim Watson]

Cyanide treatment is a process adding carbon to the surface of the steel. Yes, it is case HARDENING else the old timers trying to speed up the process from laborious pack hardening would not have fooled with it.
Wiki says:
Cyaniding is a case-hardening process that is fast and efficient; it is mainly used on low-carbon steels. The part is heated to 871-954 °C (1600-1750 °F) in a bath of sodium cyanide and then is quenched and rinsed, in water or oil, to remove any residual cyanide.
2NaCN + O2 → 2NaCNO 2NaCNO + O2 → Na2CO3 +CO + N22CO → CO2 + C
This process produces a thin, hard shell (between 0.25 - 0.75 mm, 0.01 and 0.03 inches) that is harder than the one produced by carburizing, and can be completed in 20 to 30 minutes compared to several hours so the parts have less opportunity to become distorted. It is typically used on small parts such as bolts, nuts, screws and small gears. The major drawback of cyaniding is that cyanide salts are poisonous.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Thanks for the clarification.