Just received my Uberti Cattleman for Tanners!!!

[BerdanSS]

Just got back from picking up my Uberti cattleman I ordered from Tanners Sports Center for $250.00.

First off I'd like to say I did have about two seconds of disappointment when I picked it up from my FFL, to see that the box was marked Uberti 1873 Cattleman "millenium" rather than Hombre like was posted on gunbroker. And upon opening the box I noted as expected with the millenium model, the front edge of the cylinder was lacking the nice colt style bevel as on the older "Hombre" models I have handled. And unlike the older Hombres clean barrel it has: STOGER~ACCOKEEK.MD~A.UBERTI~ITALY~ stamped on top of the barrel. But other than: MOD. 1873 CAL 45 COLT on the left side of the barrel, it's a pretty cleanly marked pistol as far as imports go.




But like I said, after that two seconds all disappointment vanished. My next thought was "wow, what a really nicely finished and fitted pistol". Mine was very nicely put together and other than a few small, VERY light marks in the cylinder flutes, the whole pistol is completely free of tool marks or blemishes.
The hammer and trigger is as smooth as any and contrary to most reviews of this pistol, I found the hammer spring weight on mine comfortably light. The action lockup is nice and tight and the trigger breaks like a thin glass rod around 2.5-3lbs. The cylinder pin was a bit rough going in and out the first few times, but a quick wipe down and a very thin layer of lithium based grease fixed that.

The only things I really see myself doing to it in the near future would be maybe removing the hammer drop safety (kind of sticky and I don't really care for them, instructions for this on gunblast.com under "slicking up a uberti"), maybe polishing the dull brass back strap and trigger guard (I like shiny brass) and replacing the springs with a high quality reliability improved set.

I was planing on replacing the grips depending on how plain they were going to look, but honestly I think my pistol came with pretty nice looking wood. And the only place they could use some more very light fitting, is a spot about 1/2" long on the bottom of the back strap.



Picture of the hammer drop safty


Over all...I'm very happy with my purchase. Wish I could have got two of them. I hope to have it at the range tomorrow, but the weather forecast doesn't look to good. It's pouring rain as I type this. If anyone has a suggestion of where to get a high quality set of replacement springs I'd appreciate it.

[Hardcase]

For 250 smackers, that looks like one of the bargains of the year. I guess I'll be ordering one...or two!

[hongrn]

I think it's the same gun EMF calls the Dakota II selling for $400.

Dakota II

[BerdanSS]

I think your right Hongrn, they look the same to me. I couldnt take it anymore...I gave the backstrap and triggerguard a full de-bur and polish I like it even more now, it just balances perfect in my hand. I cant wait to sling some lead with it. I got some HD rounds to test also, Speer gold dot. They were the only ones I could find around town that weren't +P. They are lower pressure than most with a 250gr jacketed HP, and a muzzle velocity of around 780 according to Speer's web-site. So I figure I'll be good with those, some one let me know if you know of a good brand higher grade spring set, and where to buy them.

[OutlawJoseyWales]

I've never fired a .45 LC, those of you who have is the recoil akin to a .44 mag or .44 special, or .357?
I know that there are many different loads and cowboy stuff and all, just would like a general opinion on your average store bought ammo.
I'd like to buy one of these but don't want it if the ammo that us mere mortals can buy will be miserable to shoot.
I know that recoil is relative and some of y'all can shoot a 10 gauge with your teeth, but humor me here.
I know this is a silly thread and all, but I was just wondering.

Thanks y'all,
OJW

[BerdanSS]

Honestly for me, the 45 colt is a pretty mild cartridge. But then again as you said, recoil is relative. Like for me, when I refer to a "stiff" recoil...I'm talking about a 454 casull (or larger). Most "commercial" target loads you will find (like at the local gun shop or wal-mart) are pretty much "cowboy" loads. I.E. 250gr Lead round nose bullets with a fairly light charge. I'd say recoil in terms of a 2.5 to 3lb. pistol with these aforementioned 45 LC loads, should be pretty comfortable to the average shooter...about the same muzzle rise as a .44 mag, but much less sharp. More like a full .357 out of an 8" barreled colt Python. Hope that helps, I don't know how else to explain it in words.
As goofy as this may sound, do a yahoo "video" search of "shooting a Uberti 45 colt" watching a video of some one shooting one will kinda give you an idea of the 45 long colt "kick".

[Bill Akins]

BerdanSS, in light of the model you received that is the Uberti Cattlemen Millenium model without the chamfered cylinder front instead of being the Hombre model as Tanners advertised, I called Tanners today and asked about this but the guy there didn't know and said for me to call back on Mon and talk to Ray Jr the owner. I also just sent Ray Jr an e mail asking him about this because I ordered nine of them and sent him the cashier's check already. I will also be calling him again on Mon.

I will let you all know what I find out.



Dear Ray Jr.

I just ordered and sent you a cashier's check for nine (four sets of two consecutively numbered and one not, to total nine) Uberti Cattlemen Hombre revolvers from your shop. I did not order them through Gunbroker but from your store directly via phone. I previously e mailed you my dealers FFL and I also included the FFL again in the letter with the cashiers check I mailed you the day before yesterday.

Another friend of mine had previously ordered one Uberti Cattlemen Hombre from you and received it yesterday but his box was marked Millenium finish instead of Hombre. Also his cylinder's front is not chamfered but is straight cut. It is my understanding from looking at the Uberti site that the Millenium finished Cattlemen's revolvers are differently finished from the Hombre models.

So my question is are the nine revolvers I ordered that you advertised on Gunbroker as Uberti Cattlemen Hombres instead actually Uberti Cattlemen Millenium models and not the Hombres and are they all not going to have the chamfered front on their cylinders?

Best regards,
Bill Akins.

[hongrn]

I don't see a model called the Millenium on the Uberti web site. Is this a discontinued model? Thanks.

Hong

[BerdanSS]

Akins
If you could...post what you find out on Monday please, I'm interested to hear their explanation of why they have them posted for sale as "Hombres" on gun broker, but are shipping Milleniums instead. Thanks for looking into this Bill, I and I'm sure everyone else that ordered one appreciates it.


Hongrn
I believe the Millenium replaced the Hombre, But on Uberti's website they call it the Hombre NM (NM=New Millenium). The New Millenium was slightly "cheapened" from the original Hombre by dropping the beveled front end on the cylinder and putting a different, cheaper light "pebbled" black finish on the frame. While the barrel and ejector rod housing still retain the smooth matte blue finish that the Hombre had all over. Also the front sight was changed to a stamped wide squared blade rather than using the Hombres tapered "triangle" front sight. I assume to save time in production and money.

It may be a little confusing at first but when I hear someone say Hombre I think of the older production better finished gun, while if you say Uberti Millenium, I assume it's what I have pictured above. Still an excellent gun for $250 and still a GREAT deal. But they should have made sure to put the correct full name on the add, so as to avoid disappointing some people upon receiving their expected "Hombre".

[Daf57]

Hi,

I, too, have ordered one of these "hombres."

I'm not very experienced with revolvers - I don't understand the hammer drop safety. Could someone explain how these work (as found on these hombres) or will it be obvious when I receive the firearm?

Thanks!

[BerdanSS]

Daf57
What I gathered from reading about the safety in my manual (and then trying it with my pistol) The small spring loaded block pops out and blocks the hammer from going past the 1st hammer notch (safety notch) in the event of a hammer drop without the trigger being fully depressed (kinda like a transfer bar I guess?) Or according to the manual, it can be "set" by bringing the hammer to full cock...and then (with the trigger completely depressed) lowering the hammer past half cock and then releasing the trigger letting the hammer stop at the "safety" position. The spring loaded "safety block" will then drop and physically block the hammer from the firing pin being able to strike a live cartridge.

This is supposedly to make the (in my opinion) completely un-safe safety notch "More Safe":barf:. I still would not trust it, if I'm carrying a single action without a transfer bar (which is the only type I'll own)...I always rest the hammer on and empty chamber...ALWAYS. As for me, I will most likely remove mine (see Gunblast.com "slicking up a Uberti") when I replace the springs with stronger more reliable ones. I find this "safety" to be useless for my application, and view it as something that was not there on an original. Just some unneeded extra that could malfunction at the worst possible time.

[Bill Akins]

BerdanSS, I'll post here as soon as Tanner's respond to my questions.


.

[BerdanSS]

Thank you sir.

[Daf57]

BerdanSS - Thank you very much for the explanation! Sorry for the hijack. I'm very excited about getting mine!

[Bill Akins]

I got an e mail reply this afternoon from the owner at Tanners Sports Center.....


The guns we have are the Hombre model. They are marked Millenium on the box. You can go to the Uberti website and look up the model number 343990 this is the model number that is on all of the boxes. The guns do look like the picture on the Uberti website. I am not sure about the chamfered cylinder. These are brand new production guns. I would contact Uberti and see what they have to say. We have sold over 250 of these in the last month and we have not heard anything back as far as the guns being mis marked.

Thank You
Raymond Tanner

No explanation for the non chamfered/beveled cylinder front edge when the older Hombres had it, and no explanation about the Millenium finish vs the old Hombre finish. Your explanation was much better BerdanSS. Ah well, maybe he just didn't know anything. Like he said, he wasn't even aware of them having non beveled cylinder fronts. It wouldn't be the first time someone in a gun shop knew less than other shooters about their own guns they were selling

But like you said, it is still a nicely put together revolver and a great value money wise. I will miss the beveled cylinder though, something about it not being beveled just doesn't look right after seeing Colts beveled all these years. I mean I could chuck it in my lathe and bevel it myself if I wanted to, but then I have no way to do a surface refinish to match the rest of the revolver afterwards. I could cold blue the newly beveled edge afterwards, but I'm afraid that would leave a visible line that would mess up the looks of the finish and not match the rest of the finish. Not something I'd want to do on a brand new revolver! It wouldn't take hardly any time to bevel that on a lathe though. How cheap that was of Uberti to not do it.


.

[mykeal]

I would respond to Mr. Tanner thusly:

Sir,

I don't deal with Uberti, I deal with you. I'm your customer; deflecting the query to Uberti is shirking your responsibility to your customer, sometimes called passing the buck. I expect you to know your product line like an expert. The fact that you don't possess that knowledge is disqualifying as a supplier to my needs. We no longer have a business relationship.

Sincerely,

[RJR]

Hello everyone this is Ray Jr from Tanners Sports Center. I am sorry there seems to be some confusion on these guns. I will start out admitting that I am not real familiar with the cowboy guns. We started to handle the Uberti product a few years ago when Benelli forced us to carry them to stay a level 3 Benelli dealer. We have carried this model Hombre for a few years. The stock numbers have stayed the same since we first started to carry them. They are labeled Hombre on the website and on our dealer invoices. I will admit that I am not familiar with all of the guns in the Uberti line. I am going off of what Uberti has listed. We sell over 10,000 guns a year through our store front and Gunbroker. I cannot know every little feature about every gun we sell. I am sorry that I do not. I list the manufactures stock number in every auction that we have so the customer can visit the manufactures website for the full details of the item. We seen this deal and we picked them up. Selling a product for $50 below dealer cost I thought was very good. I did send Bill a email this morning that he could cancel his order if he would like. I hope this clears up some confusion. We have sold over 250 of these in the last month and until 2 days ago this was the first I have heard of any problems. We still have about 400 guns left and we ordered another batch before this deal was done. We also just got some 357's for the same price.

I do hope that all the guys that have purchased these from us will ENJOY them for years.

[Hardcase]

Doggone it, everything was going so good until Ray had to go and say that he had some .357s. Well, that tears it. I guess I'll have to order one. Or two.

Rats.

[Hawg]

For the money I don't see why the griping about chamfered cylinders or type of finish.

[Bill Akins]

I never intended canceling my order. Same as BerdanSS I was trying to find out why the cylinder is no longer beveled as it was on the older Hombres and if all the current Hombres that are selling are non beveled as well as find out about the Millennium finish vs the older nicer Hombre finish. We eventually got our answer and I can live with that. The revolver is still very nice and an excellent value I believe. I have no desire to cancel my order.



.

[Bill Akins]

MyKeal wrote:
I would respond to Mr. Tanner thusly:

Sir,

I don't deal with Uberti, I deal with you. I'm your customer; deflecting the query to Uberti is shirking your responsibility to your customer, sometimes called passing the buck. I expect you to know your product line like an expert. The fact that you don't possess that knowledge is disqualifying as a supplier to my needs. We no longer have a business relationship.

Sincerely,

We have to be reasonable about things MyKeal. It is not Mr Tanner's fault Uberti decided to not put the older nicer finish on the current Uberti Hombres as well as deleted the formerly beveled cylinder front. Plus with the quantity of all different kinds of firearms Mr Tanner sells every month....we cannot expect him to know every single feature about every single firearm he sells. We must remember his is a retail store. That would be like expecting the manager of a Wal-Mart to know every single feature about every single product his store sells as well as to know any modified features on newer models vs older models. We reasonably cannot expect that.

At this forum we are into black powder and Cowboy action style guns and that is our particular niche here. We may know about other guns but this forum is specifically for those kinds of guns. So naturally when we take them apart, diagnose problems, fix them and become somewhat expert on them we are likely to know more about them than even someone who sells them. That is just natural and casts no dispersions upon the persons who sell them along with the many other different kinds of firearms they sell. These particular kind of firearms may be our forte and niche, but we have to remember it may not be theirs.

Would I have liked the current Hombre revolvers I ordered to have the formerly beveled cylinder front and nicer finish of the older model Hombres? Of course. But is it a deal breaker for me and would it make me cancel my order? .....NO.

That is still a fine revolver and an excellent value for the money. Plus I much appreciate Mr Tanner going through his stock and getting 8 of the 9 revolvers I ordered to be consecutively numbered in 4 sets of 2. I thought it would be nice to have them like that and I much appreciate him taking the time to do that. Plus since I was ordering nine he threw in the shipping insurance (insurance only, not shipping) for their purchase value at his cost which he did not have to do. So I have no complaints.

I am satisfied with what we have found out. What we do know is that Uberti is getting cheaper in their production with omitting that simple cylinder bevel that takes almost no time to do and omitting the previously nicer finish on their current Hombres. But that's Uberti's fault.....not Mr Tanner's. Perhaps something to think about when deciding whether or not to go with Uberti or Pietta regarding manufacture finish in the future.

Now that I know exactly what they will look like, I am still satisfied and eagerly await the arrival of my order.

Mr Tanner e mailed me this morning telling me my order is ready to ship and asked me if I wanted to cancel it. I do not want to cancel it and I sent him an e mail response that is about like what I wrote in this post.


.

[tazbigdog]

Hi Ray,

Welcome to the forum! Too bad you had to join to respond. But you're here anyway. Welcome!

Jeff

[RJR]

Thanks for the welcome. Hope you guys enjoy this great deal.

[Bill Akins]

I was remiss in forgetting to welcome you too Ray. Welcome to the forum!




.

[mykeal]

RJR -

First of all, welcome to the forum and thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, it's no goal.

Your response to Bill Akins was, to be blunt, buck passing, pure and simple. I understand you have many diverse products, and you're a retailer, not a manufacturer, so you wouldn't necessarily have the information to hand. BUT - when a customer identifies a difference between what was advertised and what he received, I would expect you to go back to your supplier (the one whose customer you are) and get the information for him, not tell him to go do it himself.

Mr. Akins is your customer, not Uberti's. You are Uberti's customer - and they owe you an explanation as to why they changed their product to no longer have the features they're continuing to advertise. You, in turn, owe that to Mr. Akins. I see that as a very simple, and reasonable, concept.

I would contact Uberti and see what they have to say.

I think you should have said: "I will contact Uberti and see what they have to say."