Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Uberti Cattleman Feedback?

My last experience with these was about 45 years ago, a 7 1/2" Iver Johnson in 357. It shot fine and was well regulated enough that I killed a bunch of squirrels with 38 wadcutters... knocked them outta the tree like they'd been hit with a pool cue.

I'm looking hard at a 4 3/4" Ranch Hand in 45 Colt and would like some feedback from any of you folks who have an Uberti in that caliber. I am particularly interested in how close your sights were regulated and if yours prefer .452 or .454 bullets.

I also see Uberti offers a Cattleman II with an elaborate linkage through the hammer that locks the firing pin in place when the trigger is pulled. Might be the greatest thing since sliced bread but I'll let somebody else be the beta tester for that.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Got one in 357 that I slapped a belt mountain Keith style cylinder pin in and it's been a fine shooter . Shot a shade low with fast 357 loads , ended up filing the front sight to Set the impact of my preferred hand load at 25 yards.

I need a birds head 3" now

Thanks JMD, sounds familiar. I believe my old 357 also had a 45 front sight (regulated for 255 grain) because I had to trim it down some to get it regulated with 148 WC and 158 Federal JSP Magnums.

My Cattleman was purchased by me back in the late 1980s. Only problem it developed (and not after a particularly high round count) was one chamber that goes weakly into lock up, i.e., a timing issue. It works, but only via momentum. Put a little contact on the cylinder, and that one chamber doesn't lock up.

In the Cattleman's defense, I did quite a lot of dry firing with it back then, so that may have prematurely worn some small parts out enough to cause the issue.

Another issue is that it came with poorly regulated sights, hitting low and to the left consistently. Newer specimens might be free from that issue, though, since I bought mine when these where more considered expensive toys, before the days of Cowboy Action Shooting. That sport being pretty demanding in the accuracy department likely got them more on the ball in terms of the sights being set up right from the factory.

I've had a couple of them, one .45 Colt that I shot the snot out of. Both were excellent revolvers, both tougher than my Colt. They're very good!

I had a .44 special that shot 1' low and 1' left with every load I tried in it. Traded mine in for a new model Ruger Vaqeuro that the sights were dead on. IMO, I'd take the Ruger Vaquero over the Uberti any old day & twice on Sunday.

They are good guns. I've had several and currently own a Cavalry model. I have not owned one of the ones with the new safety system.

Your Iver Johnson was not an Uberti. They were made in New York. They might have later had parts made in Germany by the Sauer company.

I bought a Uberti in .45 Colt back around 1992 with a 4 3/4" barrel like the one you are interested in. It was well made and finished. It shot really nice. The 255 grain bullets shot a little low. Not a big deal I just shaved a little off the front sight. The .452 bullets worked just fine in the revolver if I remember correctly.
It was a nice piece. I traded it off for a Black Hawk years ago. Good luck on your decision.

I've had Sauers and that IJ was definitely not one. It had Colt lockwork and the firing pin located on the hammer. It was an Uberti and unlike Tigger, it weren't the only one.



Here's a JPG of an American Rifleman article from '78 that attributes them to Uberti as well.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/W7YAAOSwBLlVHuok/s-l1600.jpg

Thank you for your input on your Cav model, very nice gun.

My Vaquero is dead on, too.

I've had a couple of Vaquero 45's over the years. One was real close for sight regulation and the other was a good 4" left at 25 yards, nearly off the paper at 50.

I have one in 45 Colt and find it shoots just like my Colt SAA. I shoot the Uberti more than the Colt for no other reason than to keep the Colt looking cleaner.
Both shoot about the same and have no problem hitting a target out to 10 yd's.
Here's a picture of both, can you tell which one cost's a $1,000 more ?

Thank you, the top gun in your pic is exactly the Uberti I'm looking at. Does yours have a square rear sight notch with room enough for a little light on either side of the front sight?

I have no experience with these, and can't tell from the pics, but how are the grips held on?

Mike

(Looking at a possible trade for one now)

They are a one piece grip that you take the frame apart to install.

Usually grips like that are made for the gun. They have to be ground off to match the frame.

After market grips generally have poor fit when replacing the one piece grips.

Thanks, rockinbar, I finally found that info on the 'net somewhere. That is a very smooth "look", even though it would seem to be a PIA to change grips. Guess that would not be a frequent event for most owners, though.

I wonder abut fit, now? Is it generally good? Maybe better than regular two pice grips held in place by a single screw and a "locator pin" or two?

Mike

Mike, the Colt style grips like that are usually put in the frame at the factory, and a sander is used to make the grips and frame within close tolerance. Because they use this method, the fit is more individual. The grips from the next revolver on the line may not fit.

Revolvers like Ruger single actions have cast/machined grip frames, so you can interchange grips reliably from anything with the same frame.

Old Colts, and the replicas like them are hard to fit aftermarket grips on for those reasons. It can be done, but usually requires a custom fit to some degree.

They do look good when properly fit, or at least I think so. Got two "guns deals" working today, one that PayPal is torpedoing, the other a swap for the Uberit which apparently will happen.

Mike

Well, I made a swap for the Uberti this morning, neat little handgun. Has a 4 and something inch barrel, no rear sight, just a sight gutter down the top, and a very narrow front sight. Since I don't plan to hunt or shoot competition with it, it should be a lot of fun. Checked my supplies, found 3 boxes of 230 and 200gr XTP's in .45, one box of lead 200 gr. Time to load 'em up and shoot 'em out!

Mike