I’ve always loved the old Colt SAA and have wanted one since I was a kid. However, I can’t justify the $2000 to $3000 price tag for a real one. As such I’m thinking about getting a reproduction. It’ll strictly be a range toy, but I would like one of good quality and as close to historically accurate as possible. Can anyone who has experience with them give me run down of their pros and cons? Which one is better quality? Which is more accurate? Which one would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

My Uberti made guns are exceptional. Accurate.. well made.. good quality.

I do not have a modern Pietta to compare. In the past, they were of lower quality than the Uberti make.. akin to the Armi San Marco guns. Adequate, but not "great".

These days both are going to be quality guns.  Find whichever models pops your primer and go for it.  The Uberti's I have experience with were very good guns.  I don't think you can go wrong with either.

A friend of mine has an older Pietta that required a significant
amount of tuning to run well.

FWIW Taylor's & CO have a customer service department that
is literally unequalled as compared to all of the other Uberti importers.


https://taylorsfirearms.com/

The Beretta Stampede series was also well made, but had some sort of safety to allow six round carry.  Uberti/Taylor/Cimmaron/etc are otherwise clones of each other, from what I can tell; get the one with features you like.

I have a recent Pietta and it’s excellent.  As fine as the best Uberti’s from the past I knew.  At the moment, I’d say it’s a draw between them and get the one configured the way you want. I found a Pietta with a nickel frame, which I like very much, so went with that after inspecting it.  I didn’t expect to go with a Pietta when I started looking and shopping, and was very impressed.

I recall reading here that the Pietta is more similar to the original Colts.  However Uberti and Pietta both have good reputations now.  Uberti makes the Taylors and Cimmaron guns.  Taylors "supposedly" tunes up their guns a little and they offer guns that have been worked over for an additional fee.  However, I think the reality is that if you can find one you like by any of those 4 brand names you will be satisfied.  I personally felt that the Pietta I handled did not fit my hand as well as the Uberti made guns, but that is entirely subjective.

I have a Taylors.  I was looking for an Uberti and this one showed up for the right price.  I have absolutely no regrets.  If you find a Pietta and you like it then grab it.

My Ciappa .22 10 shot SAA is another story.  I wish I had bought a Rough Rider or saved up for an Ruger Single Six.  I won't be buying another Ciappa.

They are basically equivalent now.  I have a recently made Uberti 1849 that was rough and had huge burrs that I had to clean up, and I have a Uberti 1878 that is very high quality.  My Pietta 1873 is also high quality.  Keep in mind there are several types of safeties on modern 1873 clones and if you want an original style with no safety and the firing pin on the hammer you will either need to get that version (I think EMF has Piettas like that) or convert the hammer yourself if you get the type that has a safety on the hammer.  This doesn't include transfer bar versions.

You can still find a deal on a Colt if you are patient and depending on what caliber you want. I got this 3rd gen .357 for $1300 a little while back.


I know a lot of people say that the Italian Stallion clones can be just as good as Colt but my personal experience handling several examples of each brand was that there is just something about the Colts. Can't really explain exactly what it is but the Colts just feel/sound better to me. You do have to pay attention when buying a 3rd gen Colt as the workmanship did vary a lot during production. Mine is excellent.

I've owned probably a dozen Uberti's which includes Cimarrons, and I've owned one Pietta. There are slight physical differences.

The Pietta is physically closer to an original Colt, maybe identical. The Uberti-produced revolvers are slightly larger with larger diameter cylinders and thus thicker chamber walls. This makes them similar in strength to a Ruger New Vaquero, only not as heavy and clunky.

The Uberti's/Cimarrons pretty much without exception have been really good revolvers in fit and finish, timed almost perfectly and especially good in the accuracy department.

 This is a Uberti Frisco that was a display in a gun shop (hence the drag lines on the cylinder from being handled by neck bearded mouth-breathers). As can be seen, it's a beautiful piece, is fitted very well and is remarkably accurate.

 

 Even their homely, inexpensive Hombre models (I own two of them) shoot very well.

 

 As I said, I've owned one Pietta, a 45 Colt, and just never could get it to shoot with anywhere near the accuracy level of the Uberti's. But, that's a sample of one.

 

 

It’s hard to find any of these guns in stock these days.

My frustration with Uberti is that they stopped making original 4 click clones. You have to buy an old style hammer and trigger from Taylor’s for $140 bucks and convert it.

The quality of my Italians seem pretty good, but I think it’s still a crap shoot. I have not shot any of my guns enough to say about durability.

My Standard Manufacturing is beautiful, but I don’t have enough rounds through it either to know for sure.

You do know they both sell Piettas right?
Top is a Taylors Pietta
Second is a Cimaron Pietta
Bottom is older Uberti
I think Pietta has stepped up their game in the last ten years.

I went through the same decision last year. I wanted a single action but didn't want to pay Colt prices before I was sure that I would enjoy a single action.

I wanted 4 clicks and pre war features. Uberti did not offer what I wanted so I bought a Cimarron Frontier (Pietta) in .357 with a 5.5 inch barrel.

I am very pleased with my gun and for less than $500 it was the right choice for me.

I learned that I enjoy single actions and I will be buying more.

I went through the same thing, and honestly a New Vaquero scratched my itch. Bonus that it came with an extra ACP cylinder.
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I just bought a Taylor Pietta 1873 SAA. Only shot once, but so far so good.

I’m fairly new to SA wheelgun reproductions and it’s only a sample size of one but I’ve been extremely pleased with my Uberti Schofield. The fit, finish, and feel is all excellent and it’s incredibly accurate in the right steady hands. It was a $1,300 gun and it feels and shoots worth every last penny of that price

Don't overlook Cimarron.  Their guns are made by Uberti.  I have a Uberti colt SAA and a Cimarron Remington 1875.  Both are high quality but the Cimarron was cheaper.

Just picked up a Taylor and Company (Uberti) SAA 'Smoke Wagon' and am very impressed with the fit and finish.



I had purchased a Pietta 1851 Navy for my son 2 years ago and (since I shot it more than he) I found it to be an excellent revolver; this one is a literal blast!



Both beautiful revolvers.

Love the Smoke Wagon.  I've been casually looking for one to scratch my SAA itch with no luck.

There's one in the ee for $630

I shoot Cowboy action so I have a good experience with all of them.

currently, I own 2 uberti's SAA clones as my backup guns and 2 Ruger new vaqueros as my main match pistols. my Uberti's are 2012 4-click models and were fine when I just started, but as I got faster, they started developing some issues from the heavy-handed competition use - timing started to "float" - I was getting off-center strikes... I took them to the cowboy gunsmith, and he took care that they shot fine, but I relegated them to my backup... Rugers are not exact copies of Colt SAA and have a transfer bar and no half-cock, but they are what 99.99% of competitive SASS shooters use as they are indestructible and never miss a beat.  I have a pair of SASS edition new Vaqueros, and they are all that I can demand from them.  

That said, Uberti's feel better than Rugers and with just recreational use will work just fine.  Modern Piettas are as good if not better than Uberti's but don't come in so many models and flavors.  they are exact copies of Colt SAA where uberti's are not - they have firing pin bushings, replaceable hammer cam pins, and some other little things that were present in Colts but nowhere else.

I’m enjoying my Taylors

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