So around the 100 round mark through my Uberti 1860, the rod catch fell off.  It slides off the barrel to the side, but has no apparent damage.  I don’t understand how the dovetail was originally ever tight enough to stay on.   When the rod is latched it seems to stay put, but as soon as I use the rod it slides off very easily.

Anyone have this issue, and have a fix?

Double Tap

You can reinsert the catch and peen or steak it on the inside part under the rod so the mark won't show.

Although most gunsmiths would call this a "temporary" fix, I've had good luck with using JB Weld (epoxy) for this kind of application.

If/when you need to remove the catch another time, you can easily tap it off with a punch and brass hammer.

I wouldn't go into battle with it, but I'd hunt and target shoot with it.

Peen the wedge a bit to make it fit tightly into the dovetail.

Thanks for the replies guys.  I forgot that I had jb-weld, so as soon as you said that blindeye, I knew that would be how I’d go forward.  I did it a few days ago, so we’ll see how it lasts.

Once I looked closely I could see how it was slightly staked from the factory.  Barely visible, which was nice, which is why I didn’t want to stake/peen the metal over.  Even though it’d be covered by the rod, I would know that it looks like shit underneath, so that is my last resort option.