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Puma Westerner SAA Revolvers


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I never heard of them till an hour or so ago when in response to an email I sent to Johnnie Thundersticks in search of a couple GWII pistols he mentioned them. With a little research I learned that they're made by Pietta & imported by Legacy Sports. They appear to be identical to the GWII but sell for about $110.00 less. I'm curious as to the reason for the price difference other than the name.

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From what I understand, Pietta's are smoother than Uberti's due to the fact they do more hand fitting of the parts. So, if the guns you mention are made by Pietta they should be good. Maybe Puma is considered the economy line and therefore cheaper.

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I saw a post from someone who purchased the version (I forget the designation) that comes with a factory action job from CDNN Sports. After that I received my December CDNN catalog and they had the Westerners in there.

 

CDNN has good prices but being liquidators their stock is limited. I wish I'd had the extra cash to buy a couple of pairs of the Anniversary Model .357 Blackhawks while they had them available. All gone now, I understand although the .44 magnum flattops are still available.

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I never heard of them till an hour or so ago when in response to an email I sent to Johnnie Thundersticks in search of a couple GWII pistols he mentioned them. With a little research I learned that they're made by Pietta & imported by Legacy Sports. They appear to be identical to the GWII but sell for about $110.00 less. I'm curious as to the reason for the price difference other than the name.

 

I have a new pair of Puma Westerner's in .44-40 that I like a lot for the short time that I have had them. The pair I got are nickle plated with 7 1/2" barrels. Out of the box I shot a long range (50 yard) pistol competion and hit 4 of 5 targets. The miss was on me, not the gun. The fit and finish is quite good and the action is good right out of the box. I have a pair of Great Western II's in .38/.357 in nickle finish and with 4 3/4" barrels and they too, like the Puma Westerners, are made by Pietta. I like them a lot too. Both have hammer mounted firing pins. I think you'd like either gun. Good luck pard.

Happy shooting.

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Yup. Found out Pietta makes them as well as the AWAs. But CDNN is completely out of all Pumas & couldn't tell me if or when they might get some more. My favorite toy store contacted about 3 different distributors & couldn't find any. So I'm going to get a pair from JT. He's got exactly what I want in stock.

 

Thanks for the help pards.

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Ive read a few reviews on these revolvers and they all seem to suggest that it is a decent gun for the money. The only thing i would like to know, is how are they meeting the Import safety restrictions? Are they using the multi position base pin, or a manual hammer safety like uberti, or a uberti style hammer block activated by the safety notch? Im just curious as all, some people migh find that information usefull.

 

I wonder about there trigger, and now much more tuning from a smith it will need to make it really sing. Secondly I wonder if it will take a 250grn at 1000fps.

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I'm told that both Pietta and Uberti re-vamped their shops around 2000 or so and both are putting out decent (and basically comparable) products since. Uberti's operation is bigger and they have more variants out there, but Pietta can make a good gun.

 

There's at least one source of transfer-bar-equipped Piettas:

 

http://www.heritagemfg.com/site/department.cfm?id=52

 

I have no idea how well the actions are holding up. Some posts around here suggest that the Ubertis with transfer bars (Beretta Stampede series) are failing under high round counts, moreso than the non-transfer-bar Uberti equivalents...?

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Mordis, Pietta uses a 2 position base pin in the Charles Daly, AWA, Great Western II, & the Puma. The trigger on the AWAs & Charles Dalys that I've shot are 2.5 - 3lbs each with little or no creap. If the Pumas are anything at all like their brothers they will be as smooth as bear grease on a wagon hub and will not need an action job at all. I just sold a pair of SS 7 1/2" Dalys only because I sold the fancy rig I had for them & wanted the shorter barrels. I know a very compitent smith that could have cut them down for me but I didn't really want to do that. I loved those guns & began a search for a pair of SS Great Western IIs. EMF is out of them right now, & I've had no luck finding a used pair. When pards get a pair of these shooters they tend to hang on to them. I know Alessandro Pietta, aka Alchimista, & know him to be a man of impeccible integrity who is not only the CEO of a large corporation in Italy but a cowboy shooter, ROII, Regulator, & TG for several European SASS clubs who knows what cowboys need and want and is producing top firearms for the game.

 

I've had a few guns including Vaqueros & Ubertis that I knew needed an action job right out the box w/o having to take them to the range but not Piettas. Oh sure some will slip through quality control once in a while & will need some attention. But that's the exception, not the rule.

 

There are some cowboys among us that think every gun they get their hands on needs an action job. Then there are a few unscrupulous smiths among us who will take a customers money for a full action job & do nothing or little to the gun(s). I read recently of one smith who was sent a set of GWIIs and only charged the customer 1/2 price because the guns need very little work. Now that's the cowboy way!

 

In short Mordis, if you want a quality gun & want to keep some double eagles in your jeans get yourself a GWII, AWA, or Puma.

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