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Uberti 1873 (FYI) and other well intentioned Tid-Bits


Fallon Kid

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Just some info so you don’t have to get frustrated. I have several Uberti 1873’s and after shooting black powder yesterday I did a complete disassembly as I wanted to clean/inspect mag tube. I have had guns several years but never needed to disassemble magazine. In trying to remove the forend cap machine screws (#283) I found out they would not budge. After heat, liquid wrench and impact screw driver, I got them out but the screw slot was ugly to say the least. First problem was the screw size. My local hardware has a good selection of common gun screws and this appears to be a very common screw. (Now comes the ‘Thank You’ Uberti.) This screw is a metric 3.5-60. Why on God’s green earth would a designer choose such an off-the-wall size other than to soak owners of this gun down the line. This is not a load bearing screw or dynamic coupler interface. It is not even in sheer. It just attaches the end cap which holds the fore grip in place. Any functional reason given for such a unique screw size would only be industrial double-speak.

Lesson Learned: If you get Uberti 1873 NIB, remove these two screws and coat threads with a lubricant that works for you. Anti-seize is my go to.  I detected very slight corrosion on the threads and dovetail block they screw into. I’m sure this is due to several years of use shooting and exposing gun to weather. This is on me but I’m old, stupid and should have been put down a long time ago.

I am not one bit critical of Uberti’s guns as I feel they are the best thing going out there. I spend the extra bucks on them vice buying other similar brands. I ran into this same screw problem with another Uberti product. I bought a Gibbs muzzle loader and the pre drilled sight base holes were 3.5 metric. I have other Uberti muzzle loaders and those are pretty standard 4mm. From a design standpoint sight base screws should be at least an 8-32 or equivalent. Somebody at Uberti is in love with 3.5mm and it ends up costing us bucks and downtime waiting on parts.

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You will find ALL the screws on Uberti (and the other Italian made guns) are metric.  If you were an Italian gun designer, you would probably get the boot for spec'ing an English/American thread screw.

 

Buy replacement screws from VTI or a few other suppliers of Italian gun hardware.

 

If you have other original screws in those Uberti guns, I'd suggest you replace them all with hardened metric screws (also from VTI).

 

good luck, GJ

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In some cases I have been known to turn a screw blank on my mini lathe and then order the specific die that is needed to put the threads on it.  Sometimes it is worth the money to buy the die and sometime it's not.  But it is very satisfying to make my own replacement parts.

BTW I suspect that the reason it is so difficult to get some of the screws out of the Uberti guns is because besides employing gorillas to put the screws in the gun,  I don't think there is much time between when they blue them to when they put them in the gun and the process of bluing is still working and the parts weld them selves together.

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Thanks for reading. I was not implying Italian companies should not use metric standards. The point I was trying to express is that even metric have common available sizes, usually for small screws like this a .5 pitch or less common .75 pitch, but still available.  Why would an automobile company put  1-19/53 inch lug nuts on their product other than to force you to buy their lug wrench?

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Kroil  penetrating oil. Thanks I'm always open to suggestions from folks who know. I looked up and wow! Seems kinda expensive till I looked at my Liquid Wrench price. I stock up in bulk and my only question is "where have I been" LOL

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People used to use a hacksaw blade piece held with vice grips to remove the mag tube cap.  Other southern engineered techniques as well.  Then to fill the need, there are now a number of different CAS-specific vendors who offer a specific tool for that purpose.  I have one hanging on my cart.  I've used it only a couple times, but have loaned it to folks at matches who get jams.  There are also some approved aftermarket mag caps, one is knurled brass, another uses a hex key.  And a small 1/4" hand impact driver with proper bits is your friend on a new Uberti.

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9 hours ago, Fallon Kid said:

Kroil  penetrating oil. Thanks I'm always open to suggestions from folks who know. I looked up and wow! Seems kinda expensive till I looked at my Liquid Wrench price. I stock up in bulk and my only question is "where have I been" LOL

ATF works very well for stuck screw removal it will loosen any rust present.

kR

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12 hours ago, Fallon Kid said:

Kroil  penetrating oil. Thanks I'm always open to suggestions from folks who know. I looked up and wow! Seems kinda expensive till I looked at my Liquid Wrench price. I stock up in bulk and my only question is "where have I been" LOL

Kroil may be expensive but it is good stuff! I used to work in maintenance at a metal fabrication plant and we bought it by the case.

 

Randy

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