Uberti vs Rossi lever quality in 357 and 44

[mickbr]

Different action types, uberti has the 1873, Rossi the 1892 of course. Just wondered if the added price of uberti is reflected in quality or fit and finish? Rossis can be a bit of a lottery. I am currently in a warranty situation with one at the moment, and have been offered a refund by the store. As I dont load high pressures with 357 anyway I was considering paying the extra to upgrade to a Uberti 357mag 1873....do I or dont I. Does it buy into better fit, finish, less internal burrs, better bores or is it all just a name? I dont have any locally to look at

[Bill in Oregon]

Mick, sorry you are having issues with your Rossi, but in .357, I would personally prefer a Model 1892. The 1873 is a wonderful rifle with lots of carefully machined parts, but at the end of the day, the 92 is a whole lot stronger -- and lighter, if that matters. Now, if you were itching for a .44-40 to shooting with black powder loads a la our late friend John Kort, the '73 would get the nod.

[mickbr]

Thanks Bill. I only use 357 at low power, 20,000 PSI loads, 38+P with a little extra oomph. They get about 1200-1300fps with 110-135 grain bullets, like using a 9mm carbine. Quite effective on small medium game at 22LR ranges too.

[COSteve]

Done

[mickbr]

Steve thanks for the reply. I had a Rossi 92 357 octagonal in 24" which was very nice but quite end heavy. A Winchester 1873 I inspected 'seemed' lighter, probably as its oct barrel was tapered. Id love Rossi to do a 24" inch in round barrel. I believe winchester/miroku had this configuration listed for 1892 but never saw any materialise.

[Griff]

I have 3 Rossis and 3 Ubertis. 2 of the Rossis are .38/.357, the 3rd and all 3 Ubertis are 45 Colt. The Rossis were all slicked up and are nice guns to shoot and reliable, {all done before I'd heard of Nate Kiowa Jones (Steve's Gunz)}. I used the same approach to that action work that he does, (except the 1st one, and it's the smoothest, also the one that's shot the most of those 3).

The Ubertis have only received Slix Springs replacements for the lever, carrier spring and on the newest one, a trigger block safety spring. These are my main match guns for cowboy action shooting. They are better suited to fast quick shooting that the majority of cowboy action shooters prefer. The only additional work I've done on the Ubertis is to "clearance" the carrier to aid in allowing the buildup of black powder fouling to bind up the action. I got the 1st Rossi in 1985, one in 1989 and the last one in 2002. The Ubertis are from 1987, 2009 and 2014. The oldest by either maker is the best of its brethren. The Rossis are 2 carbines and one 20" short rifle, the Ubertis are two 24-¼" bbl rifles, and one 18-½" half round/half octagon bbl "Short Rifle".

I feel Uberti is the better of the two makers, and is reflected in the final product. Whether you smooth it up or not. Smoothing any of them up definity gain you improvements in the feel of the action. However, as in all things, this is simply opinion, and those can vary widely... Any example of either gun is representative on that particular gun. I've seen "lemons" in both!

[COSteve]

Done