Mitchell Single Action Army

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Redstick

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 11, 2006
Messages
314
Location
Colorado
Can anyone comment on the quality of these imported guns? Are they Italian made? And what about parts/repair? Are they common or rare? Any other info appreciated. I've got a chance to pick one of these up if I travel long distance, but I'm not sure if'fn it'd be worth it because of the distance.

Another thing I should mention, the seller said, "These guns are made for fanning the trigger." What he meant was fanning the hammer, but he said he's "done it lots of times"...
Would there be anything in particular to look at closely because of this?
 

victank1

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
35
Location
central al
These where made usually for Mitchell Arms by Uberti. Parts can be easily found from Numerich gun or even Uberti. They are great little shooters but were not made to Fan. They cannot hold up to the abuse of fanning and you will end up with problems with springs and firing pin issues, plus you'll shoot your foot off. :(
 

Lee Martin

Hunter
Joined
Dec 18, 2002
Messages
2,313
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Mitchell Arms of Fountain Valley, CA imported various makes of guns. Their single-action was Uberti produced and had similar fit and finish. If I remember correctly, it was introduced in the mid-80s and lasted until the late 90s. I shot one years ago and it peformed well.....as noted though, they're not as durable as say a NM Vaquero.
 

J Miller

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 30, 2000
Messages
977
Location
Not in IL anymore ... :)
One word about fanning: DON'T.

Fanning hammers ALL the action parts into junk in short order. If the seller tells you it was made for that, stay away from his guns. They may well be trashed inside.

Fanning pounds the hand ( pawl ), cylinder ratchet, bolt ( latch ) and bolt notch to death. Even if you never fire a live round fanning it, the high speed and sudden stop of the cylinder just destroys them.

They can be modified for fanning, but that's a totally different thing.

Joe
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Uberti metallurgy improved circa late 1990s or so. Prior to that they had issues with trying to even reach high round counts, never mind getting there. Newer ones still aren't up to Ruger standards but are at least in the ballpark and can achieve high round counts deep into four digits, with the occasional spring swap.

On that Mitchel, you can actually see "Uberti" under the barrel, and it has that weird two-position base pin "safety" - push it deeper in and the gun can't fire. That marks it for sure as older and to me, not worth owning. It was there for compatibility under the Gun Control Act of '68 import rules where a "points system" determines "sporting use" and a safety is a "point".

Newer Ubertis have a weird "safety" on the hammer. It's not very good, the gun still has to be loaded five-up, but it's good enough to qualify for import under GCA68. It also marks the gun as more likely to have better metal on board.
 

J Miller

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 30, 2000
Messages
977
Location
Not in IL anymore ... :)
Jim,

I think you have your Uberti safeties reversed.

My 1975 vintage Cattleman has the little plunger activated hammer safety. It did not have the two position base pin safety .

The later ones did away with the hammer safety and went to the base pin safety.

Joe
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Interesting...I am dead certain the latest ones have again abandoned the two-position base pin and have a hammer-safety. Whether they revised the 1975 design or revamped it I have no clue.

I agree completely that many Ubertis shipped after 1975 had the two-position base pin, but starting sometime around 2000 (not certain exact year!) it vanished again and good riddance.
 

J Miller

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 30, 2000
Messages
977
Location
Not in IL anymore ... :)
I have no love for the two position base pin either. An answer to a never asked question.

The only way to make a old style single action safe is to use it properly. No gizmo will take the place of proper safety and use training.

As for the hammer safety gizmo I'm sure of my gun, and a few others I've seen on dealers shelves. But without checking the date code on all of them I've no way to know when they were made.

Joe
 

DGW1949

Hunter
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
3,916
Location
Texas
J Miller":128dag51 said:
Jim,

I think you have your Uberti safeties reversed.

My 1975 vintage Cattleman has the little plunger activated hammer safety. It did not have the two position base pin safety .

The later ones did away with the hammer safety and went to the base pin safety.

Joe

Joe has it right...except for a few of the low-end models, Uberti long ago abandoned the hammer-block safety & D-cam hammer. It was long-about then that the 2-position pin appererd, the metals got better, the hand spring was changed to a coil, the sizing first matched the Colt SAA, and the fitting got real good.
You can thank Cimarron for that. They're the ones who took a 2nd Gen Colt to Italy and said "here, copy this"....which Uberti dern near did.

Mine is a mid 90's model EMF Hartford.
In 40,000 rds it's had a couple of spring changes and a .002 shim placed under the cylinder bushing....that's it.

But the Mitchel version?....dunno....I think I'd steer clear of it.

DGW
 
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