Schofield

[jkbrea]

I've finally gotten over my yearning for a Freedom Arms, for now . I really like the looks of the 7" Schofield by Uberti but know nothing much about them, other than they're really pricey. Do any of you have one and how do you like it? Thinking of selling a S&W .44 to fund it. Either .45 or .38.

[vancelw]

I've drooled over them forever myself. Never had one. Only have one friend who has had one, and he said they were junk. Cooled my jets a little bit (that and the price nearly doubling since I started yearning for one)

[Leverluver]

Like has been said many times of the Italian imports, almost all of them require some work by someone that knows how to work on them. The skill to work on the SAAs can be acquired with study of what's on line, experience (time), and careful attention to detail. There isn't much of the same instructions for the Smith style break tops and IMO they usually need more work to function properly (or at least smoothly). I don't have a Schofield but I do have a #3 Russian. Mine did need work badly and I was lucky enough to catch Happy Trails (The smith shop) before he retired from smithing. He was the go to guy for the break tops. Mine was returned with a very smooth action and an excellent trigger. I am happy with it but I do not know who is the new go to guy for working on these now. Maybe an email to happy trails would get you some information for who does work on them.

[M. M. Wright]

They do have beautiful profiles and the couple I've shot worked OK. The only one I've owned didn't stay with me very long as someone else liked it better than I. Get the 45, (didn't know they chambered any for anything else) as 38/357 would be so heavy as to be cumbersome. I prefer the 5" bbl.

[marlinman93]

Never owned an Uberti, but had a couple originals over the years. They are a fairly heavy gun, compared to other guns of the same period. But I love the feel and balance of them, and the automatic ejection of the cases. I've only looked at the Uberti clones, and they seemed to be a nicely built copy.

[pshort]

Howdy,
I've HAD 3 different ones... None seemed to be particularly accurate, triggers were
way too heavy.... (.38 spec, .45 Colt, .44-40)

YMMV

Paul


(BTW-There's a beauty, nickel plated Schofield in .38 spec at Scheel's in St Cloud, MN)
(320-252-9494) (Looked brand new-$1200)

[jhrosier]

The Schofields are interesting but a bit rich for my wallet.
If I were inclined to pay way too much, I would hold out for an original.
If I didn't stay in love with it as a shooter, it would still be a good investment.

OTOH, if I was looking mostly for a shooter, I might just find a nice Webley.

Jack

[Pete44ru]

.

I'm getting the vapors..........




.

[Chuck 100 yd]

A friend brought a pair of fully engraved french gray Schofield .45's to our CAS match a year or so back.
He claimed he bought them for $600 for the pair, new in the box from another Cowboy shooter.
Some people seem to just luck into those deals.

[Daisyman]

.

I'm getting the vapors..........




.

Sweet! That's got a nice look to it.

[flightsimmer]

I had one in 45 Colt, nice gun, no problems, just couldn't warm up to it.

[Old No7]

I've got a 7" Uberti in .38 Special and love it -- easy to load for, and a lot of fun to use at the range.

Other shooters get a kick out of it too -- especially when I do a quick-eject and quick-load using a speedloader!

I couldn't leave mine as-is, so I added some nice Elk Stag grips to it:

Schofield Stag 01.jpg

Schofield Stag 02.jpg

And here's an old post on a custom box I made for mine.
Link to Custom "French Fit" Schofield Box

Oh, you might like this steel sign too -- you can get these online, from various resellers of vintage signs:

S&W Top-break sign (Medium).jpg

Good luck, and tight groups.

Old No7

[Ysabel Kid]

I've got a 7" Uberti in .38 Special and love it -- easy to load for, and a lot of fun to use at the range.

Other shooters get a kick out of it too -- especially when I do a quick-eject and quick-load using a speedloader!

I couldn't leave mine as-is, so I added some nice Elk Stag grips to it:

Schofield Stag 01.jpg

Schofield Stag 02.jpg

And here's an old post on a custom box I made for mine.
Link to Custom "French Fit" Schofield Box

Oh, you might like this steel sign too -- you can get these online, from various resellers of vintage signs:

S&W Top-break sign (Medium).jpg

Good luck, and tight groups.

Old No7

You really should have given us a "drool alert" on those pictures. Those grips are perfect for the Schofield!

[MrMurphy]

Always liked the idea of them (along with Webleys.....I have a thing for top break revolvers for some reason).. just never had the money for one. Handled several, shot one replica, they all seemed to function fine.

[rbertalotto]

A liitle article I wrote for Black Powder Magazine

http://rvbprecision.com/shooting/sw-3rd ... ading.html

http://rvbprecision.com/shooting/sw-3rd ... ading.html

[Model 52B]

I've drooled over them forever myself. Never had one. Only have one friend who has had one, and he said they were junk. Cooled my jets a little bit (that and the price nearly doubling since I started yearning for one)

Most of the companies importing Italian made reproductions have them made to individual specifications for fit, finish and quality. It affects the price point of the firearm so to a large extent it's an example of "you get what you pay for".

In other words, both Uberti and Armi Sport/Chiappa can make a superb firearm and they do, provided that's what the importer wants and is willing to pay for it.

The two things you need to concern your self with when buying an Italian reproduction are 1) the reputation of the importer, and 2) the reputation of your local gun shop (and your ability to do a thorough pre-purchase inspection.

In years past (well.. decades past now), local gun shops had actual gunsmiths in the shop who would do a careful inspection of every new rifle that was shipped to them before putting it on the sales rack. If the shop got one from the factory that wasn't made right, such as the gap in the barrel channel being uneven from side to side, they sent it back to the factory.

From personal experience I can tell you that when you called the rep for a large company (I won't mention any names here) the first response was to offer you a screaming deal on the rifle to just keep it, as that was less expensive for them than taking it back and fixing it.

The thing is that a reputable shop still wouldn't want to sell a defective firearm back then, so most good shops usually declined those offers, unless it was something very easy to fix, although then selling it as new was problematic and unethical so it would go out as a used firearm and be priced accordingly.

Once after refusing a large price reduction on a defective rifle, I asked once what a company would do with a rifle when I sent it back, they replied they'd sell it to a big box store at a similarly reduced price as it was once again cheaper to sell it as a factory second than to fix it. That explained a lot about the quality of many of the firearms I saw in discount stores.

The irony here is that as fewer local gun shops have hired or retained competent gunsmiths and fewer local gun shops do any inspection at all, the difference in quality between the firearms you find in local guns shops versus in department stores has become insignificant. That's just one of the many values added by a local gun shop that have bene lost - something that makes it harder for customers to justify paying more at a local gun shop.

In that regard, as a customer and end user, much greater responsibility now falls on you to inspect the firearms you plan to purchase, whether you buy it at a gun shop or at a Wal-mart, and it's worth your time to research the specific firearm on-line and find exactly what you should look for during an inspection.

The nod still goes to the local gun shop however as they are a little more likely to allow you to inspect it thoroughly. I have however had to tell more than one sales person "Ok...you can go get me another one still in the box in the back room, but I'll have to inspect that one as well, and I'd rather just buy this one and save us both a lot of time." Apparently some sales people seem to think I'm inspecting the model in general rather than the specific firearm and/or believe that they are all the same.

The worst way to buy a firearm is via the internet. Ifyou take that approach, be sure that you a) can do a thorough pre-purchase inspection and return it if it is not up to spec, and b) that you'll have enough time to inspect the arm during the return window.

Details matter here. For example. one of the local shops has an owner who is more paranoid than most about paperwork and he's the only person in the shop who is allowed to log firearms in and out of the store. Unfortunately he logs firearms in every Saturday afternoon and the shop is closed on Sunday and Monday. So if your firearm arrives on Tuesday it won't even be unpacked until Saturday and unless you can catch him late Saturday afternoon afer he's logged it in, you won't be able to inspect it until Tuesday, a full week after it arrived. Even if you catch him Saturday afternoon, you've still missed a 3 day inspection and return window. Even then, many FFLs are unwilling to go to the bother of shipping the arm back to the seller if it has a defect, and you'll still be out shipping both ways, so the cost savings of an internet purchase come with some risks.

So pick your seller and your receiving shop very carefully if you choose to buy over the internet and be sure the price really is low enough to make the additional risk worth it.

[vancelw]

The worst way to buy a firearm is via the internet. Ifyou take that approach, be sure that you a) can do a thorough pre-purchase inspection and return it if it is not up to spec, and b) that you'll have enough time to inspect the arm during the return window.

I respectfully disagree. Before the internet, the odds of finding a particular firearm that a person wanted was literally a needle-in-a-haystack search. Now, my collection is full of things I would not have found other wise. No gun shop in the world stocks all the firearms that interest me, let alone in my neck of the woods. (same with my music collection....can you even buy music locally anymore ?)