Beretta and Uberti

Take a quick look at these.  A pair of SAA Clones.

At first glance, they look identical save for the Beretta’s little medallion in the grips.  There is a good reason for that.   Both are made by Uberti in Italy… Both are Spaghetti Westerns here.  However, the Beretta is imported by Beretta and the Uberti is imported by Stoeger for some reason.   What’s interesting is that the Beretta marked gun is less money.  What makes that so interesting?  The Beretta is the better gun by far.  Let me show you why.

Here you can see the grips if the Beretta very nicely. The way they should fit.
The wood grips on the Uberti have a bit of overlap that you can see and feel. Less comfortable in the hand too.
The Beretta uses a pretty standard, but well executed, Transfer Bar Safety, allowing you to easily load and carry in all six chambers.
The Uberti's firing pin on the hammer set up means you pack it with the hammer down on the empty chamber. Which is a good theory on safety, but leaves you will one less shot to fire.
You can see the seams between the panels. Not bad at all. That's a good fit and finish here. And that little medallion looks sharp.
Huh... Not so good.

What you can’t see in the photos is the FEEL.  The Beretta feels like it’s a much nicer gun.  It feels that way, because it really is.  I’d buy a Beretta easily over the Uberti, every day, every time.  The Uberti’s… not so much.  I like the clicks in the action as you pull the hammer back.

And here’s the kicker…

The Beretta is about 40 bucks less money.

9 thoughts on “Beretta and Uberti”

  1. The Vaquero is a better option for SASS in my opinion. Easier to load and unload ( the cylinder automatically releases when you open the loading gate, so you don’t have to futz with half-cocking it ), and safer to carry.

    The internals aren’t identical to the Colt SAA, but in hindsight I wish I had spent a bit more for a pair instead of the Italian clones I’m using now.

  2. A single-action revolver for defense really only makes sense these days on horseback because it can’t go off a second time when the horse spooks from the shot until you manually cock it again. Personally, I’m satisfied with “Colt clones” with hammer mounted firing pins for SASS since they only allow loading five anyway. Yes, I do them store them with .357 hollowpoints in case of surprises.

    1. That’s true. While both of these guns are marked as being made by Uberti, Beretta imports one to the US and Stoeger imports the other… both guns might look the same save for the medallion on the grips of the Beretta, I think they feel completely different. The Beretta is easily the much better pistol.

      1. One has better quality control and demands on the manufacturer.

        It is like the difference between buying a pair of Wrangler jeans from Walmart or from a Western wear business. The crap gets sent to Walmart. The specialty shop will send back anything that has flaws, cheap zippers, or is missing half the belt loops.

        1. Well, the manufacture actually makes a cheaper product on purpose that goes to WalMart. Just look at the 336W verses a 336C. They used to send the “W”‘s to Walmart so Walmart could retail them cheaper. Now you can get the W at any dealer because they were tired of getting undercut by Walmart.
          But that’s neither here nor there.
          Like I said before though – it’s very interesting that the Beretta Stampede actually has the lower price this time.

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