First let me say that while I have been a Smith & Wesson Shooter/Collector for 50 years, I’m a noob with single actions. I’ve kicked around the idea of Cowboy Action Shooting, so I’m buying some single actions.

I purchased a used Stoeger Uberti 1873 Cattleman El Patron (345072). This gun was purchased new this year by the original owner, but could have been NOS, I don’t know.

Everything I have read led me to believe Uberti stopped making 4 click guns. The manual for this gun says it has four positions, Fully Forward (at rest), Quarter Cock (Safe), Half Cock (Loading) and full cock (Fire). That should be three clicks.

My gun has four clicks. 1st click, sets about a ¼” off the frame. 2nd click allows the cylinder to turn for loading, 3rd click hammer is almost fully back but cylinder is not rotated into battery, 4th click rotates the cylinder into battery and the gun will fire.
So I’m wondering if the gun came this way or it’s been modified?

Thanks for any information

My Uberti has always been a 4-clicker.

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Pisgah

I am not a single action guy but have recently been looking at them.
I handled an El Patron last week and I thought that I only recognized three clicks. Had the gun been chambered in 45 Colt, I could check it again right now…
David

The versions with the new retractable hammer firing pin are 3-clicks.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

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Slava Ukraini!

After posting this I emailed Uberti. Much to my surprise I got an answer back in about an hour.

YUP, the newer ones have the retractable firing pin in the hammer. You can actually see it retract (on an empty cylinder) when you release the trigger. I have a newer Uberti El Patron with the safety hammer and, while I hate those 'safe-act' mechanisms, I have to say it has one of the smoothest actions and is the best fitted single actions I've ever owned....The trigger is about 2lbs. out of the box. Here she is:


J.

My Uberti Cattleman Birdshead has three clicks and retracting firing pin. I bought it used, but inside the box was the receipt where the gentleman I got it from bought it new 2017. I did not know about the firing pin until this thread.

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Randy

Two more pics of mine, I just finished fitting these Eagle Grips (one piece); they come oversized so you can get them just right. They call this 'plastic' Kirinite and get $130 shipped... If you want them to fit the grips, it's $135 more plus your shipping costs:





I think I like the original wood grips better than these....

J.

I buy 4 click hammers and standard triggers so I can remove the 3 click hammers and triggers.
I get the 4 clicks from Taylor's and Co.

I am quite fond of my El Patron.

I got mine 5 years ago by accident as part of a trade deal. I had originally intended to flip it, but once I shot it I knew I wanted to keep it.

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"Acta non verba"

Circa 2000 Uberti Bisley 44S&W Special. Four click hammer.

My Uberti Revolver has four clicks.
1st click, sets about a ¼” off the frame,
2nd click allows the cylinder to turn for loading,
3rd click hammer is almost fully back but cylinder is not rotated into battery, l
4th click rotates the cylinder into battery and the gun will fire.

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SD social distanc'n since 1889

The quest for a "safe" SA revolver that doesn't look like heck or feels just like a conventional 4 click has gone on for +60 years. I don't think it will ever happen.

To recount a true "4 click" - 1st click is the "safety notch" and the 2nd is half cock notch. Half cock allows the cylinder to freely spin and is the only stage at which the gun should be loaded or unloaded because the cylinder bolt is held down away from the cylinder - turning the cylinder with the bolt up will scratch it. The 3rd click is the cylinder bolt being released, dropping into the cylinder bolt notch and the 4th is fully cocked.

Uberti still makes "4 click" SA revolvers but the majority of their guns are now "3 click" having done away with the 1st "safety notch" on the hammer and replaced it with a transfer bar internal to the hammer.

I don't care for the set up. It allows for a lot of trigger overtravel. I realize SA revolvers aren't often used for fine edge accuracy, but an inch of overtravel doesn't help. Some say the transfer bar system doesn't always work, I've not seen that happen.

Turning a "3 click" into a "4 click" is pretty easy, there are a number of ways to do it. Some as simple as fixing the transfer bar in place and cutting a safety notch on the hammer or buying all new internals. Or switching out the firing pin. My approach was to buy a new "4 click" hammer from Taylors (they are Uberti made) and clip the safety actuating hand off the "3 click" trigger and do a bit of fitting and that was it.

If your box says it's a 3 click and the gun is a 4 click, yes it could have been modified. I don't know if Uberti uses a different product code for the two different types, so that the box may mismatch doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Depending on how the refit was done (if it was) may be learned by disassembly. A hand cut safety notch, presence of the transfer bar tunnel in the hammer, clipped actuator on the trigger - those are readily seen. But if a wholesale replacement of the parts was done, I don't think there's anything tell tale on the frame.

If she functions fine and is safe - that would be good enough for me. If the "3 clicks" is preferred, may want to ask the seller if he has the old parts and if not, order off Taylors for replacements.

BTW, easy way to tell is that a 3 click has its trigger sitting far forward in the trigger guard, in 4 click it sits farther back.

They come both ways now, you can get either.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

The El Patron is a great gun. I got mine in 2016 and that was right at the tail end of their 4 click guns and mine is still one of them.

That 3 click design is totally lame and I wouldn't own one.

You can replace the hammer with a proper one even if you have the new design.

The other thing to watch is that even on your 4 click gun, you probably still have a gun with a hammer that has a safety lever that won't allow it to go off if the quarter cock notch breaks. It's probably not just a smooth hammer gun, but at least it has a proper 4 clicks.

If you want a maker that doesn't do all that BS, Pietta is the only clone nowadays. I'll bet their sales surged when Uberti did that!

^^^ this is a good picture of the "safety" I was talking about in my post above that is present even on 4 click Uberti guns of fairly recent manufacture. When you put the gun on quarter cock, the little tab you see mounted on the hammer extends to block the hammer from falling even if the quarter cock notch breaks.

Mine is 4-click Uberti Hombre Cattleman I bought new for $250 several years ago.
It’s a nice piece that I wouldn’t sell for twice the amount.