Taylor & Co or Uberti 1885 opinions

[Charlie Foxtrott]

The upper gun in this picture.

Is a twenty plus year old Uberti Low wall in 32-20 that I bought new. My wife and I can ring a twelve inch gong about ninety percent of the time at two hundred yards with this gun shooting Lead bullets.
The bottom rifle is a Uberti low wall that if have purchased in the last couple of months in .45 Colt. It does not look to disappoint. Interestingly enough they were both about the same price. But you can see that the earlier gun has the pistol grip and the checkering on the stock which the recent gun does not.

A lot of good info here. Spotted a Taylor locally in 32-20 and not sure about the quality or reputation of this brand. Nice looking gun supposedly shot very little. Nothing available on the accuracy of the rifle. On the Taylor & Co website, the guns new are somewhat expensive, more than I thought.

I like 32 caliber and this gun would fit right in place in the safe. Also like single shot rifles. Plus the Low Wall is a classic. One on an auction site has the barrel replaced with a Douglas and chambered in 32-20 but pricy. Early Winchester with the flat spring, sure it shoots good.

Would hate to buy the rifle and get 2" groups at say 25 yards. I know it wouldn't be a precision target rifle either. Larry

 

[Jebus35745]

Charlie, have you ever shot at targets with the 32-20 and what size groups did you get? Hitting a 12" gong at 200 yds is impressive. How does the 45 shoot?

The one I am looking at has the checkering.

There are a lot nice guns in this thread. I like the Martini style guns and currently have a Ruger No1 in 223 with a heavy Douglas bbl. Like the looks of the 1885 rifles. Thanks for all the input so far, Larry

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

I probably did shoot some targets for groups when I first got the gun.

Charlie, have you ever shot at targets with the 32-20 and what size groups did you get? Hitting a 12" gong at 200 yds is impressive. How does the 45 shoot?

The one I am looking at has the checkering.

There are a lot nice guns in this thread. I like the Martini style guns and currently have a Ruger No1 in 223 with a heavy Douglas bbl. Like the looks of the 1885 rifles. Thanks for all the input so far, Larry

But that was a long time ago, not sure how well I did. The new gun in .45 Colt I have just not had time to fool with it yet. I just got it a couple of weeks ago and have been busy. The 32-20 I do remember as being finicky about ammo with a definite leg up using heavier lead bullets, nothing less than 110 grains.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have a modern Marlin 1894C in 32-20. 12" at 200 isn't difficult with a tang sight and factory front. The difficulty comes in finding the correct elevation with my handgun loads. 115/117 RNFP cast over WW231. My bullet mold is like the old Lyman 3118 but with a gas check.

Ivan

PS, I'd love a 32WCF in a 1885 or Rolling Block or even a Rugar NO.1!

 

[Charlie Foxtrott]

I actually picked up one of the Browning model 53s that they ran years ago.

I have a modern Marlin 1894C in 32-20. 12" at 200 isn't difficult with a tang sight and factory front. The difficulty comes in finding the correct elevation with my handgun loads. 115/117 RNFP cast over WW231. My bullet mold is like the old Lyman 3118 but with a gas check.

Ivan

PS, I'd love a 32WCF in a 1885 or Rolling Block or even a Rugar NO.1!

Still looking for what it likes. I got tired of fooling with it after a while as It would not really shoot well no matter what I ran through it. We will eventually get back to it.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Still looking for what it likes. I got tired of fooling with it after a while as It would not really shoot well no matter what I ran through it. We will eventually get back to it.

I remember when they came out. I have no idea what the specs are. I would use smokeless loads at Black Powder velocities, about 800fps in a handgun, and work up from there. Using cast bullets at .313/.314"

In the late 80's/early 90's Handloader did a workup on 32-20 with cast and jacketed bullets. The HP's were similar to Hornady XPT bullets and at M-1 Carbine ballistics. I never got the accuracies the article did, but I already had M-1's so I stuck to the traditional Lead Bullets. (mine do have gas checks, because the mold is that way)

Ivan

 

[smoothshooter]

Yep. The difference is Uberti will finish and fine tune to the customer's specs.
You can get anything from downright drab, utility piece to beautiful deep blue or case coloring with extra fancy checkered wood with a super trigger. Taylor's is known for going for the top of the line fancy versions. Thus they're more expensive than other brands.
Personally, I'd go straight to Uberti and order one I like at the finish level I'm willing to pay for.

I wonder if that custom work is still available since the China Virus wiped out so many employees of the Italian manufacturers, especially the older, more skilled ones.
From what I hear it was so bad that the Italian gun manufacturers will probably never get back to their former production levels, and variety of models.
I believe CZ in the Czech Republic was hit hard too. Production has been way down, and several models that required skilled assembly and fitting together have been discontinued since the virus.
Don't know about other non-gun related industries in Italy, but it might be safe to assume they have declined similarly.