Henry Rifle Forums

Here's the latest single action we traded off some dust collectors to get. It's another Taylor's/Uberti Colt, also with a Taylor's action job, this one in 357 mag, though. It's called the Smoke Wagon!



And it is a smokin' little nasty with standard 357 158s. Not painful, mind you, but definitely a step up over shooting over standard 45 Colt loads and much snappier than shooting 45 Colt cowboy loads.

This one needed some work, though. Like the other Uberti SA colts, it shot low. No problem, there, as I've mentioned in a previous post. On a fixed sight gun, that's a good thing. You just trim the front sight as needed to raise the POI for your favorite load at the distance you want to shoot. No, the problem on this one was that it was shooting 3" to the left at 16 yards. Ouch! What to do with a fixed sight gun that shoots to the left?

The traditional kitchen table cowboy fix would be to bend the front sight to the left. That would, indeed, pull the muzzle to the right in the sight picture and with it the POI. Not going to happen on this one, however. The front sight on these Uberti Colts jut ain't going to bend and even if it did, you risk snapping off the front sight. Nope, here's how I fixed it.

I opened the rear sight channel, just a bit with a file, on the right side, only, in effect moving the rear sight slightly to the right. That pulled the POI to 1" left of the bull and it also opened up the notch for me for better visibility. Still not what I wanted, though, so I filed off one side of the front sight (the right side), in effect moving the front sight and the muzzle even more to the right in the sight picture.

And here's how it shoots, now. Very, very pleased. This Colt is now saddled up and ready for some serious range time and maybe some woods carry kind of plinking.


Yup, I'm on a single action roll and loving it.

Another amazing post NCG.

What a beautiful gun. I like the checkering, seems like it would afford a better grip, especially in hot weather.The shooting speaks for itself.

I would also like to add that I've learned so much from you. I have applied many of the hints/tips that you slip in and it definitely has improved my shooting. As an example, I recently filed the front sight on my Heritage RR bringing it to the top of the channel (and no higher) and cut the size of my groups in half. This after owning the gun for years

Thanks again and please keep posting.............

Excellent shooting. Holy Smokes (wagon).

Thanks for this report, NCG. I own that gun, too; and while I've never done anything to it, you have given some great advice about what CAN be done. Awesome shooting...as usual.

Nice work all the way around, from analyzing the issue to fixing it to proving it on the range! Must have been some kind of barrel mis-alignment going of for it to be that far off right out of the box. A bit troubling that it got all the way through Uberti's and Taylor's shops without anyone noticing.

Nevertheless, good on your for fixing it! FORS, right?

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks guys.

A lot of the time it's just the front sight being ever so slightly canted, but, yes, it's sometimes a matter of the barrel needing to be rotated a touch, as needed. In really obvious cases, you can see a canted front sight, but in this case, was not at all obvious. As always, you can never be 100% sure about a gun till you get out and shoot it.

I should point out how close only counts in horseshoes, as they say, about gun fit. I've owned and shot many Ruger single actions. Even with the Ruger New Vaquero versions which are only slightly larger than a Colt in dimensions, it's enough to make a Ruger New Model Vaquero almost impossible for me to cock with my gun hand, only. Have to completely break my hold and contort my hand to reach the hammer. Not so on a Colt 1873 replica. It's just enough smaller to allow me to comfortably cock it with my gun hand, only. For me, a Ruger New Vaquero needs both hands to comfortably operate. Not a big deal, unless, of course, I'm in a situation where I only have the use of one hand to work the gun. Then I better be packing the good old Peacemaker.

Mine didn't go through Taylor's shop, but they're the "EL Patron" version directly from Uberti (tuned action, upgraded springs, blah, blah) and I think I've finally found a couple of revolvers that I'll be able to master. The 357 and 45 Colt combos are cool, too, and I never thought I'd be saying that. Just too much fun!

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Early last week I was looking at 357 directly from Uberti (though imported through Stoegers). Might have bought it, but it was missing the brass back strap.

Nice Shooting NCG and the info for the sight adjustment is great. I bet you are good with the files as you are shooting them after filing.

Thanks, again, folks.

To be sure, the filing is something that requires my full attention, not to mention a truck load of patience. Well worth the effort, though, to get a gun that shoots to point of aim, naturally, without any special hold needed. I just have too many guns to deal with one gun that needs a special hold to compensate for not shooting to point of aim.