Smith & Wesson No. 3, for Bryan Pettet

by Hoot , Diversityville, Liberal-sota, Wednesday, March 02, 2016, 13:46 (3127 days ago)
edited by Hoot, Wednesday, March 02, 2016, 13:49

Howdy Bryan,

Finally connected with Dad and Bro' Dan and managed to make off with their respective examples. I imagine one day they'll want them back but, for the moment, they reside at Casa Hoot.

Dad's is the "S&W 2000" chambered in .45S&W whereas Dan's is an Uberti in .45 Colt. Dan's came to him used so I tried to keep that in mind in the comparison. Dad's was new.

Cosmetic and Mechanical
The S&W is most definitely a higher grade of polish. Both in the smooth, mirror-like quality and the crispness of the corners. The color case on both is somewhat grey but the S&W shows a bit of blue.

The outer machining (visible w/o disassembly) shows the S&W to be closer fit. The sideplate on the Uberti has a little 'hickey' along the bottom edge and the cutout for the stationary portion of the latch is a bit wide of the latch bits.

The locking bolt on the S&W is also noticeably more substantial. Although lock-up is about the same between the two with maybe, just maybe, a bit looser on the Uberti. That could certainly come about through use though.

The grip panels on the Uberti are quite good. The S&W has a pair of faux ivory which were inexpertly shaped by an amateur as a gift to his father (that would be me) so it isn't really apples-to-apples.

Function
The S&W has a considerably nicer trigger but I certainly could live with the Uberti. The Uberti doesn't seem to have as positive of a trigger reset as the Smith; again, wear? The Uberti is historically correct with the firing pin mounted on the hammer where the S&W utilizes a frame mounted pin.

Pulling the hammer back on each is just about the same. The S&W has two distinct, equal clicks but the Uberti has more of a 'click-clunk'. In writing, that seems a bit harsher than in real life. Truth is, if the Smith wasn't here, I probably wouldn't even comment.

The rear sight on the Uberti is a bit more usable, having a wider 'bottom notch' (wide U with a narrow U in the bottom) where the S&W is very tiny. Dad had the front sight replaced with a bead as he was having trouble picking it up. However, I believe the original was thinner than the Uberti.

No question that the S&W wins overall but, for the extra dollars, I would expect that.

If there are specific questions unanswered, please let me know and I will attempt to reply with something sensible.

Cheers!