Product Reviews

Review: A really nice reproduction. Beautiful engraving. Good action. Grips need some additional fitting. Wedge was difficult to remove. Too bad it’s out of stock. I really like it and would recommend it.

Review: Stunning fit and finish, smooth action and excellent trigger. Balance in the hand is top notch. The engraving is amazing! If you’re on the fence, just buy this revolver!!

Review: Perfect balance for me. Engraving is beautiful and I am very happy to have this gun in my collection.

Review: I have wanted one of these for years and now my dream has been realized. It's almost too good to shoot, but I probably will! The box was well made and the insert cradled the revolver perfectly. The package was in perfect condition. The engraving looks better than the pictures show. Very detailed. A true work of art. Remember to take it apart and give it a thorough cleaning. Lots of factory oil insures it will arrive rust free. It's also a good idea to remove the nipples with a proper wrench and clean them inside and out. Reinstall them with a small dab of anti-seize to make them easy to remove after shooting. Make sure that the small fire hole is wide open. Note that my grips were sharp around the edges, so I removed them and carefully filed to a small radius. The key is to do this slowly and carefully. The plastic is easy to file. It's now perfect, with a perfect feel in my hand. Don't forget to clean the bore. Mine was dirty from manufacturing, but it cleaned to a mirror finish. The trigger is very smooth with little take-up. Cylinder lockup is very tight. There is a very small clearance the barrel and the cylinder, which is a really good thing. Happy shooting!

Review: First, quick delivery! The gun arrived and I opened the box and was exceedingly pleased. The laser engraving looks quite good. I was surprised there, even though Mike Bellavieu said it looked good. I shot the gun first and was excited to hit 5 of 6. When I disassembled the gun, I was pleased to find few tiny burrs and the insides were in better condition than any other Pietta I own. I've got a few. The action was exceptionally smooth and the timing was perfect. Trigger pull before the first shot was 2 1/2 lbs and crisp. I smoothed a few areas and I'll shoot it more before I do anymore rooting around inside except to clean. I expect this one to smooth itself up quite a bit since all my others did. I'm hoping the hammer pull will lighten up a bit. It's pretty stiff at the moment but still quite manageable. About the grips. My thoughts are that most of us will put better grips on anyway since the ivory grips are the crappiest plastic I've ever seen on a quality gun. Mine improved with sanding and some leather dye(the dye lasted until I shot and fondeled it) but a set of quality ivory replica grips from a reputable manufacturer and I'll be good to go! This gun is pricey, but in my fixed income, frame of mind, it's so very worth it. My son will enjoy shooting this replica long after I'm gone.

Review: Just received mine today. Have not shot it yet. My first impression was it is a pretty revolver. This is my first introduction to laser engraving so I’m assuming it is a good job, and I haven’t found any flaws in it yet anyway. As for the revolver itself it is a Pietta so it functions fair, but will be better after I tune it. I have had good luck with Pietta products so no concerns there. My one complaint with this particular gun and the reason for only 3 stars is they cheaped out on the grips. I wasn’t expecting real ivory although I wouldn’t have complained if it had been, but for the price they could have done way way better. The grips remind me of cap gun grips, both in feel and looks. (Captain Schaefer is probably rolling in his grave) If you are thinking about purchasing this gun just don’t expect much on the grips, otherwise would recommend this product

Review: EMF personnel get 5 stars and Pietta gets 2 because it is a pretty gun. At this price point it is unacceptable that Pietta ships a gun with the grip material fully extending 1/16 on the front side of the grip frame. The blackstrap and bottom align but the trigger side, nope. Wedge fitment could have better, like a gorilla installed it with a press, lastly it would be nice if Pietta cleaned off the test fowling instead of dumping in several ounces of machine oil into the bag. the gun arrived with black smeary residue covering it. Also you will either need to load the cylinder off gun or come up with a loading tool that does not apply pressure to the latch mechanism as you can bend that delicate piece. There is a tool sold but it does not fit adequately without extensive modification, no matter what people say, I have tried that tool.

Review: As for EMF's customer service, from beginning to end I couldn't be more pleased with how professional, kind, and courteous each person was I dealt with. As to the pistol, it is a beautiful piece and I am amazed at the quality of the engravings. I have a Pietta 1858 Remington that is also engraved and compared to this pistol the engraving seems drawn on. Honestly I thought it was hand engraved until I did some research online. My only reason for leaving a 4 star review concerns the grips and only the grips. The left side panel has some gouging in it, 2 marks in fact.....not deep but each one is about a 1/4 of an inch long. And secondly the grips are overly large, as in the protrude a noticeable amount beyond the brass part of the grip just behind the trigger guard. I chalk this up to a slip in Piettas quality control versus anything to do with EMF. It's nothing some sanding and polishing won't fix, just a minor inconvenience. Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase and will gladly deal with EMF in the future. Compared to one of their competitors in my home state of VA they are light years ahead in regards to customer service!

Review: EMF folks were great to work with. Transaction went very smoothly. About the guns: Only complaint is the white grips are poorly fitted. Lots of edge overhang. Spent a couple of hours filing/sanding to get things right. Metalwork is pretty good. Timing/lock-up is dead on. Purchased a pair of these. EMF got me a sequential pair for no extra charge. Haven’t been able to fire them yet so can’t report on that.

Review: I was helped every step of the way and responded to emails same day. Received my package in less than a week from ordering.

Review: This is one of the best looking engraved percussion guns. Dualist1954 has a video on youtube. Mine is working well, no issues.

Review: Not only is this 1851 Capt. Schaefer .36 4 Model exceptionally eye pleasing with its engraving and true ivory grip matched up with the brass grip frame, it is also exceptionally nicely fitted and finished along with a smooth action. Unfortunately for me is the fact that I am now a fair weather shooter at my age so it will be spring before I really get to shoot it. No worries there as I have been shooting Pietta Pistols for decades and have yet to find one which wouldn't shoot. All in all a beautiful sixgun! Thank you EMF!

Review: Well, worth the wait. Very nice. Does not appear to have obnoxious Italian proof marks in highly visible locations. Plan on having it converted to modern cartridges.

Review: This revolver exceeded my expectations by a lot. I had to take the grips off because they were just slightly proud of the grip strap in a couple of spots About 5 minutes of sanding with a piece fine grit sandpaper and they feel perfect in the hand. I cleaned out all the oil and grease from shipping and the gun is put together better than my real Colt Navies. I loaded it using the very short loading lever with no problem. Use pure lead store bought round balls .375 diameter and the heel of your hand to press down the stubby loading lever and it works. This gun looks fantastic and I made a bandoleer style shoulder holster for it as I figured that was the way old Capt. Schaeffer intended to carry his. Shooting report will come later as it has started to rain here now. And we very much need the rain here in Alabama.

Review: I saw the duelist54 review and thought he might be exaggerating, but he wasn’t. This is a really fun pistol to shoot, no miss fires to date. In the past, i’ve changed the nipples as soon as possible, often before shooting the first time, but the nipples are actually very high quality now. This is also a very nice looking gun, my wife even likes it.