Uberti "El Patrón"
New 9mm SAA Is The Boss!
Uberti’s new “El Patrón” is a high quality SAA sixgun, sporting a 5.5"
barrel, checkered walnut grips and unique 9mm chambering!
I grew up in South San Diego near the Tijuana border. Mexican food was a staple for me, along with Mariachi music, plenty of Hispanic friends — and knowing what “El Patrón” meant. I worked one summer for a gardener who made it clear to us he was “El Patrón” and there was no arguing the point, trust me.
Uberti’s excellent quality new single-action is aptly labeled “El Patrón” and for many good reasons. It’s a Colt clone, indeed, but the quality equals or exceeds anything put out by Colt, even “back in the day.” Offered in .45 Colt, .357 Magnum and 9mm, it wears a slick, smooth action, high-quality finishes (blued and color-cased in our 9mm test gun’s case) and offers the longer “Army” style grip. With a 5.5″ barrel, it’s still tidy to carry while offering the stability and pointability of a longer barrel.
There’s a unique handling trait of SAA guns when chambered in .357, 9mm or some other smaller caliber. Since there’s more steel left inside, they’re heavier by a few ounces and surprisingly, you can feel it. It subtly changes the way it rides in your hand and frankly, I like the change. Our gun is in a unique caliber for an SAA — 9mm.
It has a slightly heavier feel and the amazing versatility of chambering and shooting any 9mm load you can feed it. While the traditional cowboy action shooters will frown and make pouty faces I’m sure, the more practical of us will smile and say, “What a great idea this is!”
Our sample weighs about 2.3 lbs., has an overall length of just at 11″, a 6-shot cylinder and great 1-piece checkered walnut grips.
The options the SAA chambering a 9mm brings to the table are only limited by
your imagination. Here’s some sample rounds Roy put together — a stock 9mm
load on left, followed by a 158-grain RNFP and a full 148-grain wadcutter.
The 9mm chambers leave plenty of steel around the cartridges. Roy thinks
a 9mm rimmed load would work due to the arrangement Uberti uses to maintain
headspace. Note the cases are “out” a bit, just the thickness of the rim.
Thinking Outside The Box
I tried a wide cross-section of 9mm loads (only a small sample is shown in the pic), and it not only fired everything, but was consistently accurate at 25 yards with most groups in the 2″ range and teased with some smaller groups. The sights are bold and with a more-square notch at the rear rather than the traditional rounded “U” shape. This alone makes aiming less a chore and the sights faster to acquire.
I broke out some surplus ammo, which has always given me fits with misfires and hard primers. The big hammer on the “El Patrón” acted like the boss it is and fired every single one. This is an advantage of this platform I hadn’t thought of — it goes bang, regardless.
The chambers are numbered, which means if you really want to, you could really test the accuracy of this gun. Based on my experience, I’d like to see an adjustable-sighted version. Heresy, you say? Tell it to Colt and their New Frontier model. This gun’s a shooter and adjustable sights would really be great.
On a lark, I made some dummy loads using .38 Special bullets. I mean, why not? You’re not limited to bullet shapes having to feed in an auto. So, a 148-grain wadcutter slipped right in. As did a 158-grain RN flat-point. Be still, my heart, at the possible options and ideas sure to spring forth. Speaking off the record, there seems to be enough steel here you could experiment to your heart’s delight and stay out of trouble unless you’re being a real idiot with loads.
Accuracy was reliable and consistent, with 2" groups at 25 pretty much the norm.
The bold, squared sights really helped along with the decent 5-lb. trigger. Auto
pistols would flee in terror from such loads!
A Keeper Or Not?
Very decidedly it’s a keeper. While the days of five-cent surplus 9mm are dusty memories, 9mm ball is still among the cheapest centerfire shooting you can do. But I think the real gold here is the ability to load things like wadcutter bullets and such. What a great small game round it would be, and fun targeting, plinking and more.
At an MSRP of about $729, the “El Patrón” is fun-quality and full of great potential!
