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Earlier this week I wrangled a deal on a current production (one year old) Colt Single Action Army. 4 3/4" blue with color case frame, and Colt Eagle grips. I don't have a photo, but it's essentially identical to the one on their web site.



So I thought I'd give my impression on how well they're made. All in all, I'd have to give it very high marks.

Fit - There isn't a detectable line between the grip frame/trigger frame and the revolver frame at all; perfect fit. Cylinder end play is exactly as it should be. Cylinder alignment is straight up perfect; it accepted a "match alignment rod" in all 6 chambers.

Finish - Polishing of the steel is just plain first rate, there are zero polishing ripples anywhere to be found. I will say, the level of polish on the frame could be better. It looks like they polished to a 320 grit on the frame, and a 500 grit on all the blued parts. Case hardening is nice, but nothing special. It's real bone charcoal CCH, but the lack of 500 grit polish gives the frame a rather subdued look. Colors are very much like in the above photo, leaning toward the blues in color with dark browns and very little rust color to it. Polishing the flats of the hammer is a little on the coarse side when compared to older Colts, but not enough that it looks out of place...Again, I'd estimate at a 320 grit.

Overall, it's VERY pleasing to the eye.

Sights - Sights are typical 3rd generation with a square notch at the rear.
Sight regulation - Nearly perfect... Shooting light Cowboy loads, bullets dropped just a little low, and she regulated perfectly with what I would call a "standard" .45 Colt load. So I'm absolutely delighted about that.

Grips - Modern polymer versions of the original Gutta Percha "Colt Eagle" grips. My grips are expertly fit to the gun, and serial numbered on the inside. I have always loved the Colt Eagle grips, so I doubt I'll be making a change anytime soon.

Trigger - 4.6lbs with noticable creep...that will have to be addressed. Still, the creep wasn't enough to hamper good shooting, just annoying to someone who is used to good triggers.

How does she shoot?
First 4 rounds offhand at 10 yards all went through the same hole, and then I completely shanked the next shot. I later managed to put all 6 in the same hole, and it was very satisfying. So, she shoot's alright. At 25 yards my one and only 5 shot group was under 2"; again, delighted!


Overall thoughts - I'm thoroughly delighted.

Thanks for the heads-up. I wouldn't mind having a new 3rd gen gun.
Bob

In April I walked into a small gun shop in Green Valley, AZ, where I spend my winters, and there in the display case was a brand new Colt SAA 4 3/4" in .45 Colt. I gathered all my strength and walked out. The next day, I wimped out and went back. It was still there, so I bought it. Mine is also superbly built and finished. The only fly in the ointment was that it shot about 3" to the left at 25 yards. I called Colt and they sent me a shipping label. They have had it now since late June, and I hope to get it back soon. I almost didn't return it, but I am a fairly serious shooter and I knew it would bug me if I didn't get the issue resolved.

It is on the bottom left in this picture:

I've heard that the ones they make nowadays are as good as they've ever made them.

Wyatt Earp seemed to like colts

1st - Nice sixguns my friend!!

2nd - That's kinda how it went down for me. Saw the gun, price was downright reasonable, and after some pissing & moaning on my part; I decided I had to have it.

3rd - Good call on sending it back to Colt. Correcting that problem is a good piece of work when you don't have a stack of barrels to choose from. The barrel needs to be turned, and when you do that, you have to make sure you still have enough resistance that the barrel doesn't work its way loose in the future. Colt can do it better than most anyone else. With that "Royal Blue" finish, its just way too easy to mar up the finish while trying to get it right.

Thank you, Mr. Geek! My first Cowboy Gun Stage occurred about 30 years ago. I am in the climax of my second Cowboy Gun Stage as we speak. It's a disease, but not a painful one. They will have to tighten the barrel to move the POI, and I also felt that Colt was the best place to send it. If some gunsmith Bubba'd it up, I would be up a creek. But if Colt messes it up, I would still wind up with a new SAA.

The guns on the left in the photo are all Colts; top to bottom they are a 3rd Gen. .44 Spl, a 2nd Gen. .38 Spl and the .45. On the right are a USFA .38 Spl., and two AWA Peacekeepers in .357. I had to get the barrels turned on the Colt .44 and the USFA to get them zeroed as well, and I had to file the front sights on the AWA's down a great deal to bring them to POA. They both shot about a foot low at 25 yards when I got them. They are nice guns too, with case colors done by Turnbull.

Maybe. Latest talk has him armed with a Smith and Wesson at the OK Corral alley turkey shoot. Opinions on which one vary, but a #3 single action of one model or another.

So, how much are ya'll paying for a new Colt SAA? I'd love to have one.

From what I've read the S&W theory has been debunked.

I paid a bit over $1,200.00 for a like-new, early 21st Century, example in .45 Colt (5.5" barrel) earlier this year. I made sure it had the removable cylinder bushing, as that's a mark of the better made 3rd Gen Colts. Shoots dead on.

There really isn't any debunking it. The only thing left are opinions of dead folks on what was used. Newspaper articles of the time period seem to be about as accurate as current ones "the robber used an AR-14" and the like.

What do you think Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral and why? How do you think the "S&W theory" has been debunked?

“The myth that Wyatt Earp used a Smith & Wesson during the 1881 shootout was perpetuated by the late Earp historian John Gilcrease, who owned an engraved Smith & Wesson American Model revolver with homemade wood grips that he claimed was the gun Wyatt used in the shootout. But two other early Wyatt Earp historians saw this Smith & Wesson when Gilcrease first bought it from descendants of the John Clum family, when the gun had original pearl grips presentation-inscribed to John Clum. This evidence establishes the gun belonged to Clum not Earp. By 1881 the American Model and its ammunition were obsolete, and it is doubtful Wyatt Earp would have trusted his life to such a gun. Based on the description by butcher Apollinar Bauer of the gun Earp used to buffalo (hit over the head) Tom McLaury on the morning of the shootout, the gun was probably a 10-inch-barrel Colt Single Action.”

http://truewestmagazine.com/wyatt-earps-pistol/

I read it when it came out in True West. First, I wouldn't call the current iteration of True West much of a source. Secondly, the first part of the argument is compelling, but the latter isn't. The American really can't be called "obsolete" by 1881, IMO. Certainly there were better weapons available, but it wasn't really that old. More than likely the gun used by Earp to hit McLaury wasn't necessarily the one he later used in the shootout. For instance, the lore is that Virgil have Doc his shotgun in exchange for Doc's cane. Plenty could have happened but, it was probably the same gun. I don't necessarily trust the description of one witness on the gun. Personally, I highly doubt it was a 10" barreled Colt. I think it much more likely that it was a Smith and Wesson, regardless of whether the Gilcrease gun was it, or not.

Back to which S&W...I've read all sorts of things about which model #3 it was, not just the American.

I've always wondered how Wyatt, and all the friends of Doc Holliday, avoided catching consumption from him. I thought that was an extremely contagious disease. Curable today, with massive doses of various antibiotics, but not at that time, so we would have heard about them coming down with it.

Figure on about $1,750.00 plus tax.

They didn’t kiss each other. 😜

I guess I got a good deal. Are you talking new from the factory?

I know, but as I understand it, you can get it just from a little spittle contact, like hand to hand, then hand to face. Maybe, though, it isn't nearly as contagious as I thought.

PS Did his girlfriend come down with it?

Never heard or read what caused the demise of “Big Nose” Kate. Most whores back than had Tuberculosis and VD. Most didn’t live very long.