Posted: 12/24/2010 8:18:42 PM EDT
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I've been thinking about one for some time.
Never had one and that needs to be rectified. My main questions are: Do the Italian made Single Action Army revolvers have the correct number of clicks when cocking? What about the Ruger? I know Cimmaron has a good name, but what about the lower price Uberti and Beretta made SAAs? (I know the Cimmarons are made by Uberti). Colts are out of the picture for me simply because of cost. Is there one brand that is a best bang for the buck? Thanks. |
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A lot of people are really high on the USFA revolvers. They are not cheap but are considerably less than a Colt.
The Ruger Vaquero is not an exact copy of the Colt Peacemaker but it has it's advantages. I bought one of the older Vaqueros for CAS about 15 years ago and it's been a great revolver for other things. For one thing, it's built like a tank and can take heavy reloads. I've carried it in the Rockies riding horses and ATVs up mountain trails in a cross draw holster for bears and "bad hombres"  .
And the short 4 5/8" barrel still shoots hard enough to ring the hell out of a pig silhouette at 100 meters. You're not going to get that with a single action that spells C-O-L-T every time you cock it. But the allure of a real type single action is one that is ingrained into most Americans at a tender young age if they grew up watching westerns. 
I wish I'd kept the Colt SAAs I had over the years. In my 20s I had a 45 LC, a 32-20, and a 44-40, (never all at the same time) mostly from trading around. Now they would be worth 10 times what I sold them for. Check out those USFA revolvers if you're dead set on a real SAA clone. Some guys I know are really high on them. |
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Quoted:
I've been thinking about one for some time. Never had one and that needs to be rectified. My main questions are: Do the Italian made Single Action Army revolvers have the correct number of clicks when cocking? The only ones ive handled were the Uberties and they had the 4 clicks. I did handle one of the Taurus and they only had 3. they were nice tho. Quoted: What about the Ruger?
Nope. Btw. if you choose to get a ruger, get one of the free spin pawls installed. it really irks me to have the cylinder stop btween chambers. once youve had a colt, you will realize they got somethings right. Quoted:
I know Cimmaron has a good name, but what about the lower price Uberti and Beretta made SAAs? (I know the Cimmarons are made by Uberti). dont know. i know my dealer that shoots CASS isnt to hot on Cimmarons. Quoted:
Colts are out of the picture for me simply because of cost. Is there one brand that is a best bang for the buck? what is your limit? it all depends on what you want. imo, the best bang is the RUgers. especially the older larger frame ones where you could shoot hotter loads thru them. if you dont care about that, then the newer frames are fine too. |
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Quoted:
My main questions are: Do the Italian made Single Action Army revolvers have the correct number of clicks when cocking? What about the Ruger? I know Cimmaron has a good name, but what about the lower price Uberti and Beretta made SAAs? (I know the Cimmarons are made by Uberti). Thanks. 1) Yes the italian made SSA have the correct number of clicks 2) No the Ruger uses a completely different lockwork that uses a coil spring. It isn't even close to an SSA except in general styling. 3) Cimmaron imports Ubertis and finishes them. Abotu the only difference is the Cimmaron will usually have a much nicer bluing job. 4) The Berettas (also made by Uberti since Beretta bough them out a couple years ago) are a bit of a mutant. They have SAA lockwork but a frame mounted firing pin. |
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Quoted:
Thank you NVguide. THe USFA models look good, but price is a concern and, well, they are beyond what I want to spend. Looks like an Uberti is the winner so far. I'm assuming the Berretta is capable of safely having all six chambers loaded. You can in fact carry the Berretta with all six chambers loaded and the hammer down on a loaded chamber. |
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I have four Italian SAA replicas. Three of them are 4-3/4" barrels (one BP frame .45 Colt, one later frame .45 Colt, one later frame .44-40 with a spare .44spl cylinder), and one 3-1/2" Birdshead grip .45 Colt.
The only one I bought new was the .44-40. I had to replace one hand/spring assy in one of the used ones, but I can't say how many rounds were through it. Back when I was in my late teens, I shot a lot of cap and ball revolvers and quickly learned to keep spare parts on hand, and the same goes if you are planning to do any amount of shooting of the Italian SAA replicas. Keep a spare hand/spring assy and trigger/cylinder lock spring on hand, at a minimum. I broke a lot of the trigger springs in my old 1858 Remington, and I hear the SAA's are the same way. Not surprising, since they are pretty much the same design. I bought four of the Heinie wire springs to keep on hand. If you want something completely authentic, the Italian replicas are the way to go. I've also had three of the old model Vaqueros, all 5-1/2" barrels, one each in .44-40, .44mag and .45 Colt. They are very well made, durable single actions, but not true replicas. For most high volume shooters, the Rugers make a lot more sense, if you can get past them not being exact SAA's. You'll probably never break one, no matter now much you shoot. I traded them off since they were just too damn big for me. I think that I'd be happy with the new downsized Vaqueros, but I haven't tried one yet. |
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Well, I do love some SAA goodness. I have had or shot a lot of different SAA and clones. Here is my take, just an average guy passing on what I have found.
I currently own, and will own until I move on a USFA 1st Gen pattern black powder frame, 7 1/2" brl, Doug Turnbull CCH, Ivory grips, T/A job by USFA in .45 Colt. I wanted a 1st Gen revolver and this is it, including the pinched frame sights and bullseye ejector. This revolver is by far the best SAA that I have ever had. 
The USFA are great revolvers whose fit and finish is great. You can find the USFA with blue and CCH frames for good deals on occasion. Also, USFA makes the Rodeo and Rodeo II. The Rodeo and Rodeo II are a CAS priced revolver. The Rodeo has a matte blue finish which ages well, and the Rodeo II is a matte nickel finish. I plan on getting a Rodeo II for field carry in the near future. Something about tha matte nickel and some stag grips just makes me happy. Next I would suggest the Cimarron SAA. The Cimarron revolvers have good fit and finish, but they are higher priced than the Taylor, Stoeger, and other imports. Part of the higher price comes from the fact that the Cimarrons have higher specs from the importer. The internals are generally good to go but a tune-up makes it that better. Ruger and Beretta are nice revolvers but the do not have the C-O-L-T click patten, but do allow the carry of six rounds safetly. The older Rugers can handle some serious loads too. Basically it boils down to what you want, and what you can afford. Like I said my dream revolver is above, and I found it all for a bit over 700 in 2004. |
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I own a Stoeger/Uberti 4 3/4" .45 Colt..the model with the 'black powder style frame..and the fancy 'charcoal blue' finish.
The gun is a very close copy of the original Colt SAA...but the old style frame requires a screwdriver to remove the cylinder(unless you use the funky little thumbscrew Uberti supplies)..and the charcoal blue..while very pretty when new..ain't very durable in use and handling. Uberti also changed the hand design from the original Colt and the earlier Uberti models...they beefed it up..and use a coil spring instead of the flat leaf spring. The rest of it, excepting the 'safty hammer' and 'safty cylinder pin' is supposidly interchangeable with original Colt peacemaker parts. The Rugers are undeniably better guns..with modern coil spring internals...but you do give up some of the classic looks...The Ubertis are much closer to original Colts...but if you do buy a version of the Uberti..get the type with the quick removeable cylinder pin..and just forget the 'charcoal blue'.. ..it ages down quick.
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Well, as luck would have it I was in a Bass Pro today to get some cold weather gear...
Sitting in the display case was an Uberti Cattleman Convertible in 45 Long Colt and a second cylinder for 45 ACP, 5.5" barrel. Model number 344465. Which is not in the current Uberti online catalog. It was the only one they had of that model. I noticed a slight handling ding on the bottom of the walnut grip and pointed it out to the salesman. He took it to his manager and came back and said they would knock 10% off for that. It's now sitting here with me. It really is pretty. Dark blue/black barrel and cylinders, case colored frame and hammer and brass trigger guard frame. I installed the 45 ACP cylinder and dry fired it with snap caps. The trigger is pretty good actually, and I'm sure it will get better with some shooting time. And it just feels so good in the hand. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow when I have better light. |
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Good looking piece.
Maybe not a concern but doesn't .45 Colt use .454" bullets while .45 ACP use .451"? Well, I guess it doesn't matter to Speer; I just checked their #14 manual and it shows loadings for both in the Colt. .454" are lead while .451" are jacketed. ETA: I have the Cimarron Model P 4-5/8" Old Model (black-powder frame) in that gorgeous charcoal blue. I have not yet used jacketed bullets (mainly because I haven't finished shooting my way through all the lead bullets I bought over the years!  )
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