Okay we've edged around this one long enough. I'd love to hear your opinions of the various single action revolvers from Colt, Ruger, USFA, Uberti, EMF and others. I'd like to get a .45 Colt as a companion to my H&R BC carbine. The carbine will handle Ruger Blackhawk level loads and while it would be nice to have them share the same ammo, I think I would either be compromising performance in one or the other or I'd be fooling myself into thinking the same load would be the best from both guns. Therefore I really don't care whether the revolver handles heavy loads or not, but would rather have a dependable handgun that points and handles well. The Colt SAA usually gets top grades for handling and there's no denying it's nostalgic appeal. Price wise it sits on the top of the heap also. In my book Ruger Blackhawk and Bisley get top honors for strength and good adjustable sights and along with the Vaquero they share a good reputation for dependability. I think the one drawback to the Blackhawk and Bisley is their size or bulkiness. USFA have a great reputation for excellent fit and finish and are supposed to be the best clone of the Colt SAA at a lesser cost, but not that much less. I have heard it said that the latest offerings from EMF are the best of the Italian SAA clones.
I'm sort of tossing back and forth between the feel, handling and dependability attributes and where best to compromise, so I'd love to hear your opinions.
Don

I have .45 Colt "old" Vaqueros and like them. They are a bit bulkier than the classic Colts though. If I wanted to match the size and feel of the Colt, and restrict it to the "normal" loads, I'd get the New Vaquero. One thing I noticed when I shot Cowboy Action was that Colts and various clones sometimes broke. I never saw a Ruger break.

Don, IMO the best SA you can buy is from Freedom Arms.........The best dollar value is with the Rugers !!!

Another vote for Ruger. I have a .44 Magnum and a .45 Colt and like them. The only drawback I see is the transfer bar. All the best...
Gil

chambered221 wrote:

IMO the best SA you can buy is from Freedom Arms.

I knew I was forgetting a few. The Freedom Arms FA97 is one great gun, but it does have a few drawbacks. First and foremost is the price tag. I have seen them sell from $1600-$2400. While they are extremely well made and very strong actions, I believe the .45 Colts have a thicker walled 5 shot cylinder, the cylinder length is a bit short and limits the COL. It would be hard to take advantage of their strength using heavy loads. It's my understanding that you would have to trim the brass to fit bullets even for something like the 255gr. Keith.
Don

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

One thing I noticed when I shot Cowboy Action was that Colts and various clones sometimes broke. I never saw a Ruger break.

I'd have to agree with that. I do however wonder how many shots are fired through those guns before they break. I've never been to a Cowboy Action shoot, even though I'd love to, but I remember hearing they do go through quite a bit of ammo. I'm actually leaning towards a Vaquero right now. I did however have the chance to hold and play with a Uberti Cattleman Bisley today and left surprisingly very impressed with the gun.
Don

Oh, one suggestion for loading .45 Colt... When I load a "+P" load I use jacketed bullets. For "standard" loads I use cast. Its not a hard and fast rule with me but that way I can tell at a glance which is which.

Yes they are 5 shots !!!

If you want more power......get the Casull, you can always down load it when you don't want full power !!!

FA 4-cyl is a versatile package. Other than that even the field grade is beyond my budget. Not even close to worth it to me.

Rugers- all of them. That have a plow handle. I do not like Bisley's. I've had a love affair with these since '75 or so.

Taurus makes some damn fine SA shooters now too.

Uberti is spot on, some early ones were having front sight/POI issues. Some of those Itallian SA shooters are just gorgeous. Priced right too!

There's a ton of them out there... how much room ya got in your safe!

SA roller shooting is a multi-faceted TON of fun. Great topic!

I wanna matched pair of shiny .45's!!!!!!!!!

I'm limiting myself to a $600 budget which should cover most of the Rugers, the USFA Rodeo along with the nickle Rodeo II and most of the Italian SAA clones. I'm still undecided which I like best. I keep coming back to Ruger because everyone says they are the most dependable. While I like the strength of the Blackhawk, it just seems so much larger and more bulky than the SAA clones, including the Ruger Vaquero. I've been doing a lot of reading at different forums and I don't know if it helps or just muddies it up all the more.
Don

$600? I paid $136.50 for this one. Colt Second Generation SAA.

Bushmaster wrote:

$600? I paid $136.50 for this one. Colt Second Generation SAA.

Call me a sucker, but I'd be willing to offer you a double your money profit!

Aah...Oh...I forgot to mention...That was in 1966...

Well I finally made up my mind. I ordered a Taylor & Co. Smoke Wagon Cattleman Deluxe in .45 Colt with a 5 1/2" barrel. Never heard of them did you? This pistol is nothing more than a slicked up version of Uberti's Cattleman. Taylor & Co. gets them from Uberti and has their gun smith, Cory C., work on them to slick them up for Cowboy Action Shooting competition at their Hartford, Conn. location. www.taylorsfirearms.co...eWagon.tpl I did a lot of reading on various CAS sites and never found anyone that owned one that didn't love it. Now I just hope I made the right choice.
Don

I am not a revolver guy at all so I feel like a "bug" on your wall, so be gentle:

I just bought a SAA Colt 357 5 1/2 inch barrel 3rd gen (confirmed); and Colt 22/22mag Peacemaker (confirmed) 6 inch barrel for $500.00.

Sold them for $1200.00. I was asking $1400.00 (per Blue Book of Guns) but came down due to some wear marks on the cylinders; and some were on the outside of 22 barrel. The 22 mag cylinder was mint.

The average condition was about 98% for the 357 and about 90-95% for the 22 per Blue Book of Guns.

How did I do?

www.huntingnut.com/ind...pic&t=6485