The Dizzying World of Colt SAA Clones

[Noah]

I just bought (last week) a Cimarron Uberti "Artillery" model that is a 4-click gun. This one:

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/u-...dard-blue.html

Thats a pre 1896 "Black Powder" 1st gen frame, which the email says is still fixed firing pin

[37th Mass]

Here is a picture of the hammer and firing pin on my Uberti. I don't know enough about SAA clones to tell what type it is just by looking at it. It does wiggle a little. But it does not push back at all no matter what position the hammer is in.

[Jim Watson]

The concave point and a little wiggle is the “smokeless” firing pin. A rigid conical firing pin is the old “black powder “ pattern. Standard Arms uses that in their deluxe SA.

[Noah]

Here is a picture of the hammer and firing pin on my Uberti. I don't know enough about SAA clones to tell what type it is just by looking at it. It does wiggle a little. But it does not push back at all no matter what position the hammer is in.

The Pre 1896 frame style Cimarron Ubertis like you have, have the fixed (pinned in place with tiny wiggle) firing pin, original 4 click action.

[M2CattleCo]

Looking at some of those USFA guns, for that price why not just get the actual Colt?

I own 3rd gen Colts and US made USFAs.

The USFAs are better guns but they’re 2.5oz heavier than a Colt and the cylinder and frame are just a little different and they don’t feel like a Colt.

Love ‘em both.

The USFA is a Uberti clone.

A Cimarron Model P is a Pietta and a closer clone to a Colt than a Uberti.

[M2CattleCo]

USFA, especially the ones manufactured during the era of all-USA parts, are not second-best.

It is quite difficult to find pre-owned Colts in decent condition. Colts seem to be either pristine, and therefore prohibitively expensive, or, beat all to he11 by idiots playing “fanning” with them, slamming the hammer back with the heel of the hand, Hollywood style.

A properly-timed Colt is not supposed to have a turn line. At the first sign that the bolt is starting to drag, the informed SAA owner has the timing corrected. I have seen so very many otherwise-clean Colts, with turn lines, that I suspect that they had left the factory with improperly-tuned actions.

The QC with Third-Generation Colts has been all over the place, but all too often has been dismal. The one Third-Generation Colt that I bought new seemed to have gravel in the action. Upon (careful) disassembly, I found poorly-fitted parts, with rough edges, that seemed to have been merely assembled drop-in style. I soon traded it away, to a dealer who mostly sells to collectors, for an actually decent price.

For purists, and even somewhat less-demanding aficionados, Third-Generation SAA Colts are seen as less-accurate replicas of the “real thing” than the fully-USA-made USFA Single Actions.

If you drop the hammer from 1/2 cock and spin the cylinder to lock it it will put a drag line around it. That’s where most of the turn lines come from.

I have 4 3rd gen Colts and the bolt drop is perfect from the factory on all of them.

[Rex G]

If you drop the hammer from 1/2 cock and spin the cylinder to lock it it will put a drag line around it. That’s where most of the turn lines come from.

I have 4 3rd gen Colts and the bolt drop is perfect from the factory on all of them.

I had read/heard that there was a way to directly cause a drag line, and knew that it involved lowering the hammer directly from half cock, but had never read a step-by-step DIY “tutorial” on how to do it.

When advising on SAA-pattern revolver ownership/handling, or when asked why my cylinders have no drag lines, I have always simply said “NEVER lower the hammer from any position other than full cock,” or words to that effect.