The Dizzying World of Colt SAA Clones

[Noah]

Like many, I've always loved the cowboy guns. I had a .45 Colt Heritage Big Bore that I reloaded for with a Lee hand kit, but I gave it to my younger brother who likes cowboy guns even more than I do.

At some point in the next few years, I'll be getting another. I know there's the Rugers, and then the importers of Ubertis and Piettas like Cimarron and Taylor's, and then Uberti and Pietta import as well.

I already know I like 4-3/4", and probably a .357/.38 with factory ammo instead of reloading like I used to. Just don't have time, even if it was fun.

I'm not a purist, just a shooter, and if the budget was unlimited I'd just get a Blackhawk for the adjustable sights and durability. That said, a case hardened frame and black grips sure does look nice. I'd be fine even with a safety-free original style action if available. I like simple and reliable.

A few questions:
I hear a lot about the hammer mounted floating firing pin safety on the Ubertis being fragile. Is that true?

I hear a lot that 9mm guns with .38/357 barrels are inaccurate. Is that true? If yes, do any of the dedicated 9mm guns like the Cimarron Pistolero 9mm not have this problem?

How do I even tell (online, not inspecting in person) which guns have traditional no safety, the Uberti style safety, or a transfer bar safety? Many website descriptions seem vague.

[jh9]

How do I even tell (online, not inspecting in person) which guns have traditional no safety, the Uberti style safety, or a transfer bar safety? Many website descriptions seem vague.

I'm not a single action expert but I believe the Pietta-manufactured EMF Great Western II is the current "period correct(ish), and not at all safe to carry 6 in"? You will want someone else to verify that before spending money.

[fatdog]

I have not owned one of the newer floating firing pin Uberti's but I have heard they are more fragile, just talk among CAS shooters and that breeds preferences for the ones that don't have it since the sport is 5 rounds in the gun and it does not matter for it to be there. I have no substantial evidence to support that it is fragile, haven't seen one break in actual use.

The bore diameter thing between the .355 and .357 is a thing, to accomodate .357 or .38 special factory ammo the bore will be larger than what is ideal for factory 9mm ammmo, but nobody in CAS shoots 9mm so I don't have first hand experience on that, a friend who is a dabbler and not a competitor bought one of the 9/357 convertibles and was not pleased at all but I don't know if it was solely accuracy or his inexperience with SAA....he dumped it.

To the best of my knowledge all Rugers and Weirauch (EAA) guns made in the last decade or so have the transfer bar safety and no Uberti or Pietta made guns, regardless of the importer, ever have. The Uberti guns only had that firing pin thing after a certain date and I am unsure when that came to be.

Amongst the SAA clone vendors, Dixie Gun Works probably has the most knowledgeable staff I can think of and if you bought from them they could certainly tell you about the Uberti firing pin safety being present or not in a specific model.

Amongst the importers, I think you could get the answer from Cimmaron, Chiappa, or even Uberti USA on a specific model if it has that new fangled firing pin safety because they have those guns made to their specs and it can be excluded.

To the best of my knowledge no Pietta ever had that new firing pin safety.

[Noah]

To the best of my knowledge all Rugers and Weirauch (EAA) guns made in the last decade or so have the transfer bar safety and no Uberti or Pietta made guns, regardless of the importer, ever have. The Uberti guns only had that firing pin thing after a certain date and I am unsure when that came to be.

Amongst the SAA clone vendors, Dixie Gun Works probably has the most knowledgeable staff I can think of and if you bought from them they could certainly tell you about the Uberti firing pin safety being present or not in a specific model...

To the best of my knowledge no Pietta ever had that new firing pin safety.

The Heritage Big Bore made by Pietta (I'm pretty sure) definitely has a Ruger style transfer bar and a flat hammer with no pin (that I'm sure about- I owned one haha)

Thank you for the great info! Good idea on reaching out to Dixie or an importer.

@jh9 I forgot about the EMF Piettas. Add those to the list haha

[jh9]

To the best of my knowledge no Pietta ever had that new firing pin safety.

Since this is an active thread and I'd like to have a better understanding of the modern repro SAAs: IIRC there were a couple other attempts to achieve the same thing (drop safety) with a longer base pin? I believe those can be corrected by just replacing that base pin?

[Noah]

Since this is an active thread and I'd like to have a better understanding of the modern repro SAAs: IIRC there were a couple other attempts to achieve the same thing (drop safety) with a longer base pin? I believe those can be corrected by just replacing that base pin?

I always saw the safety basepins more as an import safery/ child safety gun disabling feature. Push base pin deeper in to prevent hammer hitting pin, gun is disabled.

[Jim Watson]

Right, the "Swissafe" long, double notched base pin can be replaced with standard or just cut off to standard length.

Uberti used to have a hammer block actuated by a pushrod in the quarter cock notch. They put a lot of them on but I recall little if any discussion of the type.

There are traditionalists replacing the Uberti retractile firing pin hammers with standard; parts are available from
https://www.vtigunparts.com/store/sh...SAA+and+Target

Some Piettas have transfer bars, not readily replaceable with standard.

[Noah]

Here is what I got back from Greg at Cimarron:

"Cimarron does still offer several models of the 1873 SAA that have the original "Colt" action and are 4-click revolvers. All Pietta manufactured 1873 SAA revolvers are 4-click. All Uberti manufactured 1873 SAA – Old Model Frame – revolvers are 4-click. All Uberti manufactured 1873 SAA – Arizona Ranger – Pre-War Frame - revolvers are 4-click guns. All Pietta manufactured gun’s “Model #” begins with the letters “PP” or “PPP”. All Uberti manufactured gun’s “Model #” begins with the letters “MP”, “CA” or “AR”. The bottom line is if you want a Uberti manufactured revolver built on the “Pre-War Frame” that has the original 4-click action the Cimarron “Arizona Ranger” revolver is the only option remaining.



Hope that helps!!!"

[Dave T]

If you're really interested in Single Actions, and clones of the original SAA by Colt, you owe it to yourself to at least take a look at the guns once made by USFA. You can find them today on most all the auction sites...but brace yourself for the prices. Since USFA closed their doors in ~2011 the prices of theses guns has continued to rise steadily, particularly the later production guns made from all USA sourced parts. They are as close as you can get to a brand new 1st Gen Colt (pre-WWII) as you can get.

Here are a few of mine:



A 7-1/2" 45 Colt with a black powder frame, in what USFA called their "Gunslinger" finish. I hate that name but it is an actual finish they applied instead of just a rusted gun that's been cleaned.



Here I've aged the stocks to better match the appearance of the gun.



This is a 4-3/4" Pre-War model also with the black powder frame and also chambered for the 45 Colt cartridge. It has what they called their Arsenal Blue finish with the frame and hammer done in Bone Case Color Hardening.

There's more but they will start yelling at me for stolen band width if I keep it up. I'm obviously a big fan of these guns which I bought back when they were expensive but not for the bat guano crazy prices they are asking on the auctions. If you are interested and keep looking good deals do come up but they're usual private sales.

Anyway, just another look at what you described as "The Dizzying World of Colt SAA Clones".

Dave

[Borderland]

I didn't need to see that 71/2''.