I haz a sad Heritage Rough Rider
I have owned several Single Actions over the years. These are all that are left. I also have a Chrome 5.5" but I don't have a picture handy.
I do really enjoy shooting them and this thread and the improving weather will inspire me to take a few out SoonTM
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
The “Westerns” on TV did not influence my youthful mind to desire single-action sixguns and lever-action rifles, so, I was late in buying my first, which was a US Patent Firearms Single Action, in the late Nineties. The company name was later shortened to US Firearms. The stimulus, if I recall correctly, was a conversation with a police colleague, who was active in a “cowboy action shooting” club. He had a part in setting up match stages, and injected some practical/tactical into some of the stages. I subsequently accumulated several more US Firearms Single Action revolving pistols. Somewhere along the way, I briefly owned a Colt Third Generation SAA, purchased now, but, mercy, its action was rough! I soon traded it away. Just recently, I added a Standard Manufacturing Single Action.
At first, in the late Nineties, and very early this century, I did not regard the Single Actions as anything but fun guns, for range use, but, when I had to start wearing wrist splints, on both hands, while sleeping, to mitigate a flare-up of Carpal Tunnel syndrome, I realized that my ability to quickly manipulate most of my handguns was seriously compromised, while wearing those splints, with a notable exception, that being the classic-pattern Single Actions. The grip volume was low enough that I could still get a truly firm grip, my thumbs were free to work the hammer, and my fingers could perform the short trigger stroke. So, in that niche, there was a defensive role for the old classic revolving pistol. Obviously, given enough time to do so, I would shuck those wrist splints, and use one of my duty/carry autoloaders.
In my senior citizen years, it is becoming obvious that .45 Colt, and presumably such other mild cartridges as .44 Special, are becoming more fun to shoot, than some of the faster-accelerating cartridges that launch heavy bullets, and that the 19th-century Colt Navy Pattern grip frame is more hand-friendly than some or most more-modern DA revolver grip shapes.
My DA revolver dry-fire routine has recently been suspended*, due to it vexing my aging index fingers. This has caused a reversal of my general trend, since retirement, of mostly using and carrying DA revolvers. My “orthopedic” Glock G17 pistols are being phased-in as my general carry guns, and the big single-action sixguns are getting a fresh look, as general utility/woods/field guns.
*After letting my index fingers heal, hopefully, to some extent, for another week of two, I am going to gradually resume much-more-moderate dry-fire, with my smaller-frame DA revolvers.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Im a fan from my earliest days shooting as a wee lad, my first pistols were single action, and they have predominated or been strongly represented in my use since. I like DA revolvers, but I could likely make do with SA guns only without much difficulty or regret, other than perhaps pocket class and light belt guns.
In the early 90s I tore a ligament in my right thumb shooting one of Mr Linebaughs 500 maximum while he chronographed it, 440 gr bullet @ 1550 fps vel. It was 2 years or so before I could shoot even a 22 right handed, another year or two before I could shoot an SA centerfire gun right handed, another year or so before i could shoot any centerfire DA revolvers right handed. As age progresses, shooting SA revolvers is much easier on the hands for a given caliber than a DA gun. At this point, if/when I have to slow or stop shooting DA 357 or 44 spl/45 class guns, Id prefer to carry an SA gun in those calibers rather than go so smaller caliber DA guns, at least as far as non pocket class guns go.
Ill add some more later when I have more time, this is a start.
Colts black box 3rd Dragoon
Bunny safari in the yard with Uberti 1851 copy, 4 shots for 3 bunnies, I forgot how high it shot on the first round.
Refrigerator target, Uberti 1860 copy, 5 shots, 15 yards, one hand.
Last edited by Malamute; 05-11-2024 at 11:18 AM.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/1...2nd-generation
Keep an eye out there. They have 3 different 1971s in stock. If none of those strike your fancy they seem to cycle through them pretty often so check back on occasion.
It'll be overpriced by a bit, but it's impressive how brisk their trade in all manner of SAA is.
I do have to be careful, because, well, Collectors Firearms is in nearby Houston, and, they have a lay-away plan. Someday, I would like to add a more-or-less birth-year SAA, which means Second-Generation, made in ~1961. A really sweet New Frontier would be a nice alternative.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!