Price check on Colt SAA

[Sgt.Saputo]

After much frustration I come to "The Firing Line" for help. I'm a western guns guy, maybe it's all the Clint Eastwood movies I have been watching or maybe it is something deeper....No it's probably just the movies xD Well I want a nice single action, I was thinking about a Colt Navy but after much thought I have decided on a Colt single action Army "Peacemaker". To my delight I found that Colt still makes these, meaning that I wouldn't have to pay $5000 for one from the 1800s. But to my chagrin they don't list a price or offer to sell them online. I'm going to pick up my Colt Model 1903 .32 Pocket Hammerless and want to start saving for a Colt SAA. I just want to know approximately how much I will need to get one. Any help would be great.
Thanks.

Oh and on a side note that has nothing to do with any of this, I want to get a "Hand of God" grips from 3:10 to Yuma.

[slammedsi]

there is one at my local gunsmiths for 1,000 Not sure on its specs, Just know it said Colt SAA in 44 Special.

[Sgt.Saputo]

Alright. You don't know what generation it is though?

[Sgt.Saputo]

Well, I just found the retail price list. I don't believe I will be getting one any time soon xD They are somewhere in the price range of $1500. Guess I'l start saving now and have enough by sometime late next year I don't want to get a clone by another company like ruger, I would rather wait a while longer and get the real deal Sorry I troubled you guys :P

[Owlhoot]

Sgt., I'm a long time Colt SAA fan too. Over the years I have acquired a dozen of them. Let me say that you can beat the listed price by a few hundred dollars. There are a few places that offer them for 1250. And you can buy directly from Colt at a still better price. The web net auctions are also a good source and they can be had often at decent prices.

The currently produced guns are excellent. You won't be disappointed.

[Model-P]

You must be looking at nickel plated prices. The standard SAA runs retail around $1280 or somesuch, and can be bought through a Colt distributor such as Bud's Gun Shop at $1112 all day long. Well worth the investment. If you want an original Colt SAA, you won't be happy with a copy. You can still be the original owner too!
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/i...p/cPath/21_141

[madcratebuilder]

Originally Posted by Model-P

You must be looking at nickel plated prices. The standard SAA runs retail around $1280 or somesuch, and can be bought through a Colt distributor such as Bud's Gun Shop at $1112 all day long. Well worth the investment. If you want an original Colt SAA, you won't be happy with a copy. You can still be the original owner too!

+1

If you have the disposable income go for it. Look for a used one, you normally can get your money back when selling or even make a buck.

[twobit]

If you do not limit yourself to the "Colt" brand, there are several other brands that have very good "Peacemakers". I have a Cimarron Artillery model that has perfect timing and is excellent in every way. It is a sweet shooting pistol. Their site is here > http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/default.htm The Artillery is listed under their "Model P".

[rickyjames]

they have this by cimarron, made by uberti listed at $750.00

http://www.gunsamerica.com/userimage...md_1786913.jpg

[shafter]

If I was going to buy something new I would definately go with Ruger, actually I did A brand new Colt Peacemaker has no appeal to me. I want an original colt from the old west that spent a few years in some cowboys holster. Something that maybe has a few stories to tell, something worn down to gunmetal gray.

For the price of a new Colt you can get a clone AND a bunch of reloading equipment. 45colt is not cheap to shoot.

Good luck on you search. I'm quite fond of those western guns myself. A single action six gun and a good lever gun are a combination that can't be beat!

[Jim March]

The Ruger "New Vaquero" is a superb gun in its own right. Very similar in feel/size/heft to a post-WW2 Colt SAA, works "almost the same" but has an internal safety (known as a "transfer bar ignition") that lets you carry it fully loaded, hammer down on a live round, it still can't go boom if dropped/slammed/etc.

A real Colt or true clone of same has to be carried five-up, hammer down on an empty chamber due to the lack of safety.

There's a slight difference in the reloading drill.

With a Colt, once you've shot it dry, you bring the hammer to half-cock. You then open the loading gate and the cylinder can be spun to get each empty out. On loading it's "load one, skip one, load four", then close the loading gate, bring the hammer to full cock, gently lower it on the empty chamber.

With a Ruger, once it's try you leave the hammer fully forward, open the loading gate, do your business unloading/reloading, close the loading gate, cock it for the next shot if need be. The Ruger system is faster and safer.

The transfer bar is a piece of metal that gets up between the hammer and frame-mounted firing pin when the trigger is pulled fully and deliberately back. That piece of metal allows the energy of the hammer to "transfer" to the firing pin. With no finger on the trigger, the transfer bar retracts and the hammer cannot hit the firing pin. This is a typical 20th century safety system used on a lot of DA revolvers, grafted onto something that looks like a 19th century revolver.

Rugers also use coil springs where Colts use flat springs. For this and other reasons, a Ruger is tougher than a Colt.

Now. Here's the kicker. In one key area, a Ruger can be more authentic than a post-WW2 Colt SAA.

I had a chance to compare the "feel in the hand" of several real Colts against my gun recently. My NewVaq in 357 wears a SuperBlackhawk lower-profile hammer, something I installed myself to reduce the amount of reach to the hammer with my strong-side thumb. Handling a real Colt dated to 1911, I was shocked to find the hammer reach felt the same as mine. Handling a couple of other "1st generation" Colts that day including one that dated to the 19th century, the hammer reach felt the same as mine. Comparing to a couple of post-WW2 Colts, one a Gen2 and one Gen3, the hammer reach felt wrong - too long.

I also compared a USFA (United States Firearms) Rodeo, their budget model - they clearly imitated the feel of the pre-WW2 Colts. Ruger had cloned a post-WW2 Colt, until I modded my hammer and without realizing gave myself actual cowboy-era ergonomics . Cool.

USFA makes THE BEST Colt "clones" and in a lot of people's opinions, they're better than a Colt. Apparently more authentic as well. The "Rodeo" is their "budget paint job" edition but to their credit is built just well as their high-dollar-finish editions. A hell of a deal for about the same money as a Ruger, and the finish can be upgraded later if you like or you can spend $1,000+ on a pretty one, keep that in the safe and shoot the Rodeo (a LOT of people do that). Out of the box a Rodeo is likely to out-shoot a Ruger by a little bit but I prefer the Ruger's safety and faster reloading drill.

Mine doesn't look very traditional no more .



...and the sights mean homebrew custom leather is a must:



But at least I can prove I shoot it enough:

[slammedsi]

SGT. The gun i saw was a second gen. With what i believe is a 7 in a half inch barrel.

[Sgt.Saputo]

Thanks for all your comments guys . After much thought I have decided to save the extra and just get a Colt because I'm planning to fancy it up a bit and pass it down. This won't be a "Go shoot 5,000 rounds every day" gun, I have a rough rider .22 for that . Allthough I might get a Ruger for shooting, I didn't know they made the Vaquero in .45 .

[Sgt.Saputo]

Jim, that is a very interesting gun, in a good way :P. Where did you get the sights? I like it

[rep1954]

Sgt.Saputo, heres the last Colt SAA that I gussied up a bit.

[Jim March]

The sight is a homebrew handmade clone of the Goshen Enterprises Hexsite:

http://www.goshen-hexsite.com/index2.htm

Tim Sheehan has given me permission to pursue the "Goshdarn Hacksite" as I call it on a one-off basis.

That's the "Mk4" pictured.

This is by far the best handgun sight I've ever used, period, end of discussion. Tim has re-written the book on how sights work.

The recipe calls for totally black sights front and rear, no glinting. Tim gets there with a high-tech polymer coating; lacking that, I just wrapped the whole thing end to end in a tube. In use the tube isn't visible. Real Hexsites fit in standard holsters, my setup emphatically doesn't which drove me into leatherwork.

This class of sight is very different - you focus on the target, not the front sight, yet even with both front and rear sights blurry you can keep everything lined up. It feels a lot like shooting a red dot sight except there's no glass, batteries or wires. Keeping the gun lined up behind wherever you're looking is easy and feels "automatic". You don't have to think about it, all you need to think about is the target and shoot/no-shoot decision.

[rep1954]

Jim March, How well does that sight work in low light? It would seem to me that the sights would become lost in the shadows where as an open sight would collect what light was available. Have you tried it with a night sight on the front?

[Jim March]

OK, see...that's the really spooky part.

These work GREAT in low light, so long as there's at least some light on the target. The sights themselves are set up to be always darker than the target if there's at least enough light for target ID - either ambient light or off of your tactical light.

It doesn't feel like it if you try them on your own dry-firing. To test this, you have to be in low-light conditions and either really shoot at targets, OR point your gun at the target in what you think the direction is, and then have a friend hit the target with a strong flashlight so you can confirm that a real sight alignment happened.

See...something weird is going on here. Go here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...4191857056612#

Watch the first section of this documentary on "blindsight". We have two visual processing centers in our heads. One is the slow, conscious "mammalian" visual processing center that can read, see in color, identify faces, etc.

There's also a much older and more primitive "reptilian" visual processing center still present. It can only see in black and white, it works very well in low-light conditions and it can only see things in motion as opposed to standing still. This is why a cobra waves it's head back and forth before it strikes - it's using the trick of putting it's own head in motion to simulate having the target move against the background.

The primitive visual processing system is wired straight up to our motor control centers. It's what we use to dodge an incoming rock or baseball or whatever.

The Hexsite is set up optimal for use by the reptilian visual processor. That's why you have a sense of it "auto tracking" on whatever you look at - you're using the reptilian vision system's straight-shot wiring to your motor control system to "auto track" the gun without having to deliberately think about it.

You leave the trigger under conscious control, no problem!

In low-light conditions, it works even though your conscious mind says it can't possibly work - because your mammalian visual processor needs more light to see colors. Colors in a sight actually screw up your ability to use the reptilian visual processing system, which is why, once you're used to a Hexsite, you won't ever want to deal with a red dot sight...because the red part of the sight actually gets in the way and breaks that auto-tracking ability.

Using both your visual processing systems at once, you get way WAY faster. You can shoot at an identified target without first shortening up your focus to the front sight - and then if conditions at the target change, you can track the changes without altering your eye's focus.

People have been shot for pulling out a cellphone when a cop has 'em at gunpoint. That's because the cop already has his focus shortened up to the front sight and doesn't want to take the time to focus long (on the target) and then back short. With a Hexsite this problem vanishes. You can track exactly what the target is doing at the time you shoot. It's quite literally a more moral system.

Because you're doing target-focus, keeping both eyes open is easy and natural. So the relatively large size of my sight (bigger than a real Hexsite) doesn't mean it "gets in the way" of my downrange view.

As God is my witness, this is a total and absolute breakthrough.