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Old 01-16-2012, 09:59 PM
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Default Learned something new about Colt's SAA

I'm not a Colt revolver guy, but I was doing some digging around for some info on an old Colt's SAA for a friend of mine when I stumbled across something I did not know. I'd always thought a Colt's Single Action Army and the Colt's 1873 "Model P" was pretty much the same gun, a rose by any other name so to speak. Well, I have learned that the Single Action Army was just that, it was the Single Action Army in .45 Colt caliber. As far as 1st generation Colt's are concerned, one in a caliber other than .45 Colt was not a Single Action Army but rather a "Model P" or Frontier Six-Shooter.

The Colt Frontier or Frontier Six-Shooter was a Colt's 1873 "Model P" type revolver, manufactured in .44-40 Winchester caliber instead of .45 Colt (in which configuration it was called the Single Action Army), so as to be cross-compatible with Winchester Model 1873 ammunition. Production began 1877. Colt Frontier Six-Shooter was the actual name of the Colt pistol model, and this was acid-etched on the left side of the barrel. After 1889, the legend was roll-stamped until 1919, when the caliber designation ".44-40" was added.

Seems over time Colt Peacemaker and Single Action Army became synonomous with any of the single action Colt's of this style.
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Old 01-17-2012, 10:48 AM
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That's a semantic thing entirely. The gun was basically the same except for the different calibers.

I think it was adequately summed up in, "King Solomon's Mines", by the author, Sir Henry Rider Haggard. He equipped his heroes with Colt's single action revolvers, for "the heavier pattern of cartridge."

He meant the .45 Colt, the .44/40 probably the only other that he'd seen. The book appeared in 1883. I think the .38-40 was added about 1879, but the writer apparently hadn't encountered it in South Africa or in Britain.

His description sufficed, and was probably as much as many buyers cared to know about the calibers.

However, by 1880 or so, Col. Vincent Fosbery, V.C., who later developed an automatic revolver for Webley, noted that the Colt .44-40 was the best "stopping" handgun that he'd seen used on India's wild NW Frontier. That puzzled me. I'd have thought that the .45 Colt would do as well or better.

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Old 01-17-2012, 11:17 AM
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Model P is the factory designation for that gun. It refers to the frame size. Just as Model O is the 1911 and Model D is the Detective Special size (Dick Special, Police Positive, Diamondback - they are all model Ds).

Frontier is the Colt designation for a gun in 44/40. I used to think it was just the model P, but I have seen some of the (whatever the gun was that came between the Thunderer and the New Service) in 44/40, with the barrels marked "Frontier".

But the way that the last sentence of your first paragraph reads (to me, anyway) is, that if it is NOT a 45, then it's a Frontier. That's not so. To be a Frontier, it has to be a 44/40.

I kinda doubt it was officially called the Single Action Army until around 1900 or so. It was probably just called the "Army Revolver", which is probably why they decided one in a different caliber (44 Winchester) needed a different name. Then, when they started to make them in even more calibers, they said to hell with it, so only the 45 and 44 had names. This last paragraph here - this is totally my opinion.
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Old 01-17-2012, 12:47 PM
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In 1878 colt came out with the 1878 double action frontier. It used the same barrel, clyinder and ejector rod & houseing as the single action army. 1877 they came out with the 1877 DA known as the thunderer in .41 colt and the lighting in .38 colt. They had basicly the same design action as the 1878 but had a lot smaller frame. Here is examples of both that I once owned.
The 1878 is in .45 colt but they also made them in .44wcf. (44/40).
They also made a very large trigger guard model known as the alaskan where you could shoot with a glove on. These guns left with my ex many years ago.



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