A friend has a Colt SAA. It has a case hardened frame and blued cylinder and barrel, chambered in 44 Special. The story on the gun is that the serial number on the frame indicates that it was manufactured in 41 Colt, but it has been rebuilt into the 44 special at some point. It has colt marked hard rubber? grips.

Any insight as to value would be appreciated. Finish is good on all the parts, so it has probably been reblued and re case hardened at some point. Lock up is fairly tight but not rock solid (don't know if SAA lock up tight or have a little play as normal). The front sight has been slightly bent to regulate the sights.

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Regards,

Tom

Prepare to receive at least a few highly exaggerated estimates on both ends of the spectrum, ranging from the Collector's who will insist that it's worth practically nothing (bonus points if they "kindly" offer to take it off your hands for a "generous" price) to folks who don't understand how economics actually work in real life, will insist that it's worth whatever folks are willing to pay and therefore you could sell it for just as much as any other Colt SAA and "eventually" someone will buy it. (Bonus points if they inversely use the same flawed logic to suggest that you "let the market decide" by putting it up for auction without any reserve bid.)

Truthfully, the only way you're likely to receive any accurate or definitive response is to consult an expert, preferably someone who actually deals in Colt SAAs. Sorry if that wasn't the answer you're looking for, but I've seen how most threads like this play out before, so I'm trying to save you some time.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Prolly worth around a grand imho.

Yeah - it's a **** shoot on any question like this. Just hoping to get a rough idea. I speculated something like $800. Certainly not a NIB collector. Might make a good shooter, depending on how it shoots.

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Regards,

Tom

From what I see, it seems that a base price for a pretty much basket case but otherwise complete early period SAA is around a Grand. For a mismatched SAA that looks good and is in operable condition, it should bring at least twice that.

DWalt is spot on. These days a shooter Colt SAA in my part of the country is $1500 to $2000 gun. Miss matched or refinished if it is in good operational condition it will fall in that price range. A completely gray but honest SAA might bring a little more.

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Bill Bates

If you take a look at Gunbroker closed auctions, you'll find plenty of shooter grade Colt SAA's have sold in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. I'd be shocked if an altered mixmaster one would bring over $1,000 to a knowledgeable buyer. Depending upon the quality of the work, that $800 estimate might be right on.

A pic would really help...

What year was it made, serial number would indicate year of manufacture not caliber, also a picture would help....................................M*

More info needed to give any real help
Anytime a gun is altered it detracts value
But if you can get it for a reasonable low costs you can always resell it
God Bless,John
41 cal would be nice too but I love 44 special

Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk

I'm not sure what the going price is now, but a few years back it was high enough on similar guns to make me buy a Uberti instead. Haven't regretted it, though...

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Pisgah

Typically a rework of a collectible gun is valued at about 50% of an equal condition original. 1st gen Colts are high as a cats back, but a brand new Colt can be had for about 2k, so a rework mismatch shooter becomes a lot harder to move as the price approaches a brand new Colt.

Agreed but I llove the 41 LC!

If the patent dates and the rampant colt stamps on the left side of the frame are crisp and not polished out prior to refinishing I think the $1200-$1500 range mentioned sounds about right based on info given. To me faded frame markings on an otherwise nicely redone gun is a turn off. I don’t know how you know it was a .41 when the caliber was on the barrel and sometimes trigger guard (.45, .44 CF) of pre war SAAs. I don’t know how a frame serial # could indicate caliber unless a factory letter said it was a .41. Black powder frame .41s are on the scarcer side, IIRC. If it is a BP frame or an early “smokeless” frame made before Colt Proofed them for smokeless, some will shy away from shooting it even with the later barrel and cylinder. I’d do it, though, with my moderate .44 Spl loads. A photo will give you a lot more answers.

Good pictures will help. Plus I just want to see them

I disagree that all modifications reduce the value of a gun. There are some modifications that can increase the value depending on who did the modifications.

Reworked minus, 44 Spl plus, plus, I'll say $1599 easy if it presents well.

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Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

A lot depends on the quality of the refinish.
Some can be pretty nice,,many can be pretty bad.

Once you get by that, it's mechanics,,timing, hammer notches, cylinder slop,,all those things you normally check for.
Hammer notches (correct and strong) is a bid thing to check. Having to either get them welded and recut or to replace the hammer with a Colt period replacement is expensive. $350 is a good amt to set aside for that adventure.
Some places will take your old hammer in for trade and exchange + cash for a rebuilt hammer.
The trigger can also have been worked over and now be a bit too short. Same deal, weld and rebuild, or replace.

If you have to hold the hammer back manually from it's 1/2cock position inorder to load or remove the cylinder,,either the half cock notch has been worked over , the trigger worked on,,or both.

Lots of things can be out of wack and the revolver still 'work'. Meaning you can cock it and snap it and the cylinder turns, ect.

But making it right to be a decent shooter can be expensive if you have to pay someone to do it. Fixing them yourself is not too hard but if you have to get into buying parts,,there's where the $$ can go quickly.

If it was a 41Colt orig,,then it was a 1st gen.
Having been re-cyl & bbl'd makes it a decent shooter esp in 44sp.
What can alter the value is wether the cyl and bbl are Colt parts and then if the parts are 1st gen or 2nd gen parts,,the cyl could even be a 3rd gen as it will work with a 3rd gen hand in a 1st or 2nd gen SAA.

3rd gen bbls will not fit the 1st or 2nd gen guns though. Colt went to a finer thread
(FWIW,,3rdgen Colt SAA bbl will fit in OM or NM Ruger BlkHawk frames)

In addition, if they are Colt parts,, Are they 'take offs' from a production gun or Service Dept & Mail Order parts?
The former will have the correct bbl address on top of the bbl,,the latter will have the bbl address on the left side.
Even if a 'take off' bbl, the bbl address styles changed during mfg and the correct era marking will most likely not be correct.
Of small consequence to a shooter most likely,,but some with a collectors mindset will find that a value downer.


The other type of bbl and/or cylinder would be an aftermarket source.
Numrich and places like Christy sold truck loads of bbls and cylinders (and other parts) for SSA over the years..
Christy bbls are usually marked in small letters as such under the ejector rod housing.

Pre-war Colt cylinders will have wider and longer cylinder flutes than post war cyl's.
3rd Gen Colt cyl will have a non removeable cyl bushing.

Do ser#'s match on the parts? Again maybe not a big deal for a shooter, but it is if the gun is drawing some of it's value as a 1st gen SAA.
Buffed off ser#'s & other markings on the parts is also a big no-no regardless of how bright and shiny the refinish is.

All that said,,and w/o seeing it,,it could a $500 almost shooter to a $800 better looking and better mechanics shooter IMO.
One persons idea of a decent refinish and how 'tight' the action is is vastly different from another.
A hands on inspection by someone that knows the SAA and the current market is really needed.

Putting nearly 1K into the gun and then some more to fix it wouldn't seem to be the right way to go. Not when used 2nd, & 3rd SAA's are out there for not a lot more money.
Neither will be an instant collectors item but I don't think that's the goal here.

added,
Those Hard Rubber Grips...
IF they are orig 1st Gen Colt SAA grips and in nice condition w/o cracks, chips or repairs (honest carry and use wear is OK),,then the grips with the orig screw could by themselves be a $350 item.

One thing about the Colt SAA?

It's pretty easy to change calibers. Just a barrel and cylinder swap.

The real questions here are:
How do you know it was originally a 41 Long colt?

Do all the numbers match? Frame, Trigger guard, Back Strap?

Is it in the Antique serial number range?


Assuming that you have a factory letter that proves it was originally a 41 Long Colt?

And assuming that all the numbers match? and assuming that it's in relatively good shape?

I would put it back to a 41 Long Colt and the value soars!

Then you can either sell the 44 Special barrel/Cylinder to fund the purchase of a 41 Long Colt barrel/cylinder or put one together from another frame and parts for a great shooter.


Probably the easiest gun to work on out there!
If it is in fact an original 41 Long Colt? It's a no brainer to put it back to original caliber. Very desirable caliber for SAA collectors. Especially if it's antique and on a Black Powder frame??????????

Murph

Perhaps small stuff in the overall view, but the "adjusted" front sight would be an issue for me. More professional ways to handle where it hits, which for me, also casts a little doubt on the quality of the other work.

Agree with $1200 -1500, depending on the age and other little things we can't see.

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Charlie

Thanks for all the input. I will try to get some pictures and post them up.

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Regards,

Tom

One thing about tweaking a front sight on one of these SAA's...it works!