The first single action revolver I bought was a Cimarron 1873 in .45 Colt. I thought it was really neat. The hammer was ridiculously hard to cock and the trigger broke at around 12 pounds. The front sight fell off and the blue finish was gone after about one month. I did love the solid walnut grips though.

I sold it.

Then I bought a Colt. I think everyone who has an inner desire for a single action really wants a Colt. We try to talk ourselves out of it due to the cost. The idea that a Colt is somehow fragile is insane. The men of the late 1800's did just fine with them. Most people who break them did things like two handed fanning and it was their fault, not the gun's.

My 1982 Colt .44 Special had a trigger pull of around 8 pounds. I put a set of custom springs in it and now it breaks at just under 2 pounds. I have thousands of rounds through it and the blueing is just starting to wear at the muzzle from all the holster use it gets.



I now have several Colts and I love them dearly.







I also have a few Rugers. If you like the Vaquero or the Blackhawk, they're tough guns that are hard to break, even if you do stupid things like fanning or dropping or otherwise abusing them. Rugers take the abuse. I think today's Ruger single actions are the best yet, especially since they moved the billboard WARNING writing to the underside of the barrel where it doesn't get in the way of fine engraving!











I even bought another Cimarron because I loved the look of the 1872 Open Top and they now offer it in .44 Special. I still love their one piece walnut grips. But I shipped it to Bob Munden for an action job before I even shot it once. The trigger was horrible and now its just pure magic.





CDNN was selling new AWA Peacekeepers in .44 Special for just $399 a few years ago and I snapped up two of them for my wife. The actions are amazing, right out of the box and the blue and case hardening are gorgeous.