Pietta 1873 SA

COLT SAA owners.......close your eyes!

I have a Colt SAA .45 with 5 1/2 barrel that is a safe queen. I wanted a shooter but was not willing to pony up the $$$$. I got a Cabela's sales flyer last week that had this for sale. It is a Pietta 1873 SA in .45 LC with a 4 3/4 inch barrel. It was on sale for $399 (Regular price $499). I also got to use a $20 off coupon I had. It is a "Cabela's Exclusive" which I think is why it comes with the stag-like grips.

It is NOT a Colt, but the fit and finish is very nice and it is probably a quarter the cost of the real thing! Here is a few pictures:

Nothing says "Reloader" like a .45LC shooter.

What's the rear sight look like? Notch or narrow V?

Nice color on the frame.

When the hammer a SA Colt is all the way down at rest, the trigger shouldn't stick out that far into the trigger guard area. But if it's on the first click (safety), it might. I can't tell if that's the case. If it isn't on safety then that could be a broken trigger or hammer sear. That's always the case on Colts I've owned and I think this would be the case on a Pietta, too. And btw, that's a fine looking gun.
I have lots of Sambar stag and if those are fake on that gun they're the best stag-like I've ever seen.

It those are Sambar grips and I believe they probably are you got yourself one heck of a deal.
Jim

italiansport said:

It those are Sambar grips and I believe they probably are you got yourself one heck of a deal.
Jim

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Right. It's like the gun costs a hundred bucks. And I think you're right about them being real.

medic15al said:

What's the rear sight look like? Notch or narrow V?

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It is just like my Colt SAA.....narrow V.

Wyatt Burp said:

When the hammer a SA Colt is all the way down at rest, the trigger shouldn't stick out that far into the trigger guard area. But if it's on the first click (safety), it might. I can't tell if that's the case. If it isn't on safety then that could be a broken trigger or hammer sear. That's always the case on Colts I've owned and I think this would be the case on a Pietta, too. And btw, that's a fine looking gun.
I have lots of Sambar stag and if those are fake on that gun they're the best stag-like I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

WB,
My Pietta 1873 SA does not have a hammer mounted firing pin. But I saw a youtube video titled "Century International Arms 1873 Pietta Single Action Revolver" that does have a hammer mounted firing pin. So apparently they make them both ways. This gun does not have the first safety notch "click" when cocking the hammer because they come with a transfer-bar safety. It has 3 clicks instead of the Colt 4. But, like the hammer mounted firing pin, they make some with 3 clicks and some with 4.

I see what you mean about the trigger sticking out into the trigger guard, and from looking online at other pictures, I see clones with the trigger like mine and some others like you are describing. I don't know enough about them to know why they are shown both ways. Maybe other guys, who have a Pietta like mine, will help me out.

Here is a youtube video from the Pietta 2015 SHOT show booth. In the display case, I see guns with both trigger placements.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnAVNG9mvHY[/ame]

As far as the grips are concerned, they are fakes! They look very real though. In fact, if you look online at other pictures of these grips, it seems they have many different "bark patterns" like the real thing. I see Pietta charges $55 for an aftermarket pair. As I said in my first post, my gun is a "Cabela's Exclusive" and I think coming with the stag-like grips is the exclusive part.

I hope there is not a problem with my gun. I probably won't be able to shoot it until after the holidays. I also am more confused than ever now!

boykinlp said:

It is just like my Colt SAA.....narrow V.



WB,
My Pietta 1873 SA does not have a hammer mounted firing pin. But I saw a youtube video titled "Century International Arms 1873 Pietta Single Action Revolver" that does have a hammer mounted firing pin. So apparently they make them both ways. This gun does not have the first safety notch "click" when cocking the hammer because they come with a transfer-bar safety. It has 3 clicks instead of the Colt 4. But, like the hammer mounted firing pin, they make some with 3 clicks and some with 4.

I see what you mean about the trigger sticking out into the trigger guard, and from looking online at other pictures, I see clones with the trigger like mine and some others like you are describing. I don't know enough about them to know why they are shown both ways. Maybe other guys, who have a Pietta like mine, will help me out.







Here is a youtube video from the Pietta 2015 SHOT show booth. In the display case, I see guns with both trigger placements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnAVNG9mvHY

As far as the grips are concerned, they are fakes! They look very real though. In fact, if you look online at other pictures of these grips, it seems they have many different "bark patterns" like the real thing. I see Pietta charges $55 for an aftermarket pair. As I said in my first post, my gun is a "Cabela's Exclusive" and I think coming with the stag-like grips is the exclusive part.

I hope there is not a problem with my gun. I probably won't be able to shoot it until after the holidays. I also am more confused than ever now!

Click to expand...

Your gun must be just fine since the same thing is going on with the trigger on the other ones in those pictures. Your "stags" look much nicer and realistic than the ones in the link.

Bringing up this old post of mine because I have a question about the grips. I have a chance to get another used pair of these grips for $30. On the new set, I would like to get a pair of Colt medallions inset in them. Not sure if I prefer gold or silver.

Where can I get the correct medallions, who, and how much does it cost to have the medallions inset? Thanks.

The transfer bars in these are loose and can cause cocking problems down the line. The front edge facing the firing pin needs to be beveled some. Serviceable hawgleg though!

Wyatt Burp said:

Right. It's like the gun costs a hundred bucks. And I think you're right about them being real.

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It is clearly written on the box PVC GRIP STAG LIKE!

boykinlp said:

COLT SAA owners.......close your eyes!

I have a Colt SAA .45 with 5 1/2 barrel that is a safe queen. I wanted a shooter but was not willing to pony up the $$$$. I got a Cabela's sales flyer last week that had this for sale. It is a Pietta 1873 SA in .45 LC with a 4 3/4 inch barrel. It was on sale for $399 (Regular price $499). I also got to use a $20 off coupon I had. It is a "Cabela's Exclusive" which I think is why it comes with the stag-like grips.

It is NOT a Colt, but the fit and finish is very nice and it is probably a quarter the cost of the real thing! Here is a few pictures:

Click to expand...

I think you’ll like it, I have one with 7.5 barrel, the action is smoother than my two colts, I mean very slick

boykinlp said:

Bringing up this old post of mine because I have a question about the grips. I have a chance to get another used pair of these grips for $30. On the new set, I would like to get a pair of Colt medallions inset in them. Not sure if I prefer gold or silver.

Where can I get the correct medallions, who, and how much does it cost to have the medallions inset? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Also, the position of the trigger and hammer could be it might have the two position base pin ?? Mine came with one of those and I ground it down to the same length as the colt saa. If it is a 2 position pin it could be pushed in so far as to move the hammer back a little to prevent it hitting the firing pin.

Wyatt Burp said:

When the hammer a SA Colt is all the way down at rest, the trigger shouldn't stick out that far into the trigger guard area. But if it's on the first click (safety), it might. I can't tell if that's the case. If it isn't on safety then that could be a broken trigger or hammer sear. That's always the case on Colts I've owned and I think this would be the case on a Pietta, too. And btw, that's a fine looking gun.
I have lots of Sambar stag and if those are fake on that gun they're the best stag-like I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

Wyatt, if you look at the box photo it identifies this revolver as a "transfer bar model", so the hammer & firing pin are completely "non-Colt SAA".

Nice looking revolver. Very nice faux stags, too.

italiansport said:

It those are Sambar grips and I believe they probably are you got yourself one heck of a deal.
Jim

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They are doing some very impressive things with cast polymers these days. Sambar stags have not been commonly available for a long time, even elk stags are quite expensive.