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Colt SAA 357 Magnum first generation
- Thread starter jimg0109
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That is an exception to the old "Do not redo an old gun" law.
A great smith could fix that trigger guard and reblue.
I wouldn't hesitate, especially since you probably got it dirt cheap.
A great smith could fix that trigger guard and reblue.
I wouldn't hesitate, especially since you probably got it dirt cheap.
Trigger guards in that era are numbered under the grips so wouldn’t show if you replaced it. Possibly you could find another trigger guard for it. Are the last 2 digits of the serial number on the loading side of the cylinder as pictured below? Original 1st generation Colt SAA’s in .357 Magnum are not often seen. Nice stags too!
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If it were mine, I'd leave it alone, as it is what is is. Unlike a double action revolver, the trigger is not going to cock or fire the gun until you've cocked the hammer, so it should be as safe as you are.
I would send the trigger guard to Lever Action Bill of Spring Creek Armory, Ten Sleep, Wyoming. He does excellent work on SAA's and could make the guard look new. His prices are very reasonable also.
Another 'smith for SAA's is Dave Lanara of Medina, Ohio. His work is impeccable, but a tad expensive.
Andy Horvath, LaGrange, OH. His name has been mentioned quite a bit on the Forum.
Another 'smith for SAA's is Dave Lanara of Medina, Ohio. His work is impeccable, but a tad expensive.
Andy Horvath, LaGrange, OH. His name has been mentioned quite a bit on the Forum.
bigmoose
Member
Beautiful revolver. ‘Nuff said.
I’m in with the fix it group.
DWalt
Member
No question in my mind. Get it fixed.
Yes it's got the last two digits stamp in the cylinder.Trigger guards in that era are numbered under the grips so wouldn’t show if you replaced it. Possibly you could find another trigger guard for it. Are the last 2 digits of the serial number on the loading side of the cylinder as pictured below? Original 1st generation Colt SAA’s are not often seen. Nice stags too!
Great, then it would appear to be an all original .357 Magnum (except of course the trigger guard modification.) Because of the ready supply of 1st generation .357 Magnum barrels and cylinders during the 1930’s and 1940’s, many Colt SAA’s in .357 Magnum encountered today have been modified from other calibers and/or have replaced parts. I meant to say in post #3 above that original 1st generation Colt SAA’s in .357 Magnum are not often seen (now corrected). According to author John E. Parsons as listed in his book The Peacemaker and It’s Rivals, an Account of the Single Action Colt, published in 1950, there were only 525 Single Action Army revolvers produced in .357 Magnum prior to WWII.
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Nice find for sure!
That trigger guard can be restored and should be IMO.
357 prewar SAA's are not common.
A Colt letter is the only way to verify the original spec it left the factory just like S&W.
Maybe you have one already and the rest doesn't apply..
If the bbl is a pre-war from that late 30's/1940 era,,there was one of the 'broken die' characteristics that shows up in that serial number range of single line bbl address SAA's. (5 1/2 & 7 1/2")
The 'o' in Hartford on the roll die chipped and a small piece broke out leaving an incomplete circle for the 'o'.
If the bbl was a Post WW2 replacement (2nd Gen), that break would not be there.
Post war, many 1st gen SAA's were rebbl'd and cyl'd to 357.
The gun could have started life as a pre-war 38Colt Spcl.
The cyl being orig would then have been simply reamed for 357 like was done on the S&W 38-44HD's.
I think 1940 would have been too late for a plain 38Colt chambering. If not it would have been the chamber style with the shoulder,,
A replacement bbl in 357 marking, pre-war or post-war vintage could have been added at any time afterwards due to damage, want of a shorter/longer bbl, ect.
I'm not saying that the OP's gun is not a PW .357,,it's just that like a S&W, it takes a letter to confirm what it left the factory as.
..and SAA's are quite easy to switch caliber parts on.
If it was a 38 Colt Special from 1940,,that wouldn't be entirely bad either.
Only a small number of those were turned out and many went over to England in the request for small arms in the Battle of Britain.
A letter may list it in 38Special caliber as simply 38C,,,or 38Colt,,or 38 Colt Special.
Most in 38 Special were logged as the first 2 ,,(38C or 38Colt).
So when they tabulate the totals for '38 Colt Special', the number comes up very small. The actual count is likely greater when the others are figured in , but there's another one of those collectors arguments at can lead to headaches that I tend to stay away from.
Great case color on the SAA. The hammer looks like it has the polished sides and should have blued edges.
Just a great find,,congrats!.
Garage Sale,,,just lying among the baby items and Disneyland souvenir glass ware. Not in my world!
That trigger guard can be restored and should be IMO.
357 prewar SAA's are not common.
A Colt letter is the only way to verify the original spec it left the factory just like S&W.
Maybe you have one already and the rest doesn't apply..
If the bbl is a pre-war from that late 30's/1940 era,,there was one of the 'broken die' characteristics that shows up in that serial number range of single line bbl address SAA's. (5 1/2 & 7 1/2")
The 'o' in Hartford on the roll die chipped and a small piece broke out leaving an incomplete circle for the 'o'.
If the bbl was a Post WW2 replacement (2nd Gen), that break would not be there.
Post war, many 1st gen SAA's were rebbl'd and cyl'd to 357.
The gun could have started life as a pre-war 38Colt Spcl.
The cyl being orig would then have been simply reamed for 357 like was done on the S&W 38-44HD's.
I think 1940 would have been too late for a plain 38Colt chambering. If not it would have been the chamber style with the shoulder,,
A replacement bbl in 357 marking, pre-war or post-war vintage could have been added at any time afterwards due to damage, want of a shorter/longer bbl, ect.
I'm not saying that the OP's gun is not a PW .357,,it's just that like a S&W, it takes a letter to confirm what it left the factory as.
..and SAA's are quite easy to switch caliber parts on.
If it was a 38 Colt Special from 1940,,that wouldn't be entirely bad either.
Only a small number of those were turned out and many went over to England in the request for small arms in the Battle of Britain.
A letter may list it in 38Special caliber as simply 38C,,,or 38Colt,,or 38 Colt Special.
Most in 38 Special were logged as the first 2 ,,(38C or 38Colt).
So when they tabulate the totals for '38 Colt Special', the number comes up very small. The actual count is likely greater when the others are figured in , but there's another one of those collectors arguments at can lead to headaches that I tend to stay away from.
Great case color on the SAA. The hammer looks like it has the polished sides and should have blued edges.
Just a great find,,congrats!.
Garage Sale,,,just lying among the baby items and Disneyland souvenir glass ware. Not in my world!
Colt confirmed that it was originally manufactured as a .357 Magnum, correct? Were they able to confirm original barrel length was 5 1/2”?
The gentleman that i inherited the NRM from bought it at the same yard sale.The gentleman was in his 80s and told us that he purchased both guns in 1944 in a pawn shop in florida before he went to war I have the holster that he got with it as well
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Yes they confirmed it was a 357 by the serial. number. Talk to them on the phone years ago and thats what they told me
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Yes they confirmed it was a 357 by the serial. number. Talked to them on the phone years ago thats all i know Do you know where i can find more information.
You certainly inherited and/or obtained some interesting pawn shop revolvers (which I pictured again below) from that 80 year old gentleman! First the NRM with King short action conversion and Roper grips, and also this fairly rare 1st generation Colt SAA .357 Magnum with the aftermarket “Fitz” trigger guard and beautiful stag grips! I think I’m in the camp of leaving the trigger guard as is. Anyway, since Colts shipping records for that era are missing, and you apparently have no other leads, I don’t think you will find any additional information on that particular Single Action. If you want to know general information on 1st generation Colt SAA .357 Magnums then you could buy John Kopec’s book “A STUDY OF THE COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER” which is fairly expensive ($150).
