Amen that!
My Favorite Single Action Revolvers
- Thread starter quikdraw67
- Start date
Amen that!
I found one I forgot about. I'm not sure it really belongs here, but what the heck. It's fun for plinking at cans and such.
Uramex "Colt SAA" in .177 cal BB. CO2 power.
It's all metal construction. Functions like the original, except for only three clicks instead of four. It uses a standard 12 G CO2 cartridge for power (inside the grip). You load the BB's into the "brass" cartridge you see at the rear of the cylinder. It will send a can rolling inside 30 feet or so.
Uramex "Colt SAA" in .177 cal BB. CO2 power.
It's all metal construction. Functions like the original, except for only three clicks instead of four. It uses a standard 12 G CO2 cartridge for power (inside the grip). You load the BB's into the "brass" cartridge you see at the rear of the cylinder. It will send a can rolling inside 30 feet or so.
I have several, but not sure which is my favorite.
I like the three screw Rugers. A Single-Six convertible, a .357 Blackhawk and a Super Blackhawk are the three I think everyone should have. When I feel like playing cowboy, a 4-3/4 Frontier Six-Shooter to pair with '92 Winchester come to mind.
But its the first generation Colts that capture my imagination, like this Bisley in .38 WCF. It was shipped on May 18th, 1904 to Norvelle Shapleigh in St. Louis, Missouri. Only interesting tidbit about the ship date is that it probably arrived just in time for the start of the 1904 Summer Olympics Games in St. Louis.
One of these days a 5-1/2 inch SAA in .41 Colt will appear...
But its the first generation Colts that capture my imagination, like this Bisley in .38 WCF. It was shipped on May 18th, 1904 to Norvelle Shapleigh in St. Louis, Missouri. Only interesting tidbit about the ship date is that it probably arrived just in time for the start of the 1904 Summer Olympics Games in St. Louis.
One of these days a 5-1/2 inch SAA in .41 Colt will appear...
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USBP SW
Member
I have always been a fan of the Ruger Bisley. I was introduced to them in the mid 1980's, when I was selling them for a distributor. I took a roll stamped .45 Colt to all the stores as a salesman's sample, to extol the virtues of the new model. I ended up keeping it. Now I have two Pachmayer pistol boxes, obviously, one is full of Smith and Wesson pistols and the other (smaller) one is for Ruger day. That box has a Ruger 5.5" MarkII, a stainless Bisley convertible .45 Colt/ACP and a .41mag Bisley. They are not the only single action revolvers I own but they are the most shootable and therefore likely the most enjoyable.
Thuer
Member
I do see a lot of Rugers overhere. OK I play. I do have a Vaquero made in 2001. It is the old sturdy frame with my favorite barrel 4 3/4 inch in .45 colt. And my old made somewhere in the seventies Bearcat. in.22lr
I love them both. But the Bearcat some more.
Could not resist to place a picture of my very first collection piece. Found it by Mike Long in Nothingham way back in 1993. Just a simpel Whitney model 1 in .22. The odd thing is, becouse it is made after 1870 (made in 1871) it is on my permit. If it was made in 1869 it was a free revolver in the Netherlands.
I love them both. But the Bearcat some more.
Could not resist to place a picture of my very first collection piece. Found it by Mike Long in Nothingham way back in 1993. Just a simpel Whitney model 1 in .22. The odd thing is, becouse it is made after 1870 (made in 1871) it is on my permit. If it was made in 1869 it was a free revolver in the Netherlands.
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jag312
Member
This has to be my favorite handgun. It is a USFA in .44 Special. Those are Paul Persinger ivory grips. I tell people that it was a gift from California State Senator Don Perata. Senator Perata had a gun buyback in Oakland, and I was 5th in line. I turned in a bunch of junkers; Iver Johnson, H&R, and a rusty old pinfire revolver. The money I got, plus $58 dollars paid for this gun. Why am I smiling right now?
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dsf
Member
You know what would make that story better? If that miserable so & so Perata read this post and realized he put another gun into circulation.
I don't know that either of these is my favorite, but I enjoyed getting them.
I picked up this NIB Colt SAA 2nd Generation at Willey Bros in Reno. Was in town for a gun show, I explained to them the Colt was C&R eligible, they verified and off I went. Externally fine but the worst action I've ever felt on any SA revolver. Took a bit of work but it's now smooth as silk.
The USFA Bisley was sitting in a local "tacticool" store and for a ridiculously low price. It was their longest tenured gun in the place, pretty sure it had dust on the box.
The 5 1/2" barrel isn't my favorite but it's a nice shooter.
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RobertJ.
Member
My favorite SA of all time is the Ruger SBH. Here are my others also. The BH with the rib and oversized stocks (in .45 Colt) just happens to be my favorite plinker at the moment because it's just so darn accurate. I wasn't wild about the rib, but it's grown on me. The old model, in .357, is my only old model. The stainless SBH, which is wearing the stocks from the .45, was given maple stocks after this photo was taken:
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csurp34
US Veteran
I have several, but not sure which is my favorite.
What is the history of that beautiful engraved gun?
csurp34
US Veteran
The bluing on this pic came out extra blue? Original in the box, factory ivory grips. My favorite SA Ruger.
My favorite Colt SAA. 1881 frontier six shooter.
That blue is stunning.
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Luvmine
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I like Ruger single actions also. The original model Vaqueros were built like tanks, and enable .45 Colt magnum-power loads.
I dislike the indexing system, which requires eyeballing the alignment of the cylinder and the ejector for loading and unloading each round.
Accordingly, I modified these two to use the original Colt system, which requires going to half-cock and then reverse-indexing the cylinder until it stops, thereby automatically doing the alignment by feel; it's much faster. There is no half-cock on the Vaqueros, so the hammer must be modified to get a half-cock notch.
These can still be loaded with six rounds safely, as the transfer-bar system remains.
I actually prefer the original plow-handle design - perhaps it's muscle memory at work from using Colts and old model (4 click) Ruger Blackhawks for so long. Still, I admit the Bisley grip handles really heavy recoil a bit better, and I like the design of the hammer better.
John
I dislike the indexing system, which requires eyeballing the alignment of the cylinder and the ejector for loading and unloading each round.
Accordingly, I modified these two to use the original Colt system, which requires going to half-cock and then reverse-indexing the cylinder until it stops, thereby automatically doing the alignment by feel; it's much faster. There is no half-cock on the Vaqueros, so the hammer must be modified to get a half-cock notch.
These can still be loaded with six rounds safely, as the transfer-bar system remains.
I actually prefer the original plow-handle design - perhaps it's muscle memory at work from using Colts and old model (4 click) Ruger Blackhawks for so long. Still, I admit the Bisley grip handles really heavy recoil a bit better, and I like the design of the hammer better.
John
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csurp34
US Veteran
Very nice and interesting mods.
It was Factory engraved and is a 3rd Generation .45 Colt, shipped March 23rd, 1979. Class "C" engraving. The stocks are Ivory, but do not fit very well. One of these days I will ship it to Nutmeg Sports and have them refit them.
csurp34
US Veteran
IrishFritz
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I've owned numbers of Ruger SA's over the years and have always found them to be emensely strong, no nonsense revolvers. However, every single one needed an action job to produce a consistent first rate trigger pull. At the very least each did benefit from shimming the hammer and trigger to remove excess wobble / balloting during travel. Add to that an internal polish of the working surfaces and an adjustment to the hight of the hammer full cock notch and you come out with a really first class trigger pull- as good as any single action anywhere. Good, but not in the class of a S&W trigger pull- particularly the 1960 an '70 vintage guns. Having said that, in my opinion, Smith's are a bit delicate in comparison to Ruger SA's in that they will shoot loose and fall out of time given a steady diet of full house loads. Rugers on the other hand will just keep going and going. I'm getting old and recently sold off most of my handguns including seven Ruger SA's, mostly flat tops and Bisley's: also a number of S&W K frames and N frames. So what did I keep? I kept three S&W no dash Model 57's in 41 magnum, so thats what I think.
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