Why do we still like and trust SA revolvers so much?

[Cheapshooter]

My first cartridge SA was a Ruger Super Blackhawk. With intentions guided predominantly at hunting, the SA was perfectly adequate. Besides, not having a need for double action in a hunting handgun, the price, and availability at the time (1972), was much easier to deal with than it would have been for a S&W Model 29.
The SA cartridge revolvers I have added since, 2 Rough Riders in 22 LR and a Cimarron 45 Colt, are purely for nostalgia. As is also a couple C&B revilvers, and a 38 Spcl. Derringer.
All are fun to shoot, and get plenty of range time shared from my "tupperware noise makers".

 

[scrubcedar]

I am simply being realistic when I say the SA's day as the first choice as a defensive sidearm are long gone.

A Colt SAA would be far down on my list as a "grab and go" firearm.

Now we're getting to the heart of the question that I was asking. I am soon going to cross over into the dark side and purchase a "crunchenticker" (forgive me Col. Cooper!) as a CCW. Probably an EAA b6pc. 13 rounds of what is at least now a perfectly acceptable self defense cartridge. I'm finally, sadly, convinced even my rural areas I tend to stay in are not as safe as they used to be and I once again need a weapon on my person.

What I would really like to be carrying is a Ruger SA in one of several calibers.

The Mods here have convinced me that this would be a stupid idea that would leave me in a dangerous position ("looking like an out of control cowboy") were I to discharge my weapon. Multiple shooter scenarios that really might leave me in a position to need a fast reload seem to be the up and coming danger that has pushed me into finally feeling this as a need.

My head can argue this way all it wants, and I'm intelligent enough to listen, but I find that it just seems I would rather trust my life to that familiar grip, heft, point-ability, trigger etc. It's like an extension of my arm. I don't seem to be at all alone in feeling this way.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Maybe for you. This has more to do with perception than anything. Do you actually shoot yours or do they collect dust on a shelf?

Hell yes, I shoot them. This mismatched pair of 2nd Gen Colts are my Main Match CAS guns. Shoot them at almost every match. 45 Colt, stuffed to the gills with Black Powder.

Bisley Colt, 38-40, made in 1908 if I recall correctly.

But there are more types of single action revolvers than Colts, clones and Rugers. Here is my 1st Model Schofield, made in 1875. Yes, I do shoot it, but only with Black Powder.

Second Model Russian, also made in 1875. No, I don't shoot it much, that pointy hump above the grip makes recoil painful if I don't regrip after cocking the hammer.

And now for something completely different. S&W New Model Number Three at the top, made in 1882, refinished at the factory in 1965. Chambered for 44 Russian. Perfection in a single action revolver, records were set with this model in the 1880s and 1890s that still stand today. At the bottom is a Merwin Hulbert 2nd Model Pocket Army, made sometime between 1881 and 1883. Chambered for 44-40. Of course, I only shoot all of these antiques with Black Powder.

 

[44 AMP]

Our love for the SAA stems from cowboy movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s, and the Saturday morning westerns we watched on TV.

I watched cartoons on Saturday morning! Westerns, we watched on weeknights, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Have Gun will Travel, The Lone Ranger, Death Valley Days, and many others.

If you grew up within the past century and didn't have a "cowboy 6 shooter" of some kind as a toy gun, I think you had a deprived childhood!

Growing up some, I got to learn and use my Dad's handguns. I got to know them pretty well, and handloaded for some of them. Colt Govt models, .45ACP and .38 Super. S&W Highway Patrolman .357 Magnum and later a Model 29-2 .44 Magnum. Also Browning Challenger and High Standard Sentinal .22LR. Dad didn't have a single action revolver, said he didn't like the grip shape.

In the early 70s, my Mom got a Ruger Super Bearcat .22. Really neat little gun, but not quite the "right" thing for a then 6' 180lb teenager.

In 83 I got a Ruger New Model Blackhawk .45Colt/.45ACP 7.5" barrel. I got it with the intent of being able to plink with my .45ACP ammo, and not have to dig through the weeds to find my brass. The fact that it was a single action added a little, since I had never had one of my own, but the main reason I got it was because it was a .45acp revolver.

On the way home, I got to thinking, I should get at least one box of shells for "the other cylinder" (.45 Colt). So I stopped at a hardware store and found a box of Winchester .45 Colt. (standard full power ammo, "cowboy" ammo didn't exist at the time)

I made one small mistake. I shot that .45 Colt stuff first. WOW!!!!

A huge BOOM and the pistol came back muzzle pointing to the sky. That was SOO FREAKIN COOL!!!!

And it did it every time!! And, not only that, I was hitting what I was aiming at!!! I was HOOKED! Then I tried some of my .45acp ammo, and it was like...meh.. Oh, it was still shooting, there was some recoil, but it just wasn't very impressive. In the 30+ years since, that gun has seen I think maybe 300 .45acp rounds and several thousand .45 Colt.

I'm currently fairly stable at 7 Ruger .45 Colt SA's (two Blackhawks, 4 Vaqueros and a New Vaquero) plus a Blackhawk in .357, a SuperBlackhawk .44Mag, and a Super Single Six .22LR /.22Mag.

I kind of like the Ruger single action.

Would I seek out a gunfight? Not even with my matching 4 5/8" stainless Vaqueros! On the other hand, I would not automatically consider myself doomed to die vainly if that was what I was armed with when I needed a gun.

I got the Single Six specifically to use teaching my kids. They wasted a bit less ammo and got better skilled because they had to "work" more for each shot. Once they had a (small) degree of fire discipline, then they got to use the semi autos.

Why do we still like and trust SA revolvers so much?
#1 Because the Colts (and good copies) are as good today as they always have been, and Rugers (and a couple others) are even better!

#2 Everything does not need to be a modern combat weapon.

Slow down and smell the powder smoke. A pickup truck isn't then best race car, sure, but not every drive is a race.

 

[Pond James Pond]

A SA revolver is something I'd love to own. I've only ever shot one: a Pietta C&B in .44 cal. Two shots from someone else's gun!

For the same reasons I've listed before, I probably won't get the chance: cost, availability and bureaucracy all get in the way, but I'd still love to own a Ruger SBH Hunter in .44Mag.

It may still happen but I'm not holding my breath, just hoping....

 

[claydoctor]

I was cleaning one of my Colt Single Actions awhile back , working the action , turning it over in my hand and the thought occurred to me that handgun production and design could have ended with that gun and we wouldn't have missed a thing .

 

[drobs]

Went on a woods walk yesterday around my property. Strapped on my 357/38 Uberti SAA Hombre and carried my 357/38 Rossi M92. I was playing cowboy and getting a little exercise...

Out and about - it's a Glock 19 w/ 33rds of ammo.

 

[Hunter Customs]

Why do we still like and trust SA revolvers so much?

Maybe a little bit of cowboy in all of us.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I was cleaning one of my Colt Single Actions awhile back , working the action , turning it over in my hand and the thought occurred to me that handgun production and design could have ended with that gun and we wouldn't have missed a thing .

Yeah, we would have.

The Smith and Wesson Triplelock.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

In 83 I got a Ruger New Model Blackhawk .45Colt/.45ACP 7.5" barrel. I got it with the intent of being able to plink with my .45ACP ammo, and not have to dig through the weeds to find my brass. The fact that it was a single action added a little, since I had never had one of my own, but the main reason I got it was because it was a .45acp revolver.

Howdy Again

Yup, used to watch the opening of Gunsmoke just to see Marshal Dillon lay Arvo Ojala down every Sunday night, right after the Ed Sullivan show.

I got my 45 Colt/45ACP convertible Blackhawk a little bit earlier than you, 1975. The thing is, I didn't really want the 45ACP cylinder because I already knew I was going to be mostly shooting 45 Colt out of it. Dumb kid that I was I even asked the dealer if I could buy it without the extra cylinder. It cost $125 back then, which was a lot of money for a kid in his twenties and I was trying to save a few bucks.

Well of course the dealer said no, if I wanted the gun I had to buy the whole thing. Got to tell you, many years went by before I ever shot any 45 ACP out of that gun. Since 1975, it has seen almost nothing but 45 colt.

 

[4V50 Gary]

I think they're a lot of fun but with their slower rate of fire (thanks to the loading and unloading procedure) they would not be my first choice in a self-defense situation. Give me a Ruger or S&W first. I can be quite quick with a speedloader.

 

[Clark]

When I got my hands on a Colt 1873 SAA clone, a Uberti Iver Johnson Italian, I was amazed at the design.

How could Colt have achieved ergonomic and mechanical perfection so fast?


The answer is that Colt had got the bugs out with the earlier cap and ball revolvers.

 

[Kosh75287]

A Single-Action revolver may not be "state of the art" for defense anymore, but an adversary armed with one must still be taken very seriously. If it's the only pistol said adversary owns, I'll expect him to be quite good with it.

 

[SaxonPig]

I made a video of me shooting a 2G 45 SAA that I bought last year. Made in 1961, it had not been fired since leaving the factory. I also shot a 1993 3G that went unfired until I bought it last year.

I shoot all my guns.

 

[Real Gun]

drobs, that is art right there, second only to a beautiful young woman.

 

[CajunBass]

A single action revolver, invokes images of campfires and cattle trails. The jingle of spurs, the creak of saddle leather, a horses soft breath, a sweat stained hat, and dusty boots. A long lonely trail to a place with lights in the window, hot coffee on the stove, and a friend to share it with.

No, they might not be "combat tupperware" but that's not why I like them. I like them because they take me back to a kid I used to know, who "covered" for Roy, Gene, Matt, and Hoss, and dozens of others, with a brace of Fanner 50's. Not one of those men ever got backshot when the "Hanover Kid" had their backs. They knew they could count on him.

The Fanner 50's are long gone...no doubt rusted away in the soil of the old Hanover homestead. Today, the "Hanover Kid" has to settle for these.



Happy Trails y'all.

 

[osbornk]

It is hard to like a semi auto handgun.

It is easy to love a revolver.

I would have said the same thing until I bought a 1911. I think we like revolvers because it is what we were around as kids and what we saw on TV and in the movies. However, I also saw 1911s on TV and in the movies in war movies. If I had to choose my revolvers or my 1911, it would be a hard choice and the 1911 might win. The 1911 is easier to work on, parts are available everywhere and they are also fun to shoot.

 

[Hunter Customs]

I would have said the same thing until I bought a 1911. I think we like revolvers because it is what we were around as kids and what we saw on TV and in the movies. However, I also saw 1911s on TV and in the movies in war movies. If I had to choose my revolvers or my 1911, it would be a hard choice and the 1911 might win. The 1911 is easier to work on, parts are available everywhere and they are also fun to shoot.

My thoughts exactly.
In my case the 1911 would win unless I could have one of each.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

 

[James K]

Oddly enough, those who claim love for single action revolvers really mean ONE single action revolver, the Colt SAA (or basic copies, including the Rugers).

Does anyone think an S&W single action .38, or a Remington-Smoot, or any of the hundreds of single action solid frame revolvers in .32 and .38 would be suitable for common use today? How about a Schofield? Or a M&H? I doubt it. So what folks mean by "Single Action" really is a large caliber, military style holster pistol of the Colt SAA type. And that pretty well limits the discussion because no one except a die-hard SAA fan would carry one as a concealed(?) weapon, or advocate an SAA for police use.

Jim

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Oddly enough, those who claim love for single action revolvers really mean ONE single action revolver, the Colt SAA (or basic copies, including the Rugers).

Does anyone think an S&W single action .38, or a Remington-Smoot, or any of the hundreds of single action solid frame revolvers in .32 and .38 would be suitable for common use today? How about a Schofield? Or a M&H? I doubt it. So what folks mean by "Single Action" really is a large caliber, military style holster pistol of the Colt SAA type. And that pretty well limits the discussion because no one except a die-hard SAA fan would carry one as a concealed(?) weapon, or advocate an SAA for police use.

Apparently you did not see my photos of my S&W Schofield, Russian, New Model Number Three, and Merwin Hulbert in addition to my Colts on the previous page.

Your definition of 'common use' is not the same as mine. I shoot all of them.

Here I am shooting my Merwin Hulbert Pocket Army, made sometime between 1881 and 1883.