Best Single Action Revolver

CBR600

CBR600

Regular
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Location
Toronto, Ontario
There are so many different brands and prices. I need help picking up a set for a newbie Cowboy Action Shooter.

I am leaning towards 4 3/4 inch barrel

Anyone recommend or have any experience with these brands?

Ruger
Taylor and CO
Uberti
Pietta
 
I shoot CAS and I went with a pair of stainless steel Ruger New Model Vaquero in .357mag with the 4.3/4" barrel.
They are tanks, they run smooth and you can shoot them out of the box.
I did for a year before I changed anything.
I'm thinking I'll get another pair in .45lc maybe for the spring.
I can safely say that you won't regret it.
Good luck!

Frenchy
 
I have a Pietta in 45LC. While i like it as I wanted a copy of the SAA, it realy is only a five shooter.
I had my first accidental discharge in over 25 years because i let the hammer down on a fully loaded cylinder. Everything was ok though, gun was pointed down range.
The Vaquero has a transfer bar system and can be fully loaded.
 
I love my Ruger NM Vaquero. It's built like a tank. That being said, it's not "traditional" like an Taylor & Co, Uberti or Pietta with the 4click, half-####, free-spin cylinder features. I believe the Beretta Stampede is another options but like the Ruger NM Vaquero, it has a transfer bar safety.

On a side note, is Taylor & Co part of Uberti?
 
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When i was in Cow boy shooting i used a Ruger 357 "in holster" but the most fun was my PIETA 44cal Cap & ball !! Try black powder...its a BLAST !! pic in the right "brass."
 
I shoot CAS and I use the Uberti Cattleman in 357. Very nice guns. You'll want to get lighter springs for a faster action. Taylor guns are Uberti but are usaully slicked up and ready to shoot out of the box for CAS. As to barrel length... well there are pros and cons for each length.

I would suggest going to a CAS shoot or a Club practice and get a look first hand. Ask questions and most Cowpokes will let you try out their irons. Oh... and welcome to the fun!
 
If your not into tinkering or spending money on gunsmiths (or plan on shooting full power loads), the Rugers are your Huckleberry. Just change the main spring (from Wolfe or Brownells) to a 17 lb. if your going to use Federal primers or a 19 lb. spring for anything else.

If you want more 1873 colt-old west authenticity, then the Italians (all the other ones you mentioned) will fit the bill better but all will require varying degrees of work to make good cowboy guns. Even the Taylor Firewagon models, sold as "completion ready" can use some work, I've found. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are not good guns...they will all work right out of the box, just not as smooth as a cowboy gun needs to function. Once tuned and smoothed they will function flawlessly and be as good as any Ruger. My wife and I have 2 full sets of Uberti's each and a set of Rugers ...the
Rugers have hung on the wall for ages without being used. That being said we only shoot "cowboy loads" in the Uberti's, they will never see a full house load.

Another very important thing to consider when choosing cowboy guns is the grip design. The conventional and most common "plow handle" works for a lot of people, my wife will use nothing else. For me, the "birds handle" grip works better. My palms sweat easily in the summer heat and I have trouble keeping a plow handle from rolling back in my hand by the third shot ,so much so that it becomes difficult to #### the gun. Changing the panels to a "Gunfighter" style checkered grip will help this. Or you can do what I did, buy "birdshead grips. I find that the little bump on a birdshead backstrap and the fact that my little finger can curl under the heel, stops the roll completely.
Go to a shoot in your area before you spend your money and get someone to show you what's available.
 
I forget who has, but I read an article somewhere about one of the Italian makers putting out a model with a transfer bar system, so as to provide a bit of a safety. I think it's intended for mounted shooters...

I don't shoot CAS, but I love my Pietta that I picked up from Marstar last winter. Got the one listed as having an oversize grip, though I probably do not really need it for a proper hold, despite my big mitts.

The action was gritty at first but smoothed out pretty quick. Getting a bit of oil into it possibly helped to flush out whatever was in there.
 
CBR600 said:
There are so many different brands and prices. I need help picking up a set for a newbie Cowboy Action Shooter.

I am leaning towards 4 3/4 inch barrel

Anyone recommend or have any experience with these brands?


Ruger
Taylor and CO
Uberti
Pietta
Click to expand...


Have you read the SASS Handbook yet and decided which category that your planning on shooting yet? Different categories require different guns!!!! Spend you money once, do your research first!
 
Howdy; Going with a 38/357 is the cal. of most. The new Ruger stainless are hard to beat. The true Colt clone can be more fun. The current crop of single actions are all pretty good as most of the bugs have long since been ironed out.
 
Frankly I wouldn't touch another New Vaquero. For 12 years I shot an "original" Vaquero in .44 mag in Cowboy Action, then my wife started to shoot Cowboy Action, so I bought her a set of "Original" Vaqueros in .357. After 2 years of reloading 2 different calibers, I got fed up and looked for another set of Vaqueros in .357 so my reloading would only be in 1 caliber. I found a set of SASS Vaqueros for sale and bought them, nice guns, right up until the time that the cylinder started to rotate past the cartridge in the cylinder.

To make a long story short I had to replace the Trigger & Cylinder Latch Pivot, the trigger spring, the main spring and the Cylinder Latch spring before I could get the gun working properly. After sighting the gun in, and shooting it for a couple of matches I decided the pistol was to light for me.

I like a bit of heft to my pistols and I started looking for another pair of "Original" Vaqueros in .357. Just after I found another pair of "Original" Vaqueros, got them zeroed, I told the wife I was going to sell the SASS NM Vaqueros. Wait, said she, not until she tries them! She likes them so much, that she no longers uses her "Original" Vaqueros. If she had only told me BEFORE I spent $1,100.00!!!!

I'll stay with the older Vaqueros, one of my .44s had 20,000 rds through the tube before I broke a transfer bar, which took 15 minutes to fix once I got a new one. Love the "Original" Vaqueros.
 
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