Couple of questions regarding Colt SAA

4

45C

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
191   0   0
Location
Canada
I understand that a Colt chambered in 45Colt is a no go.
Can someone explain why? It's an original caliber ,isn't it?

Can a Colt SAA with a 45 LC chamber/barrel , be rechambered to meet the antique requirements, providing the date of manufacture is correct?

And what would be the closest to 45 colt,that would meet the requirements?
 
Its the ready availability to obtain ammunition that takes it out of the antique class. There is a short list of calibers that do this to an otherwise antique handgun. if the caliber isnt on the list and its made before Dec. 31, 1897 its an antique.

No. if the gun was manufactured in a caliber on the list, it can never be converted to antique status. used to be able to. this changed about 10 years ago.

Colt SAA was made in a few antique status calibers. (e.g. .455, .41 Colt, .44 rimfire, .44 Russian) any of those can be converted to any caliber that isnt on the list (.38 sp, .22 mag, etc) and still retain their antique status.
 
Hey Thanks
Which would be closest to 45 LC ? Regards to power.
41 colt or 44 Russian .
And are reloading components available for either of those.
 
.44 Russian is definitely much easier to get components for reloading. Power wise they are similar Ive only owned 1 .41 colt, but have owned several guns in .44 russian. Brass is available or you can cut down .44 mag or .44 special. Any mold for .44 mag will work for .44 russian. in antiques, cast pure lead bullets. easy peasy . .41 colt needs a heel based bullet. harder to find but not impossible.
 
45C said:
Can a Colt SAA with a 45 LC chamber/barrel , be rechambered to meet the antique requirements, providing the date of manufacture is correct?

And what would be the closest to 45 colt,that would meet the requirements?
Click to expand...

What previous posts have missed is that calibers other than 45 mean that you would have to replace or sleeve the barrel to the smaller options. Further, while staying in 45 caliber, there is the 45 scofield which is a shorter version of the 45 cold but to do that you would need to bush the front of the cylinder to prevent 45 long colt shells being chambered in the gun. Going down in caliber means that you would have to bush the cylinder or have a new one made chambered in a smaller caliber, in addition to replacing the barrel. Those options are expensive and would also decrease the value of the gun you were starting with, unless it was already in poor condition

cheers mooncoon
 
Thanks
I've seen a couple of 45 LC,that met the time requirements and thought they could be redone to correct calibers.
44 Russian sounds interesting.
 
mooncoon said:
What previous posts have missed is that calibers other than 45 mean that you would have to replace or sleeve the barrel to the smaller options. Further, while staying in 45 caliber, there is the 45 scofield which is a shorter version of the 45 cold but to do that you would need to bush the front of the cylinder to prevent 45 long colt shells being chambered in the gun. Going down in caliber means that you would have to bush the cylinder or have a new one made chambered in a smaller caliber, in addition to replacing the barrel. Those options are expensive and would also decrease the value of the gun you were starting with, unless it was already in poor condition

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Leave the barrel as is and get a cylinder chambered for 45 S&W. - dan
 
If the SAA has been registered in Canada as a .45 Colt, it will not be reclassified as antique no matter what caliber it is converted to.
 
The gun has to be originally made in the antique classified calibre.
The frame is usually calibre stamped on the British made ones
 
Yes, thats what I was saying. If it starts life as a 45LC then it can never get its antique status no matter what you do to it. If it started out as an antique status gun (caliber NOT on the short list) then it can be re-chambered and retain antique status as long as the re-chambering is NOT on the short list.
 
tumbleweeds13 said:
Its the ready availability to obtain ammunition that takes it out of the antique class. There is a short list of calibers that do this to an otherwise antique handgun. if the caliber isnt on the list and its made before Dec. 31, 1897 its an antique.

No. if the gun was manufactured in a caliber on the list, it can never be converted to antique status. used to be able to. this changed about 10 years ago.

Colt SAA was made in a few antique status calibers. (e.g. .455, .41 Colt, .44 rimfire, .44 Russian) any of those can be converted to any caliber that isnt on the list (.38 sp, .22 mag, etc) and still retain their antique status.
Click to expand...

That highlighted above, is pure useless bull poo!
Availability of ammo was not ever part of the Laws.

From a LEGAL standpoint, any pre 1897 gun that is now in a non-listed caliber, should be considered a Prescribed Antique. However, as a policy internal to the RCMP, they decided outside the laws, that they would no longer de-register conversions from any calibers that were not already Prescribed Antiques.
Until someone manages to get a win in a Court Case, it's like to stay that way.
 
You are correct. I worded that poorly. What I should have said is that the short list of no go cartridges is more or less based on which cartridges are readily available.
 
trevj said:
That highlighted above, is pure useless bull poo!
Availability of ammo was not ever part of the Laws.
Click to expand...

With humble apologies, I have to correct the facts regarding your statement “availability of ammo was not ever part of the laws”. Your statement smells like barn yard - to paraphrase your words. :)

I have a copy of the 1992 Department of Justice brochure titled “Canada’s New Firearms Control Law - Barrel Length and Antique Firearms”. The document was intended to communicate “Effective August 1, 1992, two important new criteria affect whether or not a firearm is restricted”

The relevant bit of the brochure explaining the (current at the time in 1992) legislation is below:

”Under the previous legislation, a firearm manufactured before 1898 that was not designed to use rimfire or centerfire ammunition was classified as antique. Further, if the firearm was designed or redesigned to use only rimfire or centerfire ammunition which was no longer ‘commercially manufactured’, it was also classified as an antique.

The words ‘commercially manufactured’ have been replaced with ‘commonly available in Canada’ to provide a greater degree of certainty as to which firearms are classified as restricted weapons.

Now, if ammunition for the firearm is commonly available on the market in Canada, whether commercially manufactured or not, the firearm ceases to be an antique. This means that, in some cases, handguns which had previously qualified as antiques must now be registered. Antique rifles and shotguns will not need to be registered.”
 
There was a time when a pistol could get reclassified from restricted to antique by changing the caliber.
The policy has changed. The CFP will no longer reclassify a restricted firearm to antique when the caliber is changed, if the thing has been registered as restricted in Canada.
If a pre-98 .45 SAA were in the US, was altered to a caliber not on the no go list in the US, and then imported into Canada, it might enter the country as antique.
I have seen no reports that the original caliber of the revolver must be established before importation with antique status is approved.
If you want to find out if your Colt is still considered by the CFP to be antique, you could call and ask. Get the answer in writing. Do you really want to find out?
 
The relevant bit of the brochure explaining the (current at the time in 1992) legislation is below:

”Under the previous legislation, a firearm manufactured before 1898 that was not designed to use rimfire or centerfire ammunition was classified as antique. Further, if the firearm was designed or redesigned to use only rimfire or centerfire ammunition which was no longer ‘commercially manufactured’, it was also classified as an antique.

The words ‘commercially manufactured’ have been replaced with ‘commonly available in Canada’ to provide a greater degree of certainty as to which firearms are classified as restricted weapons.
Click to expand...


the explanatory brochures and the summaries on the RCMP web page are not the law as written and it is the law as written combined with how it is currently interpreted by the RCMP is the important definition

cheers mooncoon
 
Reviving an oldy here. Has any one recently tried importing an "antique" Colt SAA from the U.S.? I am wondering if the border officials asked for a Colt letter. Looking at an antique Colt by serial number but it's in 38sp.(which i understand started production in the SAA in the early 1900s.) Probably started off as a caliber on the restricted list.
 
CaribouHunter said:
Reviving an oldy here. Has any one recently tried importing an "antique" Colt SAA from the U.S.? I am wondering if the border officials asked for a Colt letter. Looking at an antique Colt by serial number but it's in 38sp.(which i understand started production in the SAA in the early 1900s.) Probably started off as a caliber on the restricted list.
Click to expand...

Lots of Antique Status .38 SAA's around. Getting it out of the States is easy, getting it IN to Canada, is gonna be not so much.

Because of the above mentioned Policy Change, the RCMP have decided that if it did not start off as an Antique qualifying caliber, it can not be one.

So, it's a risk you have to decide upon. If it makes it to you, and you do not ever register it with the RCMP (which is essentially what 'Getting an RCMP Letter' is, you are legal as best I understand it.

But if it ends up in the system somehow along the way, you may lose it, or you may end up owning a quite overpriced, registered Restricted SAA that is not original.

Been wrong before, but that is how I read things these days. I would not risk the money unless the gun lettered out to a 'Antique' status qualifying original caliber, given the state of things between the heightened Border Security and the RCMP making policy as if they were making Law.
 
trevj is correct about 38 special Colt SAA antique revolvers. My gun was made in 1893 and changed to 38 special sometime later.

Cheers
Moe

SAA.jpg
 

Attachments

  • SAA.jpg
    SAA.jpg
    83.7 KB · Views: 69
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom