As a devout Smith & Wesson collector, I have a hard time singing the praises of a Colt (just kidding). It is true, however, that the Colt SAA was not an immediate success, and its history is fraught with some controversy.
The Single Action Army was the result of poor results achieved at the US Ordnance trials in 1872, where Colt submitted their Open Top 44 revolver. Within months of the trial, chief engineer William Mason had a new design available – a solid-frame construction, with a screw-in barrel and an innovative ejection mechanism. Interestingly, the action remained largely unchanged, a mechanism which dates back to the earliest Walkers, over 25 years before. The ordnance department was easily convinced, and provided a favorable review. This was followed by a contract for the US cavalry of more than 37,000 pieces from 1873 to 1891, and over 350,000 manufactured by the time the Second World War broke out. Although popular at the time, and iconic by any standard, the Colt SAA was not unanimously accepted without criticism. A period account by “Cimmarron” Beach of Ellsworth, Kansas states:
“Gents: Sometime ago I wanted to buy a good revolver & most of my friends advised me to buy a Colt’s Improved cartridge revolver but I did not like their appearance. The store keeper had Smith & Wesson revolvers. I liked them, their apparatus for throwing out the hulls and general appearance of the revolver. But I was told that they was not a good revolver - they got out of fix too easy and was not a good revolver any way. I just told them Mr. Smith & Wesson knowed what they was doing when they made that revolver…I have been shooting your make and find it a perfect revolver. I can kill a man at 100 yards with my revolver every time. I like all frontiersmen like the Smith & Wesson better than Colts.”
Another account by a cavalry officer states that “A Colt makes a good club once you have spent all the cartridges…”. It was universally known that the S&W top-break revolver was much faster to reload than the fixed frame Colt SAA. In fact, a lengthy article in the Washington “Sunday Herald” of 24 September 1874 some four months after Custer’s disastrous defeat at Little Big Horn squarely places the reason for this on the SAA’s cumbersome reloading method:
“…thus it will be seen that it took as much time to get ready the Colt as it did to load the Schofield Smith & Wesson; and that the time required in getting ready and loading the Colt’s once is but trifle less than that consumed in doing the same thing seven times with the Schofield… …We have every reason to believe that Custer’s fight was in all respects a perfect melee in which a good revolver is better than all other weapons; but alas! the heroic band had nothing of the kind – they were armed with the Colt…”
Of the battle, the writer states: “…Had they been armed with a cavalry pistol some of them might have fought their way out, and lived to tell us of the gallant deeds of their comrades dead and mutilated on the field of honor.”
One disadvantage of Smith & Wesson’s Army Revolver (later to become known as the first and second models “American”) was its .44 caliber. US ordnance and men in the field preferred a .45 caliber gun. When Smith & Wesson began manufacturing Bvt. Col. George Schofield’s improved design in .45 caliber, one would have thought that this disadvantage had been taken care of. Subsequent trials, however, proved how biased the inspectors were toward Colt (perhaps indebted?), as described in a letter to D.B Wesson by Dr. C.C. Chaffee, congressman for Massachusetts, and a close ally of S&W, who managed to convince the Ordnance Department to give the S&W another try:
“…they even go out of their way to prevent you from getting an order… the men, or at least a part of them, were committed in favor of Colt’s pistol & did not intend to let you in.”
The fact that Colt always seemed to have the “inside track” with the ordnance department goes back to the days of the Colonel himself – Sam Colt knew whose palms to grease: always happy to bestow an impressive gift of a finely engraved revolver or revolving rifle on a prospective customer, Samuel Colt was a master at keeping his most important clients happy.
This is not to say that the Model of 1873 did not earn its reputation honestly. The many thousands of SAA’s manufactured over the past 152 years, plus the countless replicas and copies speak to the validity of William Mason’s design. The gun is dependable and rugged, well balanced and comfortable to hold. It is an accurate shooter in any of the 30 calibers recorded. R.L. Wilson writes in his book “Colt, An American Legend” about the SAA:
“Of all Colt revolvers none has earned greater fame than the Single Action Army – the Peacemaker – accepted by most connoisseurs as the ne plus ultra of Colt firearms…”
It is true, there is hardly a Western movie or tv show which does not feature the Colt SAA, and countless boys around the world have played Cowboys & Indians with toy Colts of this model (yours truly included…). Of the many antique variants, the most commonly encountered today are the .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 as civilian models, and .45 caliber as “martial” models. Most of the US government purchased models had a 7 ½ inch barrel, whereas most of the civilian models were fitted with shorter barrels. In fact, many of the US army models had their barrels shortened after they were removed from service. Civilian customers seemed to have preferred the shorter barrels, as being easier to handle.
In Canada, with our restrictive firearms laws, only those Colt SAA’s manufactured in .41 Long Colt or one of the European calibers like 450 Boxer or 455 Eley are eligible for antique status, provided they were manufactured before January 1, 1898. The cut-off serial number is 174999. There are a very few in this range made in 44 Russian and .44 rim fire, but they are so rare that they are unlikely to be found available for sale. Even rarer are the very few in .32 and .22, and oddball calibers like .44 and .45 smoothbore.
The preferred and mostly encountered barrel lengths are from about 4 ¾ to 5 ½ inches. Anything shorter or longer would be considered scarce.
The names of Colt SAA owners are a veritable “who’s who” of American Western history. A few of the well-known individuals carrying Colt SAA’s were: General George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, Bat Masterson, Judge Roy Bean, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, The James, Younger and Dalton boys, Theodore Roosevelt, and finally, General George Patton, who carried a nickel plated, ivory -handled SAA throughout WWII.
The Model of 1873 Single Action Army may have been Colt’s greatest achievement in revolver design, and among handguns in general, it may even be ahead of the iconic M1911 Government.
Colt SAA in .41 LC with a scarce 7 1/2 inch barrel
Exceptional SAA in .41 LC with a 5 1/2 inch barrel
Smith & Wesson Schofield Second Model in .45 Schofield
The Single Action Army was the result of poor results achieved at the US Ordnance trials in 1872, where Colt submitted their Open Top 44 revolver. Within months of the trial, chief engineer William Mason had a new design available – a solid-frame construction, with a screw-in barrel and an innovative ejection mechanism. Interestingly, the action remained largely unchanged, a mechanism which dates back to the earliest Walkers, over 25 years before. The ordnance department was easily convinced, and provided a favorable review. This was followed by a contract for the US cavalry of more than 37,000 pieces from 1873 to 1891, and over 350,000 manufactured by the time the Second World War broke out. Although popular at the time, and iconic by any standard, the Colt SAA was not unanimously accepted without criticism. A period account by “Cimmarron” Beach of Ellsworth, Kansas states:
“Gents: Sometime ago I wanted to buy a good revolver & most of my friends advised me to buy a Colt’s Improved cartridge revolver but I did not like their appearance. The store keeper had Smith & Wesson revolvers. I liked them, their apparatus for throwing out the hulls and general appearance of the revolver. But I was told that they was not a good revolver - they got out of fix too easy and was not a good revolver any way. I just told them Mr. Smith & Wesson knowed what they was doing when they made that revolver…I have been shooting your make and find it a perfect revolver. I can kill a man at 100 yards with my revolver every time. I like all frontiersmen like the Smith & Wesson better than Colts.”
Another account by a cavalry officer states that “A Colt makes a good club once you have spent all the cartridges…”. It was universally known that the S&W top-break revolver was much faster to reload than the fixed frame Colt SAA. In fact, a lengthy article in the Washington “Sunday Herald” of 24 September 1874 some four months after Custer’s disastrous defeat at Little Big Horn squarely places the reason for this on the SAA’s cumbersome reloading method:
“…thus it will be seen that it took as much time to get ready the Colt as it did to load the Schofield Smith & Wesson; and that the time required in getting ready and loading the Colt’s once is but trifle less than that consumed in doing the same thing seven times with the Schofield… …We have every reason to believe that Custer’s fight was in all respects a perfect melee in which a good revolver is better than all other weapons; but alas! the heroic band had nothing of the kind – they were armed with the Colt…”
Of the battle, the writer states: “…Had they been armed with a cavalry pistol some of them might have fought their way out, and lived to tell us of the gallant deeds of their comrades dead and mutilated on the field of honor.”
One disadvantage of Smith & Wesson’s Army Revolver (later to become known as the first and second models “American”) was its .44 caliber. US ordnance and men in the field preferred a .45 caliber gun. When Smith & Wesson began manufacturing Bvt. Col. George Schofield’s improved design in .45 caliber, one would have thought that this disadvantage had been taken care of. Subsequent trials, however, proved how biased the inspectors were toward Colt (perhaps indebted?), as described in a letter to D.B Wesson by Dr. C.C. Chaffee, congressman for Massachusetts, and a close ally of S&W, who managed to convince the Ordnance Department to give the S&W another try:
“…they even go out of their way to prevent you from getting an order… the men, or at least a part of them, were committed in favor of Colt’s pistol & did not intend to let you in.”
The fact that Colt always seemed to have the “inside track” with the ordnance department goes back to the days of the Colonel himself – Sam Colt knew whose palms to grease: always happy to bestow an impressive gift of a finely engraved revolver or revolving rifle on a prospective customer, Samuel Colt was a master at keeping his most important clients happy.
This is not to say that the Model of 1873 did not earn its reputation honestly. The many thousands of SAA’s manufactured over the past 152 years, plus the countless replicas and copies speak to the validity of William Mason’s design. The gun is dependable and rugged, well balanced and comfortable to hold. It is an accurate shooter in any of the 30 calibers recorded. R.L. Wilson writes in his book “Colt, An American Legend” about the SAA:
“Of all Colt revolvers none has earned greater fame than the Single Action Army – the Peacemaker – accepted by most connoisseurs as the ne plus ultra of Colt firearms…”
It is true, there is hardly a Western movie or tv show which does not feature the Colt SAA, and countless boys around the world have played Cowboys & Indians with toy Colts of this model (yours truly included…). Of the many antique variants, the most commonly encountered today are the .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 as civilian models, and .45 caliber as “martial” models. Most of the US government purchased models had a 7 ½ inch barrel, whereas most of the civilian models were fitted with shorter barrels. In fact, many of the US army models had their barrels shortened after they were removed from service. Civilian customers seemed to have preferred the shorter barrels, as being easier to handle.
In Canada, with our restrictive firearms laws, only those Colt SAA’s manufactured in .41 Long Colt or one of the European calibers like 450 Boxer or 455 Eley are eligible for antique status, provided they were manufactured before January 1, 1898. The cut-off serial number is 174999. There are a very few in this range made in 44 Russian and .44 rim fire, but they are so rare that they are unlikely to be found available for sale. Even rarer are the very few in .32 and .22, and oddball calibers like .44 and .45 smoothbore.
The preferred and mostly encountered barrel lengths are from about 4 ¾ to 5 ½ inches. Anything shorter or longer would be considered scarce.
The names of Colt SAA owners are a veritable “who’s who” of American Western history. A few of the well-known individuals carrying Colt SAA’s were: General George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, Bat Masterson, Judge Roy Bean, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, The James, Younger and Dalton boys, Theodore Roosevelt, and finally, General George Patton, who carried a nickel plated, ivory -handled SAA throughout WWII.
The Model of 1873 Single Action Army may have been Colt’s greatest achievement in revolver design, and among handguns in general, it may even be ahead of the iconic M1911 Government.
Colt SAA in .41 LC with a scarce 7 1/2 inch barrel
Exceptional SAA in .41 LC with a 5 1/2 inch barrel
Smith & Wesson Schofield Second Model in .45 Schofield
