Colt 1873 S.A.A.

[Deleted]

I tell ya what ------- there's been many a handgun come through these old meathooks, and none of them have felt as good as the old Colt, and its exact clones.  The grip just naturally fits your hand, and the balance of the 4 3/4" model is just perfect.  No it's not fast to empty or reload, but they are certainly accurate, and in the larger caliber chamberings, as lethal as any other handgun out there.
And the mystique!!!   The history of these old rascals turn you into a kid playing cowboys and (politically incorrect) Indians all over again.   Or you can play Sheriff vs cattle rustler/ bounty hunter/ Mississippi riverboat gambler, ar any miscreant fo your choosing..
The beauty of the original Colt and its true clones are no hammer safety, hammer mounted firing pin, and that seductive "click, click. click, click: as the old girl spells her name when you cock the hammer ........  C .... O .... L  .... T. 
That trigger on the fully cocked hammer is almost baby's breath light and smooth.

I'm not even going to mention the superb cosmetics of the guns' finishes, as long as it is blued/ with colocasehardened frame, or gaudy nickel, which I don't care for.

Anybody else got an opinion to share about any of their favorite guns?

[Deleted]

And then after writing the above, I picked up the 1858 Remington, and IT has the same great grip frame contours that the Colt has.  The 8" barrel makes it a bit muzzle heavy, but nothing bad.  
The Remington suffers from a stiffer action due to the heavier hammer fall required to ensure reliable ignition of percussion caps, but now we are trying to compare apples with oranges.  The Remington DOES beat the 1860 Colt because its solid topstrap makes it a stronger gun than the open-topped Colt.   What a lot of people DON'T know is that the first Colt metallic cartridge firing revolver (1871-72) was also the weak open top.  It was 1873 before Colt brought out their solid frame in the now famous and universally recognized Peacemaker.

Wish I could get my hands on an 1875 Remington - the metallic cartridge model.  It's actually better looking than the 1873 Colt.
Well, I can ---------  all it takes is money!

[daleko]

Jun 9, 2017 23:36:26 GMT -5 @muttthemaster said:

I tell ya what ------- there's been many a handgun come through these old meathooks, and none of them have felt as good as the old Colt, and its exact clones.  The grip just naturally fits your hand, and the balance of the 4 3/4" model is just perfect.  No it's not fast to empty or reload, but they are certainly accurate, and in the larger caliber chamberings, as lethal as any other handgun out there.
And the mystique!!!   The history of these old rascals turn you into a kid playing cowboys and (politically incorrect) Indians all over again.   Or you can play Sheriff vs cattle rustler/ bounty hunter/ Mississippi riverboat gambler, ar any miscreant fo your choosing..
The beauty of the original Colt and its true clones are no hammer safety, hammer mounted firing pin, and that seductive "click, click. click, click: as the old girl spells her name when you cock the hammer ........  C .... O .... L  .... T. 
That trigger on the fully cocked hammer is almost baby's breath light and smooth.

I'm not even going to mention the superb cosmetics of the guns' finishes , as long as it is blued/ with colocaseharded frame, or gadufy nickle, which I don't care for.

Anybody else got an opinion to share about any of their favorite guns?

Love the look and history but the grip is smallish and, for me anyway, if one tries to cram the entire hand, which I can't anyway, onto the grip of a SAA or replica, the knuckle of your middle finger is usually either in contact with the trigger guard, or else it is right next to it. So if you are shooting a round with any recoil to it at all, the trigger guard whacks your knuckle, and after a while, it's annoying. On the other hand, if you curl your pinky under the grip, it causes you to shift your hold a bit down on the grip. Which tends to open a gap of about 1/4" between the back of the trigger guard and the knuckle of your middle finger. That 1/4" is all it takes to keep the triggerguard from whacking your knuckle in recoil. But that grip hold was awkward for me, particularly when shooting .45 Colts'.

[Deleted]

Jun 10, 2017 8:19:04 GMT -5 daleko said:

Jun 9, 2017 23:36:26 GMT -5 @muttthemaster said:

I tell ya what ------- there's been many a handgun come through these old meathooks, and none of them have felt as good as the old Colt, and its exact clones.  The grip just naturally fits your hand, and the balance of the 4 3/4" model is just perfect.  No it's not fast to empty or reload, but they are certainly accurate, and in the larger caliber chamberings, as lethal as any other handgun out there.
And the mystique!!!   The history of these old rascals turn you into a kid playing cowboys and (politically incorrect) Indians all over again.   Or you can play Sheriff vs cattle rustler/ bounty hunter/ Mississippi riverboat gambler, ar any miscreant fo your choosing..
The beauty of the original Colt and its true clones are no hammer safety, hammer mounted firing pin, and that seductive "click, click. click, click: as the old girl spells her name when you cock the hammer ........  C .... O .... L  .... T. 
That trigger on the fully cocked hammer is almost baby's breath light and smooth.

I'm not even going to mention the superb cosmetics of the guns' finishes , as long as it is blued/ with colocaseharded frame, or gadufy nickle, which I don't care for.

Anybody else got an opinion to share about any of their favorite guns?

Love the look and history but the grip is smallish and, for me anyway, if one tries to cram the entire hand, which I can't anyway, onto the grip of a SAA or replica, the knuckle of your middle finger is usually either in contact with the trigger guard, or else it is right next to it. So if you are shooting a round with any recoil to it at all, the trigger guard whacks your knuckle, and after a while, it's annoying. On the other hand, if you curl your pinky under the grip, it causes you to shift your hold a bit down on the grip. Which tends to open a gap of about 1/4" between the back of the trigger guard and the knuckle of your middle finger. That 1/4" is all it takes to keep the triggerguard from whacking your knuckle in recoil. But that grip hold was awkward for me, particularly when shooting .45 Colts'.

I love shooting .45 Colt in my Peacemaker.   That rounded grip allows the gun to roll smoothly backward in your hand, reducing felt recoil.  You have to shift your grip to recock it anyway, unless you use the tenderfoot method of recocking with the offhand thumb.   The SAA is a one-handed gun.  If you want to shoot heavy recoiling rounds like .357 Mag,, .44 Mag, etc, in a handgun, shoot them in DA revolvers that were designed for them.
The old Colt looked like a toy in John Wayne's hands, yet he didn't seem to have any trouble shooting them.  He was a a real-life gun collector, and his history with using Colts in his movies --- in some cases his personally owned guns --- is fascinating.

All hands are different, and I really don't like how the humped backstrap of a modern DA revolver slams into the web of my hand under heavy recoil.   That smooth curved plowhandle backstrap of a SA lets the gun gently roll in the hand.

Again, just my opinion, and there is no right or wrong here.  My particular Uberti Colt clone ---- I can't afford a REAL Colt --- has a whisper light trigger (NO finger on it until the last instant), and it is extremely accurate.  I won't say who did the action work, but he knew what he was doing.
I personally will NOT work on a SA mechanism, since it's not my strong point.

Thanks for chiming in Dale!   We don't have to agree on our gun likes.  It's more important that we have fun talking about them and do our best to make sure we keep our freedom to own them.