Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single-action revolver handgun. It was designed for the U.S. government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and was adopted as the standard-issued revolver of the U.S. Army from 1873 to 1892.
The Colt SAA has been offered in over 30 different calibers and various barrel lengths. Its overall appearance has remained consistent since 1873. Colt has cancelled its production twice, but renewed it due to popular demand. The revolver was dubbed the "Peacemaker", and is a famous piece of Americana and the American Wild West era, due to its popularity with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. Today, it is mainly bought as memorabilia by collectors and re-enactors. Its design has influenced the production of numerous other models from other companies.
The original length of the barrel, issued to the U.S. Cavalry, was, with an overall length of.
History
Bound by the Rollin White patent, and not wanting to pay a royalty fee to Smith & Wesson, Colt could not begin development of bored-through revolver cylinders for metallic cartridge use until April 4, 1869. For the design, Colt turned to two of its best engineers: William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff Richards who had developed a number of revolvers and black powder conversions for the company. Their effort was designed for the United States government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and adopted as the standard military service revolver. Production began in 1873 with the Single Action Army model 1873, also referred to as the "New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol".The first production Single Action Army, serial number 1, thought lost for many years after its production, was found in a barn in Nashua, New Hampshire, in the early 1900s. This gun was chambered in.44 S&W, a centerfire design containing charges of up to of fine-grained black powder and a blunt roundnosed bullet. Relative to period cartridges and most later handgun rounds, it was quite powerful in its full loading.
The Colt Single Action Army revolver, along with the 1870 and 1875 Smith & Wesson American and Model 3 "Schofield" revolvers, replaced the Colt 1860 Army Percussion revolver. The Colt quickly gained favor over the S&W and remained the primary U.S. military sidearm until 1892 when it was replaced by the.38 Long Colt caliber Colt Model 1892, a double-action revolver with swing-out cylinder. By the end of 1874, serial no. 16,000 was reached; 12,500 Colt Single Action Army revolvers chambered for the.45 Colt cartridge had entered service and the remaining revolvers were sold in the civilian market.
First generation (1873–1941)
The Single Action Army became available in standard barrel lengths of inch, inch, as well as the Cavalry standard, original inch. The shorter barrelled revolvers are sometimes called the "Civilian" or "Gunfighter" model and the Artillery Model. There was also a variant with a sub-4-inch barrel, without an ejector rod, unofficially called the "Sheriff's Model", "Banker's Special", or "Storekeeper".From 1875 until 1880 Colt marketed a single-action revolver chambered in.44 Henry in a separate number range from no. 1 to 1,863.
A "Flattop Target Model" was listed in Colt's catalogs from 1890 to 1898. Colt manufactured 914 of these revolvers with a frame that was flat on top and fitted with an adjustable leaf rear sight. The front sight consisted of a base with an interchangeable blade.
In 1896, at serial number 164,100, a spring-loaded base pin latch replaced the cylinder pin retaining screw and by 1900, at serial number 192,000, the Colt Single Action was certified for use with smokeless powder. In 1920, larger, highly visible sights replaced the original thin blade and notch. The revolvers remained essentially unchanged from that point until cessation of manufacture at the beginning of World War II.
From 1873 through 1940, production of the Colt Single Action Army reached 357,859. This is identified as the "Pre War" or "First Generation" of the model. Calibers, at least thirty in all, ranged from.22 rimfire through.476 Eley, with approximately half, or 158,884, chambered for.45 Colt. The next most prevalent were the.44-40 Winchester Center fire at 71,392; 38-40 at 50,520;.32-20 Winchester at 43,284 and, the 41 Colt at 19,676.
Military use
All original, good condition, U.S. Cavalry and Artillery Single Action Armies are among the most valuable to collectors. Especially valuable, often going for well over $10,000, are the OWA and the rare Henry Nettleton inspected Single Action Army Colts.The OWA Colt refers to the earliest issued Single Action Army guns, which were inspected by Orville W. Ainsworth. Ainsworth was the ordnance sub-inspector at the Colt factory for the first 13 months of the Single Action Army's production. It was Ainsworth who inspected the Colts used by Col. G. A. Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The number range of possible Little Bighorn Colts is 4500–7527.
Henry Nettleton was the U.S. Principal Sub-inspector in 1878 at the Springfield Armory. Second only to the OWA Colts, Nettleton Colts are prized by serious collectors. Both the Nettleton and OWA Colts have the cartouche on the left side of the wood grip.
By the mid-1870s, the Army had purchased a significant number of Smith & Wesson Schofield revolvers chambering a shorter.45 round. Logistical problems arose because the ammunition was not interchangeable. The Colt revolvers would accept the shorter round, but not vice versa. For a time, the Government stopped orders for the longer Colt cartridge and used the Smith & Wesson round exclusively. The Schofield was soon retired and sold to the civilian market.
The largest group of U.S. Colt Cavalry revolvers was inspected by David F. Clark, his D.F.C. cartouche being encountered on revolvers inspected from 1880 to 1887. During 1893, the.45 U.S. Colt Single Action Army revolver was retired by the Cavalry and replaced by the.38 caliber Colt Model 1892 Double Action Army revolver. The.45 Single Action Army revolver was still standard issue to the Infantry, Artillery and other branches of the U.S. Army.
In 1895–1896, the U.S. federal government returned 2,000 SAA revolvers to Colt to be refurbished; 800 were issued to the New York Militia with the barrel and 1,200 were altered to a barrel length of. In 1898, 14,900 of the SAA revolvers were altered the same way by Springfield Armory. The original records of the War Department do refer to these revolvers with the shortened barrel as the "Altered Revolver". The name "Artillery" is actually a misnomer, which Sapp speculates may have originated because the Light Artillery happened to have the first units armed with the altered revolver.
The Artillery Single Actions were issued to the Infantry, the Light Artillery, the Volunteer Cavalry and other troops because the standard-issue.38 caliber Colt M 1892 double-action revolver was lacking in stopping power. For that reason, the.45 Artillery SAA Revolvers were used successfully by front troops in the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War. Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill wielding the.45 caliber Artillery Model.
The Artillery Model usually had mixed numbers. It can be identified by the U.S. on the frame, the inspector's stamps on different parts and the cartouche of Rinaldo A. Carr, the inspector who inspected the refurbished guns, on the grip.
The Colt Frontier Six-Shooter
The Colt Frontier or Frontier Six-Shooter was a Colt 1873 "Model P" manufactured in.44-40 Winchester caliber instead of.45 Colt so that it was compatible with the new, hugely successful Winchester Model 1873 repeating rifle. Users of both weapons in the Far West appreciated the convenience of being able to carry a single caliber of firearm ammunition. Production of the Model P began in 1877. Colt Frontier Six-Shooter was the actual name of the Colt pistol model, which was acid-etched on the left side of the barrel. After 1889, the legend was roll-stamped, with the designation ".44-40" added in 1919. Later Colt M1878 Double Action Army Models also received this designation on the barrel when chambered in.44 WCF/.44-40 Winchester. The Bisley 1895 Model was the final Colt to wear the Frontier Six Shooter designation.The combination of a Colt Frontier Six Shooter revolver and the Winchester Model 1873 chambered in.44-40 WCF was one of the most common seen in "the Old West", carried, for example, by the two mounted "Cowboys" at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Notably, Winchester never undercut itself by offering the M1873 chambered for.45 Colt. After the "frontier" days of the West had passed, the Winchester Model 1892 arrived, which joined the Model 1873 in also being offered in alternative.38-40 and.32-20 calibers, allowing the same convenience of carrying a single round for both revolver and rifle.
The Colt Bisley
The Colt Bisley was introduced in 1894 as an accurate target pistol. The name Bisley came from the famous firing range in Bisley, England. The Colt Bisley can be distinguished by the longer grip, the wider hammer spur, and the wider trigger. The distinguishing feature of the Bisley Target Model is the topstrap, which is flat and fitted with a sliding rear sight, adjustable for windage only. The front sight is a removable blade, which fits into the slotted base attached to the barrel. The revolvers were supplied with different blades for elevation.The Bisley mainspring is longer than the SAA mainspring, and the two are not interchangeable; it is attached to the hammer with a stirrup via a forked upper end. The serial numbers are stamped on the frame, the backstrap and the trigger-guard at the end of production, with tiny dies.
Bisleys were serial-numbered in the range of 156300–331916, in the same sequence as the Single Action Army. All Bisleys after No. 161,376 had "BISLEY MODEL" with the caliber stamped on the left side of the barrel, which is rare for older Colt revolvers. The most common were in the American calibers of.32-20,.38-40,.45 Colt,.44-40,.41 Long Colt, and also in the British calibers of.450 Eley and.455 Eley. A total number of 44,350 were manufactured. Production of the Bisley was terminated in 1912, but serial No. 331916 was shipped after the First World War. Most Bisley Standard Model Revolvers shipped to a United States address were not used for target shooting, but for self-defense, because the grip and hammer were ideal for fast shooting.
Surveys of existing Bisley show that a much larger number of Bisleys, perhaps as high as 62%, have survived as compared to the " and " barreled guns. Considering the majority of Bisleys were made in.32/20 and.38/40, some 60%, it appears that the market for SAAs was changing. In the late 1890s, with increasing urbanization in the Western United States, suggests the possibility that many of these pistols were used as companion pieces to lever-action rifles of the same period. The unique features of the Bisley with their low-slung hammer, less humped backstrap, and shorter barrel may have suited the city-dwelling suit-coat-wearing clientele who still found themselves outdoors, not only on horses but in buggies and automobiles. The need for man-stopping bullets was decreasing in urbanized environments, although in semi-urban areas, a pistol like the Bisley would be suitable for discouraging both four-legged and two-legged "varmints" while also suitable for collecting supper along the road. The Bisley may mark a movement to a more civilized West.