what gen is colt ssa up to now
In all three generations of Colt SAA standard cataloged barrel lengths accept been: 7 ½" (summit) five ½"
(centre) and 4 ¾" lesser. In the same order these Colts are .38 WCF (.38-40), .38 WCF (.38-twoscore) and .44 WCF (.44-40).
Part x Of 12 Part Genesis Of The Colt Unmarried Action
In the fall of 1976 when reading an article by writer Skeeter Skelton, I got both good news and bad news. The bad news was Filly had quietly discontinued production of the 2nd Generation Unmarried Action Army (SAA) in 1974. Few shooters outside the firearms industry had heard a give-and-take about information technology. The good news was Colt was bringing the SAA dorsum again in a 3rd Generation.
Skeeter said there were changes made but the basic SAA was the same, i.east. 3 standard barrel lengths of four ¾", 5 ½" and 7 ½", finishes of total nickel or blueish, with color case hardened frame, and grips of difficult rubber. Grips on nickeled guns were walnut, with Colt's Rampant Filly medallions.
The changes were incorporated in an effort past Colt to continue prices down. One new alter was a pressed-in cylinder pivot bushing instead of the removable ones used in 1st and 2nd Generation cylinders. Also the ratchet at the rear of the cylinders was re-shaped, which also necessitated a dissimilar shape on the rotating hand. And for some unknown reason, the pitch of the barrel's threads was changed from the 20 threads per inch (TPI) every bit used on 1st and second Generation SAAs to 24 TPI for these new ones.
Toward the stop of second Generation production Colt had begun using some investment cast parts, just the frames continued to exist forged. The introductory caliber for 3rd Generation SAAs was .45 Colt, just .357 Magnum came along by the terminate of 1976.
Although there are differences in specifications between 1st and 2nd Generation SAAs and 3rd
Generation ones, there is still the possibility of parts interchangeability. This Colt has a 2nd Generation
main frame and grip frame, a 1st Generation barrel and a 3rd Generation .44 WCF/.44-40 cylinder.
Sheriff'southward Models had been just a small production run in 2nd Generation and all were .45 Colts.
In 3rd Generation, they were built by the thousands as .44s with both .44 Special and .44-xl cylinders.
In summertime months Duke keeps one handy for rattlers with .44 Special cylinder installed.
Information technology's loaded with the commencement three rounds as shot loads and the last ii as ordinary bulleted rounds.
In the Colt SAAs almost 140 year history these 8 calibers have been themost popular.
From left to right: .45 Colt, .44 WCF (.44-40) .38 WCF (.38-40).32 WCF (.32-xx) .41 Colt
(aka .41 Long Colt) .38 Special, .44 Special and .357Magnum. All simply .41 Colt are over again available
in 3rd Generation product.
Duke's Get-go 3rd Gen. SAA
And towards the end of 1976 is when I was introduced to 3rd Generation SAAs. That October the chore I was working had paid a bit of overtime, so I ordered one of the new .45s with 7 ½" butt. It was a disappointment. The grip frame's edges did not friction match the main frame and the activity was rough. The frame had been so heavily polished all screw holes were dished out. Third Generation serial numbers started once again at lxxx,000SA, leaving a gap of 5,000-plus after discontinuance of the 2d Generation. My offset 3rd Generation SAA had a number well-nigh 500 into that 80,000SA range.
Happily non all 3rd Generation SAAs were equally poorly put together every bit mine. Some I saw in the tardily 1970s were finely fabricated handguns. Regardless, Colt got and deserved a reputation for spotty quality. By 1978, at Skeeter Skelton's continual urging, Colt added .44 Special as a quotient option to the 3rd Generation. Besides at that year, series numbers reached 99,999SA and then Colt started them again at SA00001.
In 1978 I discovered a little known fact about SAAs. Third Generation cylinders could be fitted to second Generation SAAs by simply plumbing equipment 3rd Generation easily to go with them. I had managed to find a 2nd Generation .357 Magnum at a very decent cost and, wonder of wonders, a brand new unfired v ½" .44-40 barrel marked Filly Borderland Six-Shooter. That had to accept been left over from 1st Generation production. Those 2 were mated past my gunsmith, and so he put in a new 3rd Generation .44 Special cylinder and manus. Everything went together perfectly and that particular SAA has been Yvonne's now for three decades.
All Colt SAAs with serial numbers starting with SA are tertiary Generation.
After serial numbers reached SA99999 Colt started over with an "S" prefix and an "A" suffix.
In the 3rd Generation, Colt over again started using the same caliber designations as were standard
on 1st Generation. For instance, this 3rd Generation Filly is stamped .38 WCF instead of .38-40.
Good News/Bad News
Anyway, back to tertiary Generation production. In the spring of 1982 Filly delivered nosotros SAA fanciers more of that skillful news/bad news stuff. The good news was the .44-40 would once again be a caliber choice, just simply in 4 ¾" and 7 ½" barrel lengths. The bad news was Colt was going to remove SAAs from their standard catalog and make them only available from the Colt Custom Shop, and simply so if they were ordered with "embellishments." That translated into custom grips, engraving, presentation boxes and such.
About this aforementioned fourth dimension Filly began offering the mistakenly called "black powder frame" version of SAA. That is the frame style with a screw line-fishing in from the front to secure the cylinder base pin instead of the transverse spring loaded latch fabricated standard subsequently nigh 1896. Despite my sourness over that first 3rd Generation .45 back in 1976 I just had to have ane of those. And then it was ordered with ivory grips and a presentation box.
I waited and waited for its delivery until many months had passed. Finally i twenty-four hours I chosen the Colt Custom Shop and spoke to a dainty lady. After checking she said, "Sir, your gun is gear up but the presentation boxes have not been delivered from the supplier." I replied, "Lady, I can't shoot a box. Send the gun, the box can come along whenever." That .45 arrived in December of '84 and I yet have information technology.
Colt'due south timing in taking the SAA out of the catalog in '82 had been poor. The sport of cowboy action shooting had just gotten started and the market for SAAs increased dramatically. By 1993 Colt added the SAA back to the catalog with caliber options being merely .45 Filly and .44-twoscore. Early in 1994 .38-forty was resurrected and I got one of the offset. It was a fine gun and 1 of the well-nigh accurate SAAs of my all-encompassing experience.
Too somewhere around that time serial numbers had reached SA99,999 so Colt split the SA and started over once more at S00001A. Some people started calling these SAAs "4th Generation" but Colt officials emphatically told me that since nothing had been changed in their manufacture these were withal 3rd Generation.
Speaking of my ain experiences, I ain several SAAs with the separate "S00001A" type serial numbers. All take been finely built and fine shooting sixguns. In fact some will easily outdo 1st and second Generation SAAs in the same caliber. Besides the standard iii butt lengths in the 3rd Generation, Colt also made special runs of Sheriff'south Models (3″ barrel), Storekeepers Model (4″ barrel) and Buntline Specials (12″ barrels). The but i of those special runs I've favored is a Sheriff'south Model with dual cylinders for .44-40 and .44 Special. A Sheriff's Model in .45 Colt had been made in a special run of 503 in 2nd Generation production, but these 3rd Generation Sheriff's Model .44s were made by the thousands. In summer I often stick mine in my hip pocket with shot loads due to the plentitude of rattlers effectually my acreage here in Montana. Information technology has been fired for that purpose many times.
Because the cowboy action sport demanded it, some changes have been made in SAAs in the last decade or so. The removable base pin bushing has been reinstated. Likewise near all the major calibers of 1st, 2nd and third Generations have been once again added to the catalog. Near the only one not there is .41 Colt. Shooters can now buy SAAs chambered for .32-xx, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .38-40, .44 Special, .44-forty and .45 Colt.
Duke often keeps that 3" barreled Sheriff's Model handy in summer effectually his Montana acreage.
The hammer is kept down on an empty sleeping room for safety.
Total Numbers
Sales of SAAs in the 21st century are non booming. Unofficially, I've been told Filly ships out virtually 1,000 SAAs a year on the boilerplate. The highest serial number I have personally seen has been in the S156000A range.
I can't run across myself buying any new SAAs. I take them in .357 Magnum, .38-forty, .44-40, .44 Special and .45 Filly calibers, with both blued/color example hardened and nickel-plated finishes. That said, I still wish Filly well with their current SAAs. I tin't help only wonder, even so, what they volition exercise when serial numbers reach S99999A!
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