Colt Cowboy

[44 Man]

Ok, I posted my impressions on the Beretta Stampede, and Butler Ford mentioned it was what the Colt Cowboy should have been and I tend to agree with him.  So tell me about the Colt Cowboy.  All I have heard about it was that it had a poor trigger.  Lot's of new guns have poor triggers and need attention!  I thought Colt went in a good direction with this gun.  A transfer bar gun a little heavier built than the SAA, but not as bulky as an RV.  Not that it would or should ever replace the SAA, but an addition that filled a hole in Colt's line that they had never addressed before.  So now they have been around for a while, tell me what you like and don't like and if I should consider buying one.  44 Man

[Cheyenne]

Well, no one I think was harder on the idea of the Cowboy than I was to start. It just didn't seem right. First ones I saw had wood grips that were very poorly shaped and felt like 2x4 slabs.  Then a while later I came into a pair with the HR type grip and this is a close duplication of the old 1st gen. grip and is the best felling grip for a SAA, at least to me.

The pair I have were worked on by Marshall Harlan Wolff, a grewat guy and very good shooter as well as one who can really slick a six gun. They have the 5.5" barrels and are as accurate a pistol as I've ever fired.  

While they are a bit bulkier than my 3rd Gen. gun, they are well balanced and they just don't seem to have many, if any misses in them.

Now, the case coloring is poor, like the Ruger, and the fit of the backstrap to the frame is not a perfect match, but they really aren't that bad and I'm picky.....once I shot them, i knew they were keepers.

Personally, I don't use them as much, but they do get out now and again.  I really wish though that Colt had done a Rodeo type of SAA, and that's what a lot of us thought the Cowboy was gonna be, if they had, they'd have cleaned up.

If you get a good deal on one, take a chance as I do not think you'll be disappointed.

 

[ButlerFord45]

I have no idea how many changes the Colt Cowboy went through.  The one I had was identical in apperance and feel of my SAAs.  On close inspection the case hardening looked like the other clones, acid etched, painted on, however, I don't know, but it was pretty.  My problem with the gun is that it wouldn't shoot.  I don't mean that I couldn't hit the target, I mean it wouldn't go "Bang".  It started with one chamber per cylinder full, not always the same chamber either, so I detail stripped and cleaned it, I thought that maybe something had gotten undet the firing pin and wasn't letting it travel far enough forward to pop the primer, so lots of finger pressure, turning and lots of gunscrubber.  I did it just like you'd lap a valve.  After trying this, it started missing on two chambers.  I marked the chambers, and it wasn't the same chambers all the time.  I packed it up and sent it back to Colt (at my nonreimbersed expense).  Two to two and a half months later it comes back.  I took it out back, guess what!!  Now it's three chambers!!!  I don't know if the firing pin was too short, I don't think it was too soft, there was no pening on the end, if the transfer bar was too low, too short or if the hammer was wrong.  I no longer cared, this turkey was history, but that's another story where I deliberately went seaking vengance trying to screw an individual and was sucessful.
I guess to sum up my ideas about Colt:  If you want a collectable gun, get yourself a dressed up Colt, if you want to shoot Colts, join the club, get a SAA. BUT If you want a high quality, reliable Single Action Army pistol, with an American company that will stand behind what they sell, get a USFA.  I wish I had the money for another SAA, it would be USFA.