curious about colts

[williamlayton]

i posted this question on the single action forum and did not get any response i could hang onto so i will try it here as you folks give good opinions----this is a curious question--i have no opinion-and i'm not trying to pick argument-but why don't colt single action firearms get any reccomendations--cost?  quality? jest wonderin!
blessings

[DB Leath]

I guess the main reason would be cost.  They are expensive.  For the cost of one Colt at lets say 1300.00 bucks you could
1) 2 Ruger Blackhawks New....700.00
2) Stoger shotgun.....275.00
3) Rossi 92   400.00

I know it goes over the 1300.00 but ya get the idea  you can almost get all your cas guns for the price of one colt.

DB

[williamlayton]

db
what about the quality? also what about the one that is 655.00 or is that a cheapie without much quality?
yours was a good answer for me tho.
blessings

[SAAJim]

The $655 Colt SA you mentioned is probably the Cowboy. It's kind of a cross between the Ruger Vaquero and a real SAA. It has the flat springs of the Colt and the transfer bar of the Vaquero which I understand Colt licenses from Ruger. Their quality has been all over the place. Personally, for the $655, I'd either buy a USFA Rodeo for about $500 or a Ruger Vaquero which is built like a tank rather than a Cowboy.
Jim

[ButlerFord45]

Howdy!!

This is my take on the Colts, I have two, and I also have clones and rugers and like them all, so I'll try and be as unbiased as I can.

The third generation Colts don't appear to be quiite the quality of the second generation, and the first generation are to me, more of a collector item, not that they aren't shootable, some people do, but they are not "shooters" as far as I am concerned, far too valuable.
The new colts frequently need a bit of polishing and smoothing of the action to be a competitive pistol, but that's not uncommon for ANY SAA.
Probably the best quality SAA is the USFA (U.S.FireArms) http://www.usfirearms.com  these are being made in the old Colt factory. They are about the same price as a new Colt.  I guess next in decending order would be the now American made AWA, (I don't seem to have the url handy) then the Italian models, which seem to have improved tremendiously in the last few years.  Some people will tell you that there is a difference in quality from one importer to another.  I cannot say.  I would think that coming from the same production line, I'd have my doubts.
The new $650 colt is not a traditional SAA design. It uses a transfer bar system liscensed from ruger.  There are some people that think they are great.  I had one, it was not great, it wasn't good, it wasn't even ok.  It would not fire 6 chambers, even after a trip back to colt, and the reputable smiths I know wouldn't touch it. They told me to send it back to colt.  I traded it for two OLD colt clones that had pitted chambers and bores and I STILL think I got the best end of the trade.
You can spend LARGE dollars on an upper end clone.  A USFA nickel plated, "D" engraved wit Ivory grips is a thing of beauty!!  However it will NEVER be anything other than a Pretty, Expensive Colt Clone
New Colts are quite acceptable out of the box for packin or plinkin.  It packs a pretty good punch for a 125 year old design and cartridge.  They are pretty damn reliable, having a hard time remembering off the top of my head, but there's what? six moving parts??
They are not up for the kind of loads that you can put through a ruger, but I can't think of why anyone would want that kind of power in a light frame with fixed sights.  It would seeme to me that once a bullet has gone completly through man/deer sized targets, anymore is wasted.
New Colts are expensive, second generation Colts are even more expensive. For shooting competition they need a little bit of gun smithing, and for the price you pay for one, you'd hope that it wouldn't be necessary, but that isn't the case.  I really believe that a lot of folks are trying to justify to them selves reasons for not forking over that much money.  I was one of them.  So I can now tell you from experience, that regardless of how much you spend, there is NOTHING like a Colt.

[williamlayton]

thanx for the opinions and post---good info.
blessings

[44 Man]

Butler is right, there isn't anything like a Colt!  Ruger and FAs are great for hunting, I use them all the time, but heavier than I like for walking around the woods.  The clones are good for the price, I shoot them also.  But I can buy a used shooter Colt for the price of a new USFA around here.  (about $1000)  The Colt costs more, but will go up in value, the clones will go down.  (Kind of like a Harley-aint it!)  If I needed to get geared up for SASS for a price, I'd buy Italian and never look back.  You will get great service for the money.  But just like hunting gear, it never hurts to invest in quality.  44 Man

[williamlayton]

alrighty now--i'm playing a game now--the old what if game. what is a reasonable price for one of the gooduns-if they were to continue quality and sold on the basis of volumn?
blessings

[Flint]

My reply in Single Action, repeated here:

Colt has deliberately kept the price of the SAA high, their lawyers decided that, because it has no safety protecting the 6th chamber loaded situation, as Ruger and the Colt Cowboy does (A copy of the Ruger conversion). The guns are sold as "Collectors" only, and the literature and the catalog advise not shooting them because they are collectables, and shooting will hurt their value. Keeping the price way too high, they believe, will keep the average shooter from purchasing them, only the "collectors" will buty them. As a result, the clones sell, and the Colt Cowboy, were it decently finished like the USFA and some of the other clones are, would sell.

[44 Man]

Ok, what if?  What if Colt actually made gun buyer decisions, instead of lawyer decisions?  How many could they sell at $1000?  I think all they could build.  It would not affect the resale on the older ones as everyone would say "they'er cheaper now, so they can't be as good as the old ones"  Getting them out there would be the hard part.  My local dealer says he has lots of Colts (all models) on order but they just don't build enough to fill the orders.  Maybe if they hired a bunch of guys from USFA to help them.  (Actually to show them how to make them and SELL them at $900/1000 at a profit!)  Call it silly, but there is still a lot of desireablity attached to history and heritage, (that is why we shoot SASS) and Colt should be cashing in on that.  They should talk to the people who run Harley Davidson to learn how.   They came out of a big hole in the 80s and are wonderfully profitable now.  I don't ride a Harley but those people do know how to extract the maximum amount of money from history and heritage.   44 Man

[williamlayton]

i like what you say and to a large extent i agree--the only disagreement is i believe they know how to do it they are just geared for a given amount of production. this is what keeps them up there in price.
blessings

[williamlayton]

the first part is a disclaimer--the second part is the opinion part.
i've never been one to just go and buy the most expensive thing going in order to have the most expensive thing. i am not a man of unlimited means. i'm not trying to impress. that said-and meant-i've never done well when i try too find something thats just as good as the best. seems as though i'm always dissapointed in some way. i don't like wallhangers for display purposes. if i own something it is because i want to use it. hang the loss in value.
that said, and i appreciate your being patient, i am about to come to the conclusion that if i get involved in this ritual that i would/will get a pair of the colts. i will use them and it will be ok with me if they loose value.
opinions, editorials and opposing views are sincerely appreciated.
blessings

[Cheyenne Ranger]

A large part of CAS is enjoyment of your equipment.  If you want Colts, go for it!  

Most of us, and I believe you said it too, have to balance $$ with value/enjoyment.  For each of us that probably is different.
 
Some day, when the Mrs. is out of pocket, I'm going to figure just want I've spent so far on CAS.  Not too sure I want to do it until my BP is down and I'm in a calm mood cause I think it's going to be a bunch :grin:

Right now my only set of RV's is fine for me.  They shoot better than I do.  Still want to spend a bit getting them and my lever action slicked up.  If, and when, I go to another set of revolvers the RV's will be my back-up set and the ones I loan out to a pard wanting to try out CAS.

All this to say do what you want to do--of course getting info from others--no need to re-invent the wheel.