J.P. Saur 45

[blhof]

Does anyone have any inf on J.P. Saur 45 revolvers?  Quality or dependability?

[44 Man]

They are of good quality.  They were direct competition for Ruger, and Great Western during the 60's.  Built a little beefier in the cylinder (ala Ruger Blackhawks), they were a good, dependable gun.  If you want a good shooter, I would check the cylinder throats for size before I bought one.  Many .45's from that era came with oversize throats and you had to feed them .454 or larger bullets to get them to shoot well.  And that includes the Rugers also.  J.P. Saur became Sig Saur and there is no question of the quality of the Sig's.  44 Man

[Catfish]

If it is one of those that was around in the 60`s I would not own one. I shot one in .44 mag. and you could not keep it from turning in your hand. Not only that, the ejector rod shot loose in less than 10 rounds. The guy that had bought the gun got a bloody finger from it the first time he shot it. From what I heard they recalled all of those guns and sleeved the barrels in the .44`s and 45`s makeing them .357`s. They took the .357`s and made them .22 rimfires.

[John Traveler]

There was a similar inquiry about JP Sauer sixguns a couple months ago.

To summarize, I've had shooting access to several of these revolvers and repaired an equal number.  They are serviceable guns if used lightly.  By that, I mean after a couple hundred rounds each, they shared the following shortcomings:  excessive cylinder endshake, front sights come loose, ejector rod housing screws come loose, ratchet and pawl wear excessively, firing pin and bushings get peened, triggers and sears wear rapidly, and grip frame screws shake loose.

Yes, I am aware that the original Colt SAA design is prone to all of these faults, but in the case of the Sauer, the indications are improper heat treating, sloppy threads, and poor materials.  The rimfire versions use cast zinc alloy for the cylinders and barrels.  The centerfire versions in .357, .44, and .45 Colt can NOT be compared in quality, fit, or finish with the Ruger products. 

These guns were built to meet a price objective, and the importer, Hawes Firearms of Los Angeles, California did a brisk business in the late 1960's thru middle 1970's when they were imported.  The various versions were rather gaudy(nickle plated with pearl grips "Silver City Marshall", blued with brass frame and rosewood grips "Montana Marshall", etc) were called "the Poor Man's Commemoratives" by Guns and  Ammo Magazine.

I'm not suggesting that they are bad revolvers, just that they did not hold up to extensive shooting.  I owned one myself and shot the hell out of it for several years.  I simply got tired to repairing it.