Author Topic: colt saa throats problem  (Read 855 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline desertfox001

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Posts: 1
colt saa throats problem
« on: January 19, 2006, 05:08:58 PM »
Good Morning

 I recently bought a mint Colt SAA 3rd generation (1979) cal 45 lc and i intend to shoot it .I will cast my own bullets so i miked the throats and they measured .458.What is the best way to solve the oversize throats problem on my gun.The bore is .452 ..Do i have to buy a new cylinder or to send the pistol to Colt ?I am a canadian citizen and i am a little worried about problems of importing a cylinder from Brownell's or to ship my gun to Colt :Fear to be stolen or lost.Your precious help will be greatly appreciated

   Thanks a lot   desertfox001

Offline timothy

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 267
colt saa throats problem
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2006, 05:52:51 PM »
It wont hurt to give it a try first. See what kind of accuracy you get from it as is.

Offline Dusty Miller

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2271
  • Gender: Male
colt saa throats problem
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2006, 09:51:58 PM »
Seven thousandths seems like a lot to me.  My guess is that you'll end up replacing the cylinder.  Keep us posted.
When seconds mean life or death, the police are only minutes away!

Offline Flint

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1053
Cylinder throats
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2006, 09:15:51 AM »
Unfortunately, when Colt resumed production of the SAA after WWII, they changed the bore to 451, as used in the 45 Auto, but did not change the cylinder's chambering to match.  The chamber throats are still sized to the older generation's 454 bullet.

The proper throat diameter for the Newer made Colts would be on the order of .4515 to 454.

Two solutions, one is to use softer lead 454 bullets, which will swage down in the bore, it might affect pressure but the caliber is a fairly low pressure cartridge anyway.

Other, but expensive solution is to replace the cylinder with a third party make, or have a 357 or other smaller caliber cylinder rechambered to 45 Colt with to a proper throat diameter for 450/452 bullets.

The oversized throat has led to claims of poor accuracy in the Colt and it certainly promotes leading and velocity loss as propellant gasses are passing and overheating the base of the bullet on its way to the forcing cone.

Many or most just live with it.  I found that Moly coated bullets, such as Bear Creek brand don't lead up the Colt as badly, the Moly must protect the lead from the torch behind it.
Flint, SASS 976, NRA Life

Offline 44 Man

  • Trade Count: (28)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2419
  • Gender: Male
colt saa throats problem
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2006, 11:37:12 AM »
I once owned an old engraved Dakota made by Jaeger of Germany.  The bore was .451 but the throats varied from .458 to .460!  Even with soft lead (factory) bullets, the best the gun would do was about 12" at 15yds, and worse with hard cast bullet sized .454.  The best it would do was about 6" group (again at 15 yds) with unsized bullets that dropped from the mold at .456.  I was able to purchase a matching cylinder in .45 acp.  That cylinder had .452 throats and shot great!  I was able to put 10 shots into 3" at 25 yds with that cylinder.  I was always going to rechamber the acp cylinder to .45 colt but never did.  I finally sold the gun to a friend (he no longer has it) and moved on.  Now (of course), I wish I had it back!  You will probably have to replace the cylinder with one of proper dimensions to get her to shoot well.  Good luck.  44 Man.
You are never too old to have a happy childhood!