SAA - shoot it or keep in the safe.

[rp55]

I have been looking for a single action 357 for over a year. I was kind of focused on a Vaquero but could find nothing in 357 until this baby showed up and I jumped on it. A 1974 production (or so I am told, the serial range is 16***) that is new in the box, has never been fired and (again I am told) never even been cocked. I bought it to shoot, I want very badly to shoot it but I am wondering if I will be ruining a collectors items and for some reason that disturbs me. I don't collect guns as collectibles but I do other things and many is the time I cursed what some foolish person did in the past (like my uncirculated 1909-S VDB penny that some fool dipped in jewel lustre to make shiny again). So what say you Calgunners, shoot it or keep it in the safe for posterity? I apologize about the pictures. I have a brand new camera and so far have not been able to figure out how to keep it from auto focusing which seems to cause some distortion.

[atavuss]

great find!

[B Strong]

I'd not only take it to the range, you can send a .357/.38 Special Colt SAA to John Linbaugh who will build it into the tightest, best shooting .44 Special/.45 Colt SAA you'll ever have.

[thefurball]

Find a collector that will pay you twice what you paid for it and sell it to him.

I personally have no use for a gun I can't shoot.

[Cokebottle]

Find a collector that will pay you twice what you paid for it and sell it to him.

I personally have no use for a gun I can't shoot.

+10,000

If you bought it as an "investment" and have other guns to shoot, keep it in the safe or move it on to a collector.
Nobody can tell you what to do with your gun.

[Spyder]

I vote for sell at a profit and buy a new gun...or two...and a bunch of ammo.

[NavDoc]

Shoot it. I can't own a gun that I can't/won't shoot. Besides, you can't take it with you when you go (second time I've typed that in as many days). Go enjoy it. What's the point of passing on something that you never used? Go create some memories to go with it, and maybe some stories as well.

[RobG]

Unless you find out it is worth a significant amount of money (1K+) I would shoot it.

[bigbob76]

If I paid a collector level price for it I would be torn over protecting the investment or shooting it. If I got a deal on it I would be inclined to enjoy shooting it. Life is short and every time you take it out to shoot it the whole experience is enhanced by the fact that you're living large.

[mat19er8]

I would shoot it. It might be worth a few bucks more to someone unfired, but who cares if you're going to keep it. Any deprecation will be offset by the fun of shooting it.

[Cokebottle]

If I paid a collector level price for it I would be torn over protecting the investment or shooting it. If I got a deal on it I would be inclined to enjoy shooting it. Life is short and every time you take it out to shoot it the whole experience is enhanced by the fact that you're living large.

OTOH, if it was a good deal and he can immediately double his money, he can buy a daily shooter and not have that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he's commuting to work in a mint '55 Bel Air.

[k1dude]

I'm in the sell it for big bucks and then buy a gun you can use camp.

[rp55]

Thank you for your thoughts. I bought it to shoot and I am going to shoot it. It's just that a 10 day wait gives you lots of time to think about things and I was worried that I might be committing an unforgiven faux pas by doing so. Clearly I am not.

[Lead Lobber]

Not sure, for I am no expert, and did not do any research on serial numbers beginning with "16", but I bought a Colt SAA new circa mid 1990s, when plastic restraints were in place to prevent one from working the action. Mine proved to have a slight drag at one point in the revolution process, which screamed "sloppy machining!".

So, I doubt your piece is from the seventies. It's most likely from two decades later. The quality of SAAs varied during the last half of the twentieth century, with production halting, then resuming through spasmodic cycles.

I've a hunch your SAA Calvary model may be twenty years younger than you were led to believe: I never saw cocking restraints on new revolvers from the factory in the seventies.

Their are sites to enter serial numbers - check it out.

I bought a SSA about 1995 (?), and it had a similar plastic barrier that prevented me from testing the action before purchase. Sure enough, I had to send it back to Colt after a few rounds.

My advise covers three points:

1. Cut that plastic off, pull her back two clicks and rotate the smoke chamber - feel drag anywhere? It should rotate effortlessly, and when removed, the cylinder bushing (through which the cylinder pin inserts) should move in and out of the cylinder effortlessly).

2. Check all points where different parts of the frame meet adjacent components. There should be absolutely no ridges, only perfect smoothness .

3. The grips should only have a rampant stallion (often referred to as the "prancing pony") toward the top; any lower additions date the weapon. The eagle was a later addition.

I bought my first Calvary .45 SAA I new circa 1964, and subsequently lost it (and a custom holster) after a messy divorce. It was perfect in every way; my ex-wife was profoundly opposite in most ways. Oh, well. She could point a finger as accurately as my Colts.

Grips that are too fat foul the new Six Shooters for a right hander; they shoot right because the grips are not contoured to original specifications. They are too fat. And for left handers? They probably will pull to the left.

The original grip design was nothing short of ergonomic genius, but somewhere down the line, some bean counter screwed it up.

Hers's the only thing I'm saying: Research your Colt carefully; there are web sites to enter the serial number, and ..... well, you get the idea. I'd make you and offer, but frankly, the plastic hammer restraint is a big turn off. Until you cut that off and remove the cylinder, you don't know what you have.

I spent many hours with my original Colt, fascinated by how the cylinder sleeve would slide slowly back into the cylinder, like a garage hoist bearing a Rolls Royce will slowly descend to the greasy floor gracefully bearing the weight of a quality automobile .. but the most pleasure was felt by fondling the gun .. it alway felt good in my hand, and shot where it was pointed.

All my guns still feel real good in my hand ... and they still shoot straight, too ...

[Army GI]

Guns are meant to be fired. Nothing in this world will last forever, and you're not in the business of running a museum. So I don't see what the problem is. I would take a Colt over a Ruger any day.