BEST COWBOY SAA PISTOL

[Casual_Shooter]

Won't buy one unless it has a transfer-bar safety (meaning Ruger only, from what I hear).

It's not a six-shooter if you have to load 5 to be safe.

Stumbled onto the Heritage Manufacturing Rough Rider. They also have the transfer bar.

[Casual_Shooter]

The Beretta Stampede guns (made by Uberti) have the transfer bar safety, and they are pretty damn nice; the electroless nickel finish wasn't as awesome as Colt's current production, but then again I coulda bought 3+ Stampedes for the cost of one Colt.

(For the record, I recently sold my Beretta Stampede and bought a Colt - but I don't shoot Cowboy matches - I was interested in the historically authentic action).

--Neill

Wow... that Beretta is really nice!

[Kodachrome]

EMF were traditional type pistol with no transfer bar, thats why I bought two.
The newer Vaqueros use the smaller XR3 frame from days of yore, not sure about others saying +P rated.
Take a look at the Bisleys, different style grips.
Also have Chrome 3rd Gen Colt SAA w/box.
Good Luck

[Pantheragem]

I have an EMF Californian Deluxe. Of the five pistols I own, it's my favorite. I like it enough that I'm now waiting to get a Colt SAA, as soon as one becomes available in my area (new ones are scarce right now). .45 Colt is now also my favorite round.

EMF is also a fantastic company to deal with. I needed the timing adjusted on mine and took it into their office in Santa Ana and they serviced it while I waited. I also picked up a .45 ACP cylinder for it while I was there. A month later they called me to see if I was happy with the repair and the new cylinder. Not often I've come across customer service like that. I'll be getting a Colt but my EMF will not be going anywhere. Very fun to shoot, and nice lookin' too.

[1JimMarch]

The 44-40 is a weird one, because the standard bullet diameter is .427. The .44Russian, Special and Magnum family are .429. A *lot* of "44-40s" got made with .429" barrels (including all the Ruger 44-40s, the few they made anyhow) and a fair amount of the factory ammo is "mutant" 44-40 with .429" bullets in 'em. So unless you plan to handload every round, and you know which kind of throats/barrel you have, you don't want to get involved in the .44-40.

It's a bottleneck cartridge as well, which is at least a little bit harder to handload for than a straight-wall shell like the .45LC, .357, etc.

Power level is in the same ballpark as the 45LC.

If you're going to go with a big-bore cowboy gun, the 45LC is more practical. Easier to handload, much more ammo available and all of it is supposed to be set up for the same width bullets. And many of the 45LC guns can be had with a second cylinder in 45ACP, which is supposed to use exactly the same width barrel so accuracy in 45ACP tends to be very good. And while it ain't "period correct", thumbing 45ACP rounds into an SA wheelgun's loading gate out of a semi-auto's magazine is way cool . The 45ACP is also fairly cheap to shoot if you're not a handloader.

Ruger has a special run right now of New Vaqueros in 45 with dual cylinders, and they have a Blackhawk (adjustable sights) set up that way as a regular production item.

The 44Spl also works well in SA-type wheelguns, as does the 357Magnum although it's not very "old west" .

Finally, Ruger has a large-frame stainless Blackhawk in 327 Federal Magnum, which is a lengthened .32Magnum shell and with horsepower surprisingly close to a lot of 357Magnum rounds. What's most interesting about this combo in the Blackhawk is that it's not a sixgun - it's an EIGHTgun . Yet again, not period correct but way cool. It can also shoot 32Mag, 32S&W, 32S&WLong and weirdly enough, 32ACP if you wanted a zero-recoil gun .

[1JimMarch]

The Heritage Rough Rider does NOT have a transfer bar safety. It has a manually activated safety on a separate switch(!). The Heritage "Big Bore" is a Pietta gun made in Italy with final fitting and finish by Heritage stateside and it's the only known Pietta variant with a transfer bar safety. I don't know much more about it.

Pietta however has been making very good guns of late, mostly imported through EMF - Pantheragem's gun is 99% certainly a Pietta. Cimarron has noticed that Pietta has made massive improvements and is also starting to import them. A lot of the SASS players are claiming Pietta is making a better gun than Uberti right now. Pietta's CEO competes in Cowboy Action Shooting in Europe under the name "Alchemista" and EMF has his personal setup available under that name...basically an SAA-clone with an oversize grip frame.

[Cali-Shooter]

I would only go with either a Ruger or a Colt for a SAA revolver.

[den888]

Ruger, would be my choice.

[Pantheragem]

Pietta however has been making very good guns of late, mostly imported through EMF - Pantheragem's gun is 99% certainly a Pietta.

I should have clarified that. Yes, it is a Pietta. I've handled the Alchamista as well. I have smaller hands though and prefer the traditional grip and trigger. The trigger of the Alchamista is much wider, more like the trigger on my 1858 New Army.

[bwiese]

Just remember, some of these SA cowboy gun mfgrs were associated with Kathy Lynch, SASS and the whole single-action revolver exemption - which helped get the whole "safe handgun Roster" passed thru lack of unity.

[Ape]

Both of my Heritage/Pietta's are hard working well made guns that I'd test next to any other manufactuer's stock cowboy gun. Especially for the price.

[jewboy929]

The USFA are works of art the case hardening is just beautiful.

[Common]

I just bought a pietta that is similar to the uberti. Both are very nice. The pietta you can get under 350.00 it is a traditional 3 screw design with a safe cock position.

[Longbow]

If you want to shoot in competition, Rugers are the only realistic choice, unless you are, or are sleeping with, a gunsmith.

Other than that - Colts have cachet, but the others are good, serviceable revolvers. Godd luck, getting a USFA. Try Taylor's, instead.

Longbow

[chuckdc]

If you want to shoot in competition, Rugers are the only realistic choice, unless you are, or are sleeping with, a gunsmith.

Other than that - Colts have cachet, but the others are good, serviceable revolvers. Godd luck, getting a USFA. Try Taylor's, instead.

Longbow

I have one of the Taylor & Co./Uberti guns. 5 1/2" .45 Colt in case/blued. It's beautiful, but it DID need a little "tune-up" to be sighted in. I had it worked on by Alan Harton (Single Action Service) here in Houston. He does fantastic work at VERY reasonable prices.Getting mine sighted in, and checked out, plus a music-wire hand spring installed to make it THAT much more smooth, was a grand total of about 50 bucks and he had it done in a week. I think that might actually violate some law of gunsmithing (stuff done quickly..) but I can live with that. I got mine used off of GunBroken, and all said and done I don't have 400 bucks in it. I may get the .45 ACP cylinder so I can shoot it more cheaply. Cimarron is about 3 hrs away from here, and I might just go to them for that.