Here’s what else we found: Uberti 1873 Cattleman Old West No. The ejector rods worked as designed, and the cylinders rotated smoothly. The hammers cocked smoothly, and the trigger action was consistent. Even after firing 50 cartridges, cylinder rotation never slowed. The three single-action revolvers completed the test without any type of problems. These included the Fiocchi 45 Long Colt 250-grain Cowboy Action, Hornady’s 45 Colt 185-grain Critical Defense brand, a personal-defense loading, and the 45 Colt Buffalo Bore 255-grain semi-wadcutter, an outdoors and hunting load. When it came to benchrest accuracy, we were able to properly line up the fixed sights and fire three loads. This loading is designed for low recoil and good accuracy. The ammunition used in the general firing course was the Black Hills Ammunition 250-grain cowboy load. We also fired offhand at 15 yards to test accuracy and handling. On the action course, shooters drew the revolvers from standard belt holsters and fired at targets at 5, 7, and 10 yards.
Also, we used the Black Hills 250-grain cowboy load on the action course ($38.97/50 from ).įor a thorough evaluation, our shooters fired the three revolvers on a general shooting course and then for accuracy from a solid benchrest. Ammo sources: Fiocchi 45 Long Colt 250-grain Cowboy Action load ($28.49/50 from ), Hornady 45 Colt 185-grain Critical Defense ($18.42/20 from ), and the 45 Colt Buffalo Bore 255-grain semi-wadcutter ($39.09/20 from ).
Ruger vaquero vs colt saa pro#
We recorded velocity for each load with the Competition Electronics Pro Chrony 15 feet from the muzzle. To collect accuracy data, we fired three five-shot groups with each loading from the Bullshooter shooting rest atop a solid benchrest. LRNFP 45LCCAĤ5 Colt Hornady Critical Defense 185-gr. Range Data 45 Colt Fiocchi Cowboy Action 250-gr. To our thinking, $100 is real money, so if we could find a shooter and save that cash, then we’d have a bargain. And we wanted to pay just a percentage of the new price for the other revolvers. We did not wish to pay too much for the Colt, but we knew we would spend more than a thousand dollars because of their scarcity. With all of these factors in mind, we went on a bargain hunt, checking gun stores, online sources, and pawn shops to find lightly-pistols in good testing condition. As an example, one of our raters has a great deal of law-enforcement experience, and the first time he arrested (on personal time) a lawbreaker at gun point, he used a Colt Single Action Army. Yep, if you take the National Rifle Association Handguns 101 course, you will see the list of reasons for owning a handgun, and single-action revolvers fit into every niche, including collecting. Folks love single-action revolvers for recreational shooting, for hunting, collecting, and even for personal defense. For wheelgun aficionados, the comparison of a Colt Single Action Army (SAA) to any of its derivatives always creates interest, and in this case, there’s a 2nd Generation SAA that many seek out ahead of more-modern-production versions.Ĭowboy Action shooters are thought to have the most interest in single-action revolvers, but there are many more SAA-type revolvers sold than there are cowboy shooters, even considering that such competitors need two guns in action and often have one in the shop as well. Also, we were curious how the Ruger Bisley performed with some pretty stiff loads when pitted against the standard plow-handled grip frame of the Colt and Uberti.
Part of our interest was how the longer barrel of the Colt, at 7.5 inches, compared to the 5.5-inch tubes on the others when drawn from leather. 355131, a Second Generation Colt Single Action Army 45 Colt, and a Ruger Vaquero Bisley No. The test handguns were the Uberti 1873 Cattleman Old West No. We included a Bisley grip frame and two barrel lengths to give readers a broad range of choices if they’re interested in 45 Colt single-action revolvers of the traditional style with fixed sights. In this installment, we test a trio of revolvers from Uberti, Colt, and Ruger in stainless steel, antique or original finish, and nickel plating.