[TheVirginian]

OK, well my new cowboy gun anyway. I had an old Ruger Single Six Flat Top years ago. I was asking questions here about Colts and repros and tried to find and handle a few locally. I managed to find all of the Rugers that I could tote, a couple of Colts, and the usual run of Spaghetti Western gear.

Rugers are very nice shooting guns and they are affordable. I just didn't like the action, not that it was bad, it just wasn't traditional. I like the old Colt feel and that's what I wanted. Only the USFA guns seemed up to the challenge. They are still a bit too much for me to justify although I may get one at some point. I could not find a EAA Bounty Hunter. That is priced right and is a different breed so it may have been a keeper but I can't tell from here...

So I did get to handle a AWA in a shop but it was a longer barrel, nickel job which I didn't particularly want and the owner was obviously proud of it from the price. I did find it to be the only copy that I had handled that seemed to be an actual clone. I was impressed with the fast action and quality build. So I searched a bit and found just what i was looking for and at the price that I had hoped for. Basically, a Colt at a Ruger price. It's an AWA Peacekeeper in blue, 4 3/4", .45LC. It'll be another week or two before I actually hold it, but it sure looks like what I have been hunting.
http://pictures.auctionarms.com/7426172628/img_7453.jpg_thumbnail1.jpg
So, I now have a few boxes of .45LC on the way as well but am fascinated by the idea of black powder loads. Any of you guys shoot black power in a revolver? How hard is it to clean and what do you use?
-Bill

[Virginian]

Nice handle. :D Now if you're a Hokie you're really okay.
I think black powder, or black powder substitute is only fit to be shot in all stainless sixguns. If I did not immediately clean and wash my sixguns, I had corrosion big time. It eats brass cases if you don't drop them right into a jug of soapy water, too. Accuracy wasn't as good as smokeless either.
Lots of people love it, but I think it was the most aggravating experience of my shooting career. Thank heavens I tried it in my handguns before I tried in my lever guns.
Your experience may vary. I admit I am picky about my guns.

[BHP FAN]

I'm useing Winchester LR primers,30 gr 2F, wonder wad,230 RNFP's.

[RJM]

Good buy. I just happened to get an AWA peacemaker in .45colt the other day too, its unfired condition and basically mint. Great feeling sixgun. Here is a picture of mine.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk229/rjmlatte1973/ama2.jpg

The AMA, at least the peacemaker, sixguns are supposed to be quality built and nicely finished. By the look and feel of mine I would say that is true. Congrats on yours.

[TheVirginian]

Nice. That looks to be the same piece in 5 1/2".

I don't think I like the idea of droppin' my steel in a water bucket. I guess I'll stick to what I know and declare it a "smoke free zone". It'd be cool to have some smoke blowing from the cylinder as far as authentic vibe goes but unless they come up with a non-corrosive way to duplicate that, I'm not looking to rot my bore.
-Bill

[RJM]

You could try 777, I have used it in .45 colt with good results. Cleans very easy and I haven't seen any corrosion.

[TheVirginian]

Thanks for the 777 tip. It sounds like good stuff. I might try it if I can get reloads using it.

I am not too crazy about the water clean-up though. I suppose if I used WD-40 to rid any traces of water and then my traditional gun oil afterwards that it might get rid of the oxygen trapped on the steel surfaces and protect the gun for storage. I'd feel like a maroon if I returned to the safe a year later and found it a rust heap... I've never used it or even seen it used, so I have to take its use with a grain of saltpeter. :o
-Bill

[Matt-J2]

I load my New Vaquero .45c with BP subs(waiting to order the Holy Black, no local shop sells it). Triple 7, American Pioneer, and currently Pyrodex P. The Triple 7 were commercial Ten-X ammo, others were my loads. Running 38gr Pyrodex P and a 250gr RNFP or 255gr SWC. Fun load. Kicks, but not too much, load boom, lots of smoke. :D
Last time I went out was 50 rounds or so, and then I cleaned the gun about a day, maybe day-and-a-half later. I usually clean a few hours after shooting. No biggie. I wouldn't go too long, but anyone who says you need to clean immediately is either exaggerating or doesn't know what immediately means.

Normally I just use a brush soaked in warm soapy water, but sometimes I strip the revolver down and wash all the parts, too. Most of em don't need it, tbh. Easy enough to do with the Ruger, though. The hotter the water, the faster it dries. I use my wife's hairdryer to speed it up sometimes.

[SwampWolf]

I use boiling (literally) water and insulated rubber gloves when cleaning up after shooting with black powder. The water evaporates quickly and immediately afterwards I treat the gun with an anti-corrosive lubricant.

[1KPerDay]

Where are AWA revolvers built?

never mind:

The all new Classic “1873” revolver has been developed over the past few years in association with F. LLI Pietta of Italy.

[Virginian]

Well, I got thru shooting one afternoon in Virginia, and drove back to Ohio. The next morning about 10 when I opened the gun case I was horrified. At least it reminded me I also needed to wash the gun case. That seemed to require "immediate" to me. I never pressed my luck with anything else after that - I cleaned right after I shot. I tried Goex, Pyrodex, Clean Shot, and Clear Shot.

[TheVirginian]

Where are AWA revolvers built?

They are made in Hialeah FL.

"AWA does not import completed sixguns but rather brings in the parts which are assembled and finished in this country all resulting in as beautiful a Single Action Army replica as one will find anywhere."

You can read a full review here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_7_52/ai_n16419705/
-Bill

[TheVirginian]

Hi Virginian,
I'm from Salem/Roanoke and still reside here. Pretty much every other person in my family went to Tech at one time or another. I used to go to a lot of basketball and football games with my dad.
-Bill

[1KPerDay]

Thanks TheVirginian, I wonder if it's true. I may have to buy one if it is.

This isn't... also from the same article.

All AWA revolvers feature a coil mainspring.

[TheVirginian]

Sure, give them a call. I read about four or five articles, all of which stated the same thing. One was particularly interesting in that it went over the history of the company's production cycles and covered their challenges along the way. One of which was being sued by Colt. At one point, AWA actually hired the custom shop manager from Colt. I don't know if he's still there or not but I'd guess that that was probably a pretty sore point with Colt and led to the lawsuit. The obvious thing that Colt was after was to get them to stop using the eagle and pony style black plastic grips. The grips didn't look exactly like the Colt version but they were authentic enough to produce a grin when you figured that you could get one for each hip at the price of one Colt. The final blow which is still hard for them to overcome is that a rumor was started that they were out of business. They did enter into an exclusive contract with the Italian producer of the parts who went under a similar name (AMA) and who did actually go under. They were bought out and restructured however and now provide even tighter quality parts to AWA-USA. My guess is that if the fellows answer the phone and offer to send you literature, they're still alive and well... ;)

What sold me on the gun was the action of the one that I was able to try out. The trigger was sweet and the whole item felt just like the real thing. They are supposedly so close to a first generation Colt that parts are interchangable. I'd not say that is true without fitting, but you get the idea. USFA makes the same type of product. They are very nice also and are more or less entirely made in CT. I'd buy either one in a heartbeat. The Colt is nice too of course and will have the highest resale. It also has the highest sticker and I am not buying it for resale as if it were a savings bond, I wanna rattle some cans! I'd still venture to guess that I'll get most if not all of my "investment" back out of it when and if I do sell it.
-Bill

[RJM]

The Peacemaker that I have has a flat mainspring.

The action on mine is one of the best I have ever felt on a SAA, the literature claims it was factory tuned and I have to believe it.

[TheVirginian]

Yep, they have a new model called "The Ultimate" which has a coil mainspring. It is supposed to be a heavier duty spring and is billed as being more servicable for Cowboy Action Shooters. I have not heard of any complaints about flat springs wearing out in any similar type guns personally. After all, that is what is in the original Colt design. I believe that I did read somewhere that they have used a lightened spring though. The peacekeeper is no longer in production with the Classic 1873 taking its place, so I don't have trigger pull info about the old guns without calling them. The new Classic 1873, which uses a Wolff leaf spring, has a 3 1/2 - 4 lb trigger out of the box. The Ultimate, which uses a Wolff coil spring. It probably has a 3 - 3 1/2 lb pull. , but that is just speculation. John Taffin has had a Peacekeeper which he has used for several years and reports no problems at all.
-Bill