A gun nickel plated overall, including sights like the SAA (not SSA) is hard to aim.
Get the blue/cc if you want a shooter.
Howdy
I disagree. I shot this pair of shiny Stainless Vaqueros for a number of years in Cowboy Action Shooting matches. What I think Jim is probably saying is that on a bright, sunny day, the sights can be hard to see because ot the glare. My solution was to keep a Sharpie in my gun cart and blacken the rear surface of the front sight so it would show up despite the glare.
Anyhoo, as Jim says, it is SAA (for Single Action Army) not SSA. A common mistake. Also, a lot of shooters call these replicas Single Action Armies, which they are not. That is a name trademarked by Colt. Reproduction, as you said, or replica of the SAA is a more accurate term.
Your choices in imports are pretty much restricted to those manufactured in Italy by either Uberti or Pietta. These are imported into the US by the major importers, such as Taylors and Cimarron, but those folks are importers and do not manufacture anything.
For a long time, Uberti clones of the SAA were of better quality than Pietta. PIetta seems to have increased their quality of late, and most seem to think they are just about equal.
However just last year Uberti changed the design of their SAA replicas. The firing pin on these revolvers, including the Colt, was always fixed in the hammer. It is a well known fact that it is not safe to carry one of these, or a Colt, fully loaded with six rounds in the cylinder. If the gun should happen to fall, and the hammer should strike the ground, the gun will probably discharge. Even with the hammer on the so called Safety Cock notch. Here is why. These are Colt parts, but the Uberti and Pietta parts are very similar. The upper arrow is pointing to the 'safety cock' notch. The lower arrow is pointing to the tip of the trigger, known as the sear. Notice how thin the sear is. If the sear is in the 'safety cock' notch, and a strong blow is struck to the hammer spur, something may shear off, and the revolver may fire. So it was always prudent to only carry one of these revolvers, Colt, Uberti, or Pietta, loaded with five rounds and the hammer down on an empty chamber.
But last year Uberti introduced a slightly different design. The firing pin is normally retracted slightly inside the hammer. It cannot touch the primer of a round in the chamber. When the trigger is pulled, an actuator slides up, pushing the firing pin forward, so it can fire a cartridge. The idea is, with the new system, it is safe to carry the revolver fully loaded with six rounds. The older model Ubertis are fast dissapperaring from distributors inventories, and soon the newer models with the retractable firing pin will be all that is available. Remember, this is only with the Uberti clones. So far, the new design is getting mixed reviews. Some like it, some don't. Some don't like it simply because when you cock the hammer there are only three clicks, not the traditional four clicks of a Colt. To me, that is silly, because the only time I can count the clicks is when I am fooling around with the gun shooting bad guys on TV. With my earplugs in, on the firing line, I cannot hear the clicks at all. Just my opinion of course.
Here is a link to Uberti's video about the retractable firing pin.
I will state that I have had a chance to fire the new design, and it did have a problem. It was not 100% reliable. If I pulled the trigger very slowly, sometimes it would not fire. If I yanked the trigger the way I normally do, it would always fire. It was not my gun, so I could not take it apart to see what was wrong, but I suspect there was a burr somewhere inside that might have been preventing the firing pin from moving forward properly.
Pietta is still making their replicas with the firing pin fixed in the hammer. So you get four clicks if you are listening.
Nickel plated vs blued, is up to you. I only have one Uberti Cattleman left in my safe that I bought used about 15 years ago, so obviously it has the firing pin fixed in the hammer. At the time, the only way these could be imported was with a cylinder pin with two notches on it. With the pin all the way back, the rear end of the pin prevented the hammer from falling all the way. With the pin pulled to the forward position, the gun would fire. I replaced the pin with an after market pin so I would not have to bother with it, and always kept the chamber under the hammer empty.
The 'case colors' on these revolvers is not the old fashioned bone case hardening, which is time consuming and expensive to produce. It is done by dipping the parts in a hot chemical bath. This imparts colors similar to the old bone method, and actually provides a bit of surface hardness, which was the point of Case Hardening in the first place. Just like real bone Case Hardening, the colors are fragile and will fade over time. Harsh chemicals and even prolonged exposure to direct sunlight will also fade the colors.
With any of these guns, you load them by first placing the hammer at the half cock position. This allows the cylinder to rotate for loading. You open the gate and eject the empty brass and load fresh rounds.Then you ALWAYS bring the hammer back to full cock, before lowering it. Lowering the hammer from half cock is a no-no, as it can lead to the bolt scribing a ring around the chamber. If you have the older version, and you are listening, you will get four clicks when you cock the hammer. Safety Cock, Half Cock, Bolt pops up against the Cylinder, and then Full Cock. With the new Ubertis you only get three clicks. By the way, the correct way to load one of the old models with the firing pin fixed in the hammer is to load one, skip one, then load four more. Bring the hammer to full cock, then gently lower it. If you did it correctly, there will be an empty round under the hammer.
Your other option, other than a real Colt, is Ruger. Ruger has been making single action revolvers for a long time, starting back in 1953 with the first Single Six. These early Rugers had coil springs replacing the leaf springs of a Colt, so the springs were less suceptable to breakage. But they still were not safe to load the chambers fully with a live round under the hammer. Sometime in the mid 1970s Ruger changed the design of all their single action revolvers to include a Transfer Bar. The transfer bar is a safety device that allows the gun to be fully loaded in all chambers. Here is a photo of a New Vaquero with the hammer cocked. The arrow is pointing to the transfer bar.As name implies, the transfer bar transfers the hammer's energy to the frame mounted firing pin. Normally the transfer bar is retracted by a spring, so with the hammer down, there is no way for a blow to the hammer to be transferred to the firing pin. Hence, completely safe to carry fully loaded. If you drop it on the hammer, you will probably scratch up the finish, but it will not fire. With a New Model Ruger, when you open the loading gate, the cylinder is free to rotate for loading. Close the gate and the gun locks up again.
Ruger single action revolvers are available in two different sizes. The New Vaquero is a bit smaller than the 'original model' Vaquero. It is pretty much the same size as a Colt or clone. The revolver at the top of photo is a Colt, the revolver at the bottom is a New Vaquero. Pretty much the same size. This New Vaquero has the 'color case' finish on the frame, which is no longer available.
Today the New Vaquero is only available with a blued frame. Like this:
Ruger Blackhawks, with adjustable sights, are still made with the slightly larger frame and cylinder. I bought this one brand-spanky new back in 1975.
There are a few distributor special Blackhawks made with the smaller size frame, but mostly all the Blackhawks have the larger frame.
And of course, with a Ruger you don't get four clicks. You get two. Bolt popping up, then full cock.