SAA's and westerns

Nope my romance with guns of the old west is very much a product of TV Westerns and the movies, also I really think you're mistaken about it dieing out it's not like they quit making westerns in 1970, There have been some very notible remakes reciently "True Grit" and "3:10 to Yuma" and a couple other new ones that have done very well "Open Range" and "Appaloosa" and I can hardly wait for the last season of "Hell on Wheels" to start.

I watch a lot of old westerns, but that’s not really the reason I own single actions. I like single actions mainly because they are very durable (especially the Rugers), they have relatively few parts, suitable ones can be loaded heavy or light without changing springs, some can shoot more than one chambering, and I don’t have to chase empty brass.

I own double actions and autos but I prefer, and most often shoot, single actions for the reasons listed above. If limited to one handgun action type, I would likely choose a single action.

BTW, double actions, and even autoloaders (rarely), made their way into some of the later westerns.

My interest in single action revolvers, lever action rifles and double barrel/hammer shotguns…basically black powder cartridge firearms…has more to do with my interest in post-Civil War Western American history that the TV shows I grew up watching.

I was an early critic of a lot of those shows as I never believed any real "cowboy" or "lawman" wore engraved, silver plated pistols carried in highly carved, silver studded belt & holster rigs. Get real (LOL).

Dave

It began so early, I really couldn't tell you which came first, the chicken or the egg. I do know that I was fascinated by single actions and leverguns from a very early age. I also watched a lot of westerns with my father but mostly movies, not TV shows. There was a little Bonanza but mostly John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies. When I was 12yrs old, I had saved enough money to buy the first gun I ever got for myself and it was a single action Uberti Virginian .22 convertible. My interests have varied on and off since then but I always come back to sixguns and levers, with a strong interest in traditional blackpowder guns as well.

At 41yrs old, there's nothing I'd rather shoot than a single action and nothing I'd rather watch than a western, new or old.

My infatuation with frontier period firearms wasn't caused by early TV westerns because I predate them. My interest came about because of youthful introduction to real history, not the "reel" kind. It continues because of very deep (and continuing) knowledge concerning both the firearms and history, and is not focused on a particular make or model, such as Colt's Single Action Army, that made relatively little impact on the history of the period. I occasionally enjoy a movie, but am clearly aware that any relationship to what really happened is tenuous.

If it makes any difference, the original firearms held they're value during the Great Depression, although it was diminished relative to everything else. Following World War Two values increase at a faster rate then the overall economy - both being influenced by inflation.

I left a half century behind a while ago...

Westerns in general affected my affections to be sure but so did "Combat", "The Rat Patrol" and the likes.

These days the impact of a movie like Silverado, open Range or TV offerings like Lonesome Dove should not be under appreciated.

Then add in the explosion of Cowboy Action competition.
The relatively, innocuously perceived nature of "cowboy era" firearms in the public eye.
The eminent practicality of the chamber offerings of pistol/carbine/rifle combos.
Cost fatigue with the expense of feeding hicapacity semi-autos.


Nah, I don't see "cowboy" fading any time soon.

Todd.

I'm guilty. Born in 54' , raised on primetime westerns and WW2 shows like Combat.

I am 2.5 months shy of being 70. I miss the old days of westerns on Sat. mornings. Now granted I watch them 7 days a week thanks to cable. You now something gang, there is nothing more AMERICAN than a WESTERN and a SIXGUN. GOD BLESS COWBOYS and the OLD WEST. I must add that living in New Mexico for as many years as I have has enabled me to see a lot of things that just call out old west history and makes me feel like I was part of it.

Hello Dave T,,,

...I never believed any real "cowboy" or "lawman" wore engraved, silver plated pistols carried in highly carved, silver studded belt & holster rigs. Get real (LOL).

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There was "The Old West",,,
Then there was also "The West That Never Was".

I watched two types of shows when I was a kid,,,
Westerns and War shows like Combat,,,
Cop shows were boring to me.

My toy box had Cowboy guns and Army guns,,,
Not a snub-nose .38 in my arsenal.

Aarond

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yep you know movies make the old west out to be violent and a lot of killing but if you read the real history books there was very little crime that went on back then! infact when people carried in those days they had respect for each other in which is lacking today! but yeah I liked tombstone with val kilmer as doc holiday and such! but I love the colt saa clones and the like, plus I own leveractions and just adore these fine rifles! so yeah I am going more to Saa and cap and ball pistols and leveractions than ever before as I just love the feel of the American west and the romance that goes with it!!

I've grown to like western movies more than I did as a kid. Some of them are just very good movies, which I didn't appreciate as a kid. But even some of the "B" westerns are fun.

I can't say that western movies have inspired me to buy the few 19th century style firearms I have, but watching some of those old flicks made me glad I have those guns. I recently purchased a '94 Winchester from the 1960's, which I enjoy having. I also have a couple of Heritage .22's, as well as a Heritage RR Big Bore, which is a Colt clone.

Some good classic westerns that are lesser known (today) are Appaloosa (Marlon Brando from the 1960's) Sante Fe Passage (John Payne from the 1950's) and The Man From Laramie (Jimmy Stewart from the 1950's.)

And I'm the opposite.

I grew up on westerns, and they're still pretty much my favorite type of movie (Star Wars is just a western moved into space), but I have never really warmed up to single-action revolvers. I've owned several, especially 22's, but up to 44/45's both. I like the way they feel, and the way they look. I just don't like shooting them and I can't really tell you why.

As to my love affair with the Single Action, I must admit that I was taken with those "cowboy guns" in the picture shows, and in real life. I remember my Dad took me to a rodeo on Sunday afternoon. When we went down to the concession stand during a break, I saw a cowboy wearing a revolver with "red handles." Then some time later held a Colt Single Action at a party given for kids at a Methodist Church function. Even later I held my cousin's Colt SAA.

Over the years I tested nearly every handgun available to gain experience and knowledge of the handgun. And I acquired a fairly large battery of handguns, favoring the revolver, and now after over sixty years experience shootin, loading ammunition, hunting and target shooting, my battery has slowly divested itself of all but the Single Action. Mostly mine are Ruger Blackhawks/Super Blackhawks as I have no collection but a shooting battery or accumulation. When it comes to getting lead where I want it, its the Single Action for me.

Bob Wright

Oddly enough, I am related to Frank and Jesse James on their mother's side.

I never liked Westerns a lot more or a lot less than other genres of TV shows and movies.

My collection includes many double-action revolvers and semiautomatics.

I have purchased seven single-action revolvers in the past few years because I belatedly discovered, in my late 40's, that I shoot them better than any other kind of handgun. It's something about the plowhandle grip and overall balance. My favorite range toys are definitely my long-barreled Blackhawks.

I see a lot of people saying that when the generation that grew up watching westerns at the Saturday morning matinee's die off the market for SAA's will collapse in on itself. While I hope that is true because nothing I have was purchased as an investment and I'd love to get some fire sale deals I find it hard to believe.

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Well, thanks very much, but I am in no hurry to die just so you can buy my Colts at fire sale prices. Some folks have a lot of nerve, or just don't know how to say something tactfully.

Yes, absolutely I used to watch Matt Dillon gun down Arvo Ojala every week. And I used to watch Paladin, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, Bonanza, Maverick, Rifleman, Wagon Train, Lawman, Lone Ranger, and probably a bunch of others too.

Those shows certainly had some influence on why I bought a 44 caliber, brass framed 'Navy' when I turned 18. It is just a wall hanger now after too many 30 grain loads, but I still have it.





Right about that time I saw a Ruger Super Blackhawk in a hardware store window, but I wasn't old enough yet to buy a cartridge revolver. When I was, the first single action revolver I bought was my old 45 Colt/45 ACP Blackhawk in 1975. I still have it too.





So years later when I found out about Cowboy Action Shooting, where we got to walk around all day in cowboy hat and boots, with a pair of sixguns strapped on, saying Howdy to everyone, I was all over it.

Yes, of course I realize that is nothing like the real Old West, and neither were the old Oatburners. But it is just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

So now in addition to my 2nd Gen Colts, I have a bunch of other single action revolvers, a bunch of lever guns including several real Winchesters, and they all get trotted out and shot with real Black Powder.

What can possibly be more fun than that?

First saw a Colt SAA in the "oater" flicks at the Saturday Matinees in the post theater at Fort Sam Houston when I was a little shaver. My interest was fueled up even more when I got a close up look at Tex Ritter's fancy SAA rig when he attended an Armed Forces Day function on the post about 1948.



By 1954 in St. Louis, I had acquired a Nichols Stallion .45 which was a pretty close cap gun replica of the venerable Colt, although it was a double action. When our next door neighbor's 88 year old grandpa visited from Texas one summer, I had to show him my pride & joy cap gun. He really liked it and said it was a lot like the Colt he carried when he was a working cowboy on a ranch near Fort Worth in the early 1880s - except that his was a lot heavier. lol
Of course we watched every western we could after Dad bought a TV in 1954, but when we were transferred overseas in '57 to Taipei, Taiwan, there was no TV. Had to listen to Gunsmoke on Armed Forces Radio.

How funny, Driftwood. I got this Navy Arms .44 for Christmas when I was 15 (1978). It too is a bit wiggly after years of stout loads. Now it's a wall hanger at best. My love of history is why I have so many Civil War and Old West replicas.

My son and I took one of his close friends, a cop, to our local range for some practice. The cop commented on shooting the Ruger Vaquero - "That revolver feels so natural in my hand. I like the balance." This is a young man born in the '80s who carries a semi-auto every day on the job and who found he likes the SAA design.

My neighbor across the street has two teenage sons, neither of them into cowboys or old movies. When he takes them to the range, they want to shoot his EMF Colt SAA clone, not his semi-auto 9mm.

Disregard the movie/TV influence. The SAA design feels good in most hands and seems to point more naturally than most semi-autos. And it is visually appealing. The French curves of the hammer are echoed in the plow handle grip and flared ends of the trigger guard. It is a blend of 19th century art and function.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age." The SAA will be popular for a long time because of its design, not its use in the movies.

Family history plus all those early westerns. My grandpa carried a Colt SAA in his younger years and I grew up playing cowboys and Indians. I was never satisfied until I got a Colt SAA in .44wcf like my grandpa's. Shooting one in .44wcf or .45 Colt is a hoot.

I agree as well I love both of my rossi 92 clones and my heritage big bore all in 45 colt! I now only reload and shoot 45 colt and 30-30 as I also own two leveraction 30-30's

I love the single action colt in all it's forms including the clones and it's heavy duty cousin, the Ruger Blackhawk, and also it's blackpowder ancestors. None of the more modern handguns can match them for looks or feel.

Yes, I'm old enough that I grew up on western and war movies. Westerns had an influence on my love of firearms, war movies not so much.

I'm still having trouble with the statement about loving the Italian made westerns and find Hollywood westerns hokey. I agree that there are a bunch of hokey Hollywood films in that genre but all of the Italians ones are so far out in left field it's hard to call them westerns. I watched most of them when they were brand new and found them funny but now they are just boring. When one comes on TV I change the channel or find something else to occupy me. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

As a kid, I watched a lot of "western" movies, but by the time those TV shows came along, I was old and experienced enough to know that most of the gun stuff was crud. I knew how hard it was to hit anything "fanning" a revolver, and wondered how "Paladin" could just flip off a shot from a Remington derringer when I knew they had springs like a Ford truck. And somehow, my "suspension of disbelief" left when Marshal Dillon is shot in the shoulder with a .45-70 and, after Doc digs out the bullet, is back to practicing his fast draw the next day! In reality, that arm would never have worked right again.

I still think John Wayne was the only actor who "wore" a gun like he knew what it was for. Most of the Hollywood western crowd used rigs that looked great but would have been totally impractical on horseback.

Jim

I'm probably younger than most here (35) but I grew up reading Louis Lamour and JT Edson Western books. Also my father was a fan of Clint Eastwood western movies.
Even now, I am a huge history buff and love antique firearms of all kinds, not only single actions.

I love any firearms pre 1890 or so.

While I grew up watching westerns(movies and TV) I too realized that it was all fantasy. Matt Dillon getting shot every week and never dying was no different that Batman never getting shot while the villains he fought had firearms. That the rig the Cisco Kid wore and the six-shooter in it that never had to be reloaded during a gunfight were no different than the Tribles on Star-Trek, or Jerry always beatin' up on Tom.

That did not take away my interest in the short-barreled SxS coachguns, Lever Action carbines and revolvers and the yearning to shoot them. I guess I musta watched more "Dragnet", "The Untouchables" and "Highway Patrol" since I sold My SAs and just have DAs left. I sill have several outside hammer SxSs and Levers in .357, 44, .45 and .32 Special. Never got a Mare's leg or a Big Loop tho........