Historical Non-.45 Colt SAA's

The 44-40 was an extremely popular chambering for the SAA because there were plenty of rifles chambered for the powerful round, while none were chambered for 45 Colt. I can’t speak to historical figures that used the 44-40, but I am certain it was a very popular chambering.

Pancho Villa favored the Colt Bisley in .44-40

The 1873 Winchester rifle was chambered originally in .44-40 because SAA pistols were chambered that way. The guns that won the west.

Electricmo said:

The 1873 Winchester rifle was chambered originally in .44-40 because SAA pistols were chambered that way. The guns that won the west.

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Ummmm...........I believe the rifle came first by a few years. In .44 W.C.F., that is. In fact, the .44 Henry rifle came before the revolvers.

Bob Wright

Reportedly Billy the Kid carried a .41 Colt SAA. Can't name any right now, but believe some old west lawmwn carried .41s too.

Here are some vintage .41 Cartridges. The second from the right would have been most available at the time. It was no slouch with that slug!



Bob Wright

BobWright said:

Reportedly Billy the Kid carried a .41 Colt SAA. Can't name any right now, but believe some old west lawmwn carried .41s too.

Here are some vintage .41 Cartridges. The second from the right would have been most available at the time. It was no slouch with that slug!

View attachment 959412

Bob Wright

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I was under the assumption that Billy the Kid was a carrier of the Colt Thunderer DA, I believe in my 1964 version of Sixguns by Keith calls the Kid the first DA revolver warrior, paraphrasing a bit there but you catch me drift.

Come to think of it, didn't John Wayne carry a .38-40 Colt SAA?

Bob Wright

BobWright said:

Ummmm...........I believe the rifle came first by a few years.

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Yep.
1873 for the rifle.
1878 for the Colt Frontier Model

BobWright said:

Ummmm...........I believe the rifle came first by a few years. In .44 W.C.F., that is. In fact, the .44 Henry rifle came before the revolvers.

Bob Wright

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Yes I believe your correct the rifle came first. Interesting we don’t hear much about the Winchester 1866 rifle and Colt Revolvers chambered in the .44 Henry rim fire. Lots of westward expansion before the 1873 inventions.
Sioux chief Sitting Bull used a 1873 Winchester chambered in 44wcf also known as .44-40

Howdy

OK first off, let's get some dates straight.

The 1860 Henry rifle did not actually start production until 1862. The patents were dated 1860, but production did not begin until 1862. The 44 Henry Rimfire cartridge came before the rifle. Oliver Winchester had taken over the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company in 1855 after Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson (yes, that Smith and Wesson) sold the patents for their Volcanic Repeating rifles and handguns. The main problem with the Volcanic was the Rocket Ball ammunition it fired was under powered. Why Smith and Wesson never did anything about that is a mystery, but they didn't. The first thing Winchester did was hire B. Tyler Henry, an experienced firearms designer, who had worked with Smith at the Robbins and Lawrence Armory in Windsor, Vermont. Henry's first assignment was to come up with a more robust cartridge than the puny 31 and 41 caliber Rocket Ball ammunition the Volcanics used. The Rocket Ball was really nothing more than a hollow bullet containing a powder charge and a priming charge at the rear. A dissected 38 caliber 100 grain Rocket Ball was found to only contain 6 1/2 grains of Black Powder.

Winchester adopted a new name, the New Haven Arms Company when production was moved from Norwich, Connecticut to New Haven, Connecticut. Henry came up with the cartridge that bore his name, the 44 Henry Rimfire cartridge. The cartridge carried a 216 grain pointed bullet and 26 grains of Black Powder, and because it was a Rimfire the cartridge case was made of soft copper, not brass. Later, the bullet weight was reduced to 200 grains because the earlier pointed bullets were problematic in a tubular magazine, so a flat nosed 200 grain bullet was substituted. Clearly, a 200 grain bullet was going to be much more powerful than a puny 100 grain bullet with 6 1/2 grains of powder inside. After perfecting the cartridge, Henry scaled up the rifle design to accommodate the much larger 44 caliber cartridge, and he had to add an ejector to eject spent cartridges because the Rocket Ball ammunition did not have a separate cartridge case. The Henry rifle was only in production a relatively short time, from 1862 until 1866, only about 14,000 were ever produced.

In 1866, after a falling out with Henry, Winchester renamed the company after himself. At the same time, the King's Patent side loading gate was added to the rifle, doing away with the awkward method of loading a Henry from the front of the magazine, and a wooden fore stock was added. Like the Henry, the 1866 Winchester had a bronze, not brass, frame, and still fired the 44 Henry Rimfire ammunition.

The Winchester Model 1873 rifle came out at the end of 1873, but not many were made that year. A new cartridge, the 44 Winchester Center Fire, was developed for the new rifle. The cartridge was Boxer primed, with a brass case. Unlike the Henry round which was straight, the new round had a slight taper to it, probably to help feed ammunition into the chamber more efficiently. The 44 WCF carried a 200 grain bullet and 40 grains of Black Powder. Because the cartridge was more powerful than the old 44 Rimfire, the frame of the new rifle was made from iron, not bronze. Later, frames were made of steel. Also, the side plates of the 1873 Model were only held on by one screw, and removal was much simpler than the side plates of the Henry or '66. Clearly, the power level had risen from the puny Rocket Ball ammunition to the 44 Henry Rimfire, and then to the 44 WCF, which also went by the name of 44-40. In 1879 Winchester added the 38 WCF (38-40) chambering to the Model 1873 in an effort to gain more sales. The 38-40 case was actually nothing more than a 44-40 necked down to 40 caliber. (Don't get me started on why it is called 38-40 and not 40-40). The bullet weight of the 38-40 was 180 grains, so the 38-40 had the same amount of explosive energy as the 44-40, but had a slightly higher velocity. No, rifles were never chambered for 45 Colt during the 19th Century, that is a totally modern phenomenon. I have talked about that in other threads, I'm not going to go into it here.

The Gun That Won The West was an advertising slogan made up by the Winchester marketing department about the Model 1873 Winchester. No gun ever won the West, but it was a pretty good advertising slogan.

Colts: The Colt Single Action Army also came out in 1873, the same year as the Winchester Model 1873. The 45 Colt cartridge had been under development jointly by Colt and the government run Franford Arsenal. Originally the 45 Colt held 40 grains of Black Powder under a 200 grain bullet. Yes, the 45 Colt cartridge also came out in 1873, the same year as the 44-40. However the early 45 Colt cartridges that Frankford Arsenal shipped were copper cased and used internal Benet Priming.

Photos will follow.

The most common cartridge the Colt Single Action Army was ever chambered for was 45 Colt. Over 158,000 First Generation Colts were produced chambered for 45 Colt. The next most popular chambering for the Colt SAA was 44-40, first chambered in 1878, with over 70,000 1st Gens being chambered for it. Next in popularity was the 38-40, with over 50,000 1st Gens chambered for it starting in 1884. Next in popularity was the 32-20, with over 42,000 1st Gens chambered for it, also starting in 1884. In all, the 1st Gen SAA was chambered for 30 different cartridges, but I am going to stop there. OK, one more. The SAA was first chambered for 44 Henry Rimfire in 1875, but only about 1,800 of them were made. Not very many in comparison to the other cartridges.




Left to right in this photo, a 44 Henry Rimfire, 44-40, 38-40, and 32-20. Since Black Powder cartridges were completely filled with powder, with no air space, the relative sizes of the cartridges are a pretty good indicator of their relative power.






On the left in this photo are two 45 Colts, on the right are two 45 Schofields. The center two cartridges are the old copper cased, Benet primed versions. The cannelures near the bottom hold the interior Anvil Plate in position. On the outside of the photo are two of my reloads in modern brass, solid head cases.






Yes, Pancho Villa had a 44-40 Bisely Colt. Manufactured in 1912, it had pearl grips. It is currently in the Autry Museum.






Famous Cowboy Action Shooter Driftwood Johnson prefers his Colts chambered for 45 Colt.






But he has a couple of old Bisleys chambered for 38-40.

Driftwood Johnson said:

The center two cartridges are the old copper cased, Benet primed versions.

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Driftwood, when did they go to brass cased ammunition?
And could people reload these copper cases?

Among many others likely ;

Pat Garrett purportedly used a Colt SAA / FSS in .44-40 to kill Henry McCarty / William Bonney / Billy the Kid.

Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton purportedly used Colt SAA's / FSS's in .44-40 at the OK Corral shootout.

Jeff Milton, famous Texas Ranger also purportedly favored a Colt SAA / FSS in .44-40.

Arkansas Paul said:

Driftwood, when did they go to brass cased ammunition?
And could people reload these copper cases?

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Howdy Again

No, the copper cased, Benet primed cartridges were not reloadable. This photo shows a 45 Colt and a 45 Schofield copper cased, Benet primed round. the priming was internal. It also shows the base of a round that has been dissected. Note that the copper case was actually of a folded design. The Anvil Plate sat at the bottom, secured by the cannelure near the bottom of the case. The priming compound was sandwiched between the base of the case and the Anvil Plate. The flame from the priming compound shot through two flash holes in the Anvil Plate to ignite the Black Powder charge. I believe I stated late last night, maybe not, the case was copper so that it was soft enough for the firing pin to dent the rear of the case and compress the priming material and ignite it. Because the priming was internal on these rounds, they resembled a Rimfire round from the rear.






Interestingly enough, inspection and proofing at the Colt factory, and subsequent issuing of the revolvers to the Army for the first contract in 1873 was delayed a bit because the Frankford Arsenal was having trouble obtaining copper.


According to The Colt Single Action Revolvers, a Shop Manual, Volumes 1 & 2, by Jerry Kuhnhausen, a reloadable copper cased, boxer primed version of the 45 Colt was adopted by ordnance in 1882. A reloadable brass cased, Boxer primed case was adopted by ordnance in 1890. I don't have any information at present about when commercial brass cased, boxer primed ammo was first available. I will see what I can find out.

P.S. The first 45-70 rounds issued to the Army were also manufactured by Frankford Arsenal and were also copper cased with internal Benet priming. The extractors of Trapdoor Springfield rifles often tore through the soft copper rim, leaving the spent round jammed in the chamber. Not a good situation in a fire fight.

The copper cased, Benet primed 45-70 round on the left is an example of an early 45-70 round.

Kleanbore said:

The Colt Single Action Army revolver was chambered in .45.

The same gun, marked "Colt Frontier Six Shooter", was sold in .44 WCF, and later in .38 WCF and .32 WCF.

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Howdy again.

That is incorrect. The only Single Action Army revolver that got its own special name was the Frontier Six Shooter and they were only ever chambered for 44-40. No other SAA revolvers carried the Frontier Six Shooter name on the barrel. Frontier Six shooters were available in the standard model, a Target Model, the Bisley Model, and the Bisley Target Model. But they were all known as the Frontier Six Shooter. Later, the 1878 Double Action Colt chambered for 44-40 was also called a Frontier Six Shooter, but that is not what we are talking about here.






Perhaps it is time to explain a little bit more about the Colt Single Action Army.



The design of the Colt Single Action Army was an evolutionary advance from the earlier Colt cap & ball revolvers and cartridge conversion revolvers.

Colt was prevented from building any cartridge revolvers by the Rollin White patent of about 1855 if I remember correctly. White had patented the idea of boring the chambers of a cylinder completely through the cylinder, so it could be loaded with metallic cartridges from the rear. White was a former Colt employee, which makes an interesting story for another time. S&W approached White and proposed buying the rights to his patent. White would not sell, but made S&W the sole licensee of his patent, making them the only US company that could legally make cartridge revolvers without being sued. So Colt was left making C&B revolvers all through the Civil War until the White patent expired.

Colt made a number of Cartridge Conversion revolvers during this period, principally the Thuer conversion, the Richards Conversion, and the Richards-Mason conversion. The Thuer conversion was an attempt to get around the White patent, but it used an unusual reverse tapered cartridge and was not financially successful. The Richards Conversion was financially successful, using some inventoried parts from the cap & ball revolvers and some newly manufactured parts. It fired a centerfire 44 caliber cartridge called the 44 Colt. The principal buyer of the Richards Conversion was the Army. The Richards-Mason Conversion simplified some of the parts of the earlier Richards Conversion and they too were financially successful. The Colt Model 1871-1872 Open Top revolver is often considered a cartridge conversion revolver, but in fact it was designed from the ground up to fire cartridges. It fired a rimfire 44 caliber cartridge very similar to the 44 Henry rimfire cartridge. The Open Top had been designed by William Mason, who had also made most of the changes that resulted in the Richards-Mason Conversion. Except for a few internal parts, all of the parts of the Open Top were of new design and very few parts were interchangeable with cap & ball or cartridge conversion parts.

The patents for the Open Top were awarded in 1871 and 1872, but Mason was probably working on it earlier than that. The White patent had expired in 1869, so the market was wide open for a large caliber cartridge revolver, unlike the small Tip Up rimfire cartridge revolvers S&W had been producing. The largest Tip Ups only fired a 32 rimfire cartridge. S&W was ready in 1869 with a much larger revolver, but that too is another story.

Mason was working on the design of the Open Top concurrently with developing the Richards-Mason cartridge conversion revolver. Among other improvements it featured a hinged loading gate and an improved ejector assembly. Colt submitted the Open Top to the Army for consideration as a new cartridge revolver design, but the army rejected it. One reference of mine states the Army had decided on a solid frame revolver as early as 1868, but Colt submitted the Open Top anyway, and it was quickly rejected.

Mason had also been working on what we now know as the Single Action Army early in 1872. It was often referred to as the 'Strap Pistol' by both the Army and Colt, to differentiate it from the 'strapless' (my term) Open Top. The Army stated they wanted a solid frame revolver, with a threaded barrel screwed into the frame. Colt sent the first Strap Pistol to the Army in November of 1872. The Army tested it in comparison with the Smith and Wesson American Model that was already in inventory, the Army had bought 1000 of them around 1871 if memory serves. The first Strap Pistol that Colt sent to the Army was chambered for the 44 Russian cartridge, because it was felt to be more accurate than the earlier 44 S&W American cartridge. However since the Army's American Models were all chambered for the S&W American cartridge, this first revolver was sent back to Colt to be fitted with a cylinder chambered for the 44 S&W American cartridge.

The Frankford Arsenal had production problems supplying a quantity of the first iteration of 45 Colt cartridges to the Army. The first contract for the revolver was signed on July 23, 1873. Before the Army could begin accepting the guns, they had to be inspected by a government inspector at Colt, and they had to be proof fired. On September 13, 1873 a letter was sent to the Frankford Arsenal requesting 50,000 cartridges be sent to Colt's for testing. The Arsenal had difficulty filling the order for cartridges, mostly because they could not get their hands on much copper. Do not forget, the first 45 Colt cartridges were the copper cased, Benet Primed rounds. I pictured one in post #30.

It was not until October 25 that the Arsenal was able to ship 5,000 cartridges to Colt, which were not enough to proof test all the revolvers on hand. The remaining 45,000 cartridges were shipped shortly afterward, Kopec does not give a date for that.

Colt had a total of 13 separate contracts to supply the Single Action Army to the Army, the first one in 1873, the last one in 1890.

The official name of the revolver, other than the Frontier Six Shooter, has always been Single Action Army. Because of this, one might suppose that only the Army received these revolvers. That would be incorrect. Collectors discriminate between Civilian Models and Military models, but they are all known as the Single Action Army. All (or almost all, I am still looking this up) the Single Action Revolvers purchased by the Ordnance department were chambered for the 45 Colt cartridge. That may be where some confusion sets in. The Civilian models, also known as the Single Action Army were eventually chambered for 30 different cartridges.

Here is the list and the year each chambering was first introduced. This list is from the Khunhausen book.

22 Rimfire 1883
32 Rimfire 1889
32 Colt 1887
32 S&W 1887
32-44 S&W 1889
32-20 (32WCF) 1884
38 Colt 1886
38 S&W 1889
38 Colt Special 1930
38 S&W Special 1930
38-44 1891
357 Magnum 1935
380 Eley 1890
38-40 (38WCF) 1884
41 Colt 1885
44 Colt no information on when first chambered for this cartridge, but apparently there were only 2 made.
44 Smooth Bore 1890
44 Rimfire 1875
44 German no information on when first chambered for this cartridge.
44 Russian 1889
44 S&W American 1890
44 Special 1913
44-40 (44WCF) 1878
45 Colt 1873
45 Smooth Bore no information on when first chambered for this cartridge.
45 ACP 1924
450 Boxer no information on when first chambered for this cartridge.
450 Eley 1890
455 Eley no information on when first chambered for this cartridge.
476 Eley 1876

Generations:

Colt collectors recognize three separate Generations of Single Action Army Production. The 1st Gen was produced from 1873 until 1940. All the chamberings listed above are for 1st Gen Colts. Serial Numbers for the 1st Gen run from 1 through 357,859. Starting around 1930, SAA sales began to decline, during the height of the Depression only 100 were sold in both 1935 and 1936. Colt stopped production of the SAA in 1940. Serial Numbers for 1st Gen Single Action Army revolvers are numbers only. Although any barrel length could be custom ordered, the three standard barrel lengths for 1st Gen Colts were 7 1/2", 5 1/2", and 4 3/4". Because the revolvers issued to the Army all had 7 1/2" barrels, and most were issued to Cavalry units, this is sometimes unofficially called the Cavalry Model. Many of the 7 1/2" Colts were sent to government armories or back to Colt for reconditioning in the late 1890s. Many of these had their barrels cut to 5 1/2". Many of these 5 1/2" reconditioned Colts were issued to Artillery units, so the unofficial name for a 5 1/2" Colt is the Artillery Model. There is no recognized unofficial name for the 4 3/4" barrel length, which happens to be my personal favorite.

2nd Gen Single Action Army. After WWII ended, Colt did not believe anyone would be interested in buying a revolver of such an antiquated design, so there were no plans to reintroduce it. However an enterprising young man named Bill Ruger had introduced a slightly downsized 22 Rimfire single action revolver in 1953. Demand was huge, probably fueled by all the cowboys galloping across new television sets in living rooms of new houses, many of which had been bought by returning GIs and financed by the GI Bill. In 1956 Colt finally saw the handwriting on the wall and reintroduced the Single Action Army. This was the 2nd Gen. Some minor design changes from the 1st Gen, but nothing earth shaking. 2nd Gen serial numbers all had a SA suffix, running from 0001SA in 1956 until 73,319SA in 1975. Standard barrel lengths for the 2nd Gen were also 7 1/2", 5 1/2", and 4 3/4". Chamberings for the 2nd Gen were limited to 45 Colt, 44 Special, 38 Special, and 357 Magnum.

3rd Gen Single Action Army production ran from 1975 until today. Serial numbers ran from 80,000SA to 99,999SA in 1978. Then a SA prefix was added running from SA01001 to SA99,999 in 1993. In 1993 the S and A were split by the numbers, starting at S02001A in 1993. The latest information I have about 3rd Gen serial numbers is S26,699A in 1999. I have no later information than that. Early 3rd Gen Single Action Army revolvers did away with the separate, removable cylinder bushing, substituting a raised bushing milled onto the front surface of the cylinder. At some point, because of popular demand, the removable cylinder bushing was reinstated in the cylinder. There are those who believe this constituted a Fourth Generation of Colts, but collectors do not recognize a 4th Gen.

The New Frontier. Starting in 1961 Colt produced a version of the SAA with adjustable rear sights and a tall, ramped front sight. This was called the New Frontier Model after President Kennedy's New Frontier domestic and foreign policies. New Frontier production ran from 1961 until 1983. Serial numbers ran from 3,000NF through 16829NF in 1983.

A Colt New Frontier chambered for 45 Colt that left the factory in 1965.

According to Blue Book, Colt made 150,683 SAAs in .45 Colt, not counting Bisleys and flattop targets.
They made 64,689 in .44-40 which is a lot, considering how many of the .45s went to the Army.
There were 38,240 in .38-40, 29,812 in .32-20, and 16,402 in .41 LC.

After that it drops off fast, but wouldn't you like to have one of the 506 .44 Specials, especially one roll marked ".44 Russian and S&W Special" like Hank Williams Jr's favorite.

Howdy Again

Kuhnhausen's numbers for 45 Colt are 150,683 standard SAAs, 100 SAA Target Models, 8,005 Bisleys and 97 Bisley Target Models.
44-40: 64,489 standard SAAs, 21 SAA Target Models, 6,803 Bisleys and 78 Bisley Target Models.
38-40: 38,240 standard SAAs, 19 SAA Target Models, 12,163 Bisleys, and 98 Bisley Target Models.
32-20: 29,812 standard SAAs, 30 SAA Target Models, 13,291 Bisleys and 131 Bisley Target Models.
41 Colt: 16,402 standard SAAs, 91 SAA Target Models, 3,159 Bisleys, and 24 Bisley Target Models.

Anybody who wants the breakdown of all the calibers in all four variations over the years of the 1st Gen will have to buy the book.

Which I highly recommend as the very best book out there about the Colt Single Action Army. The pages of mine are all dog eared from being paged though so often.

http://www.gunbooks.com/colt_sa.html

The book is also available on Amazon, but I like to go to the source whenever possible.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy Again

No, the copper cased, Benet primed cartridges were not reloadable. This photo shows a 45 Colt and a 45 Schofield copper cased, Benet primed round. the priming was internal. It also shows the base of a round that has been dissected. Note that the copper case was actually of a folded design. The Anvil Plate sat at the bottom, secured by the cannelure near the bottom of the case. The priming compound was sandwiched between the base of the case and the Anvil Plate. The flame from the priming compound shot through two flash holes in the Anvil Plate to ignite the Black Powder charge. I believe I stated late last night, maybe not, the case was copper so that it was soft enough for the firing pin to dent the rear of the case and compress the priming material and ignite it. Because the priming was internal on these rounds, they resembled a Rimfire round from the rear.

View attachment 959485




Interestingly enough, inspection and proofing at the Colt factory, and subsequent issuing of the revolvers to the Army for the first contract in 1873 was delayed a bit because the Frankford Arsenal was having trouble obtaining copper.


According to The Colt Single Action Revolvers, a Shop Manual, Volumes 1 & 2, by Jerry Kuhnhausen, a reloadable copper cased, boxer primed version of the 45 Colt was adopted by ordnance in 1882. A reloadable brass cased, Boxer primed case was adopted by ordnance in 1890. I don't have any information at present about when commercial brass cased, boxer primed ammo was first available. I will see what I can find out.

P.S. The first 45-70 rounds issued to the Army were also manufactured by Frankford Arsenal and were also copper cased with internal Benet priming. The extractors of Trapdoor Springfield rifles often tore through the soft copper rim, leaving the spent round jammed in the chamber. Not a good situation in a fire fight.

The copper cased, Benet primed 45-70 round on the left is an example of an early 45-70 round.

View attachment 959486

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Just for some dates for people to wrap their head around:

The Kansas State Capitol building was built in stages between 1866 and 1903. Most being done, but the dome, by 1890. My dad was doing renovations there a number of years ago where they were required to dig through the floor and below the foundation. He found the lower half of a brass, externally primed, 45-70 casing. We have it somewhere, but 4 moves since has lost it in our stuff. They also uncovered many broken "sake" bottles from the Asians who did the labor in the 1800s. They were brown until fully exposed to air, where they went rainbow. Needless to say, they had been in the ground a LONG time.

The foundation was multiple foot thick native limestone. They had to wheelbarrow it out too!

Colt made two (2) SAA’s chambered in 30 Carbine.


Kevin

Electricmo said:

Yes I believe your correct the rifle came first. Interesting we don’t hear much about the Winchester 1866 rifle and Colt Revolvers chambered in the .44 Henry rim fire. Lots of westward expansion before the 1873 inventions.
Sioux chief Sitting Bull used a 1873 Winchester chambered in 44wcf also known as .44-40

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Don't hear much about the Winchester 1866 rifle? How about the many references to the "Winchester Yellow Boy?" And the Open Top Colt of 1872? Can't cite specific examples now, but have read many accounts or use of the "Yellow Boy" in western accounts. And early S&W No. 3 revolvers were .44 R.F.

As a matter of fact, the .44 Henry R.F. spawned the .44 S&W American cartridge. As Roy Jinks accounted, the first S&W revolvers submitted to the Army were .44 R.F. The Army sent them back requesting they be of centerfire caliber. These guns were altered to centerfire "without any changes to chamber dimensions."

Bob Wright

geo57 said:

Jeff Milton, famous Texas Ranger also purportedly favored a Colt SAA / FSS in .44-40.

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Actually that's not correct. During one of his deployments with the Rangers Milton met a gambler who had a Frontier Six Shooter for sale. He bought it thinking it was just the ticket to go with his '73 Winchester. When he got back to camp and tried it out for the first time the tapered cartridges jammed back against the standing breech, locking the gun up tight. He immediately sold it to someone else and went back to carrying his favorite from then on, a 4-3/4" 45 Colt. I have personally seen several of his guns in the Arizona Historical Society museum in Tucson. They were all 45 Colts with one exception. In his later years, after retiring, his last single action was a 38 WCF for it's lighter recoil. By then he was suffering severe arthritis in his hands.

Dave