I may have the SAA bug, but why so $$$

[Lovesbeer99]

Went to the gun store today looking for a Cimarron Cartridge Conversion, but couldn't find one, so for kicks I picked up a colt and uberti SAA. Now I didn't fire these and I don't know too much about the SAA, but the colt had a 1300.00 price tag and the Uberti has a 425.00 price tag. The Baretta Stampeed was 525.00. Why is the Colt soooo expensive.

Also, I didn't realize colt was still making new revolvers.

Anyone?

Lovesbeer99

 

[burrhead]

Supply and demand. It’s what makes America great. You paid the price, right? Therefore it was worth the price.

 

[Old Fuff]

Not so much supply and demand as labor and overhead costs. Colt is turning out a limited number of single action revolvers and trading on their name. The Italian clones are well made, but they don't have that important Colt name to lever the price of their products upward. There are some who think they must have a Colt, and are willing and able to pay the price. For the time being that's keeping Colt in business.

Incidently, Beretta owns the Uberti Co. and Uberti makes the Stampeed. It's all in the family...

 

[hexidismal]

Cost in general has thus far kept me entirely away from the SA colts and clones. Even the lower priced models from ruger and taurus. It's not that I don't own guns in those price ranges, but on a fairly limited gun budget all my purchases always wind up being more utilitarian. I say this only to make the point that the cowboy action guns overall tend to appeal mostly to the buyer with some money to burn, who in many cases probably owns a fair amount of more modern utilitarian firearms already. So therefore I think the higher end models will be more expensive than maybe they should be, as their target buyers are those able to pay for it with less consideration of the price.

 

[Old Fuff]

Well yes and no.....

Last gun show I attended one table had a Navy Arms Co. .45/4 3/4" clone for $285.00, and I'm pretty sure cash on the table would have brought that down to maybe $265.00 - which isn't out of reach for one on a limited budget.

The single action six-shooter is by no means the best choice for a self-defense handgun in this day and age, but for other things it works just fine.

 

[PT-Partners]

Part of the Cost is labor. Two of the major components of cost are Labor and Materials. How much is skilled labor in the US vs Italy vs Brazil vs China for that matter. And yes the "Colt Horse" on the side also sells or adds, but not as much as one thinks.

Do not forgot the civil liability or insurance a U.S. gun maker has to have with the "left" law suits.

Look at Wal-Mart. Lots of "cheap stuff" at "cheap prices" made in China.

In a small way our quest for the "best price" has driven manufacturers to outsource. That is the way of the retail market.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I blame it all on cowboy action shooting.

'Course when my friend and I were starting out we had extremely limited funds and we both went with Taurus Gaucho pistols. Seems like we've had more than our fair share of issues. Nothing bad enough to junk 'em but light primer strikes, trigger slap, etc.

These days I think we both wish we had gone with Rugers of one type or another.

 

[clang]

If you are just Jonesing for a Single Action, look for a used Ruger Single Six. I just picked up a converted Old Model with both the .22LR and .22Mag cylinders for $200 bucks from a gunshop that is not known for great deals.

Although they aren't authentic cowboy guns, they are a lot of single action fun and will last forever with little or no problems.

 

[Jim March]

The Ruger New Vaquero is a really good gun. Well made, tough as nails, hardly anybody is complaining about quality issues. At around $500 it's a bit more than a Gaucho is going for but not that much. The New Vaq is yet another Colt-SAA-sized near-clone with a transfer bar safety, same as the Gaucho and Beretta Stampede.

Best gun Ruger has made in a long time. Only real problem is the cheesy fake color case; at least one distributor run has gone out in a sweet all-blue with white micarta panels, worth looking for and not much more than a normal one.

Mine is a 357. It's doing 2" at 25yds off the bench, six shot groups with factory ammo. I haven't even tried a good hardcast in it yet, I think it can do even better. Timing, lockup and alignment are all perfect. Ruger's cylinder making process on this gun changed from previous SAs, the cylinder bores are being done one at a time in sequence with the same drill bit on the same machine. We're seeing zero variance between chambers in any dimension.

Previous Ruger SAs used a six-bits-at-once machine and variances were common.

 

[sixgun MAK]

Colt's will hold their value. Buy a Colt for investment, buy Uberti's for shooting.

My Colt's are much, much nicer than the clones. However, the Italian made clones are still nice guns. I have two Uberti's myself in 44-40 and I think they are great.

Go to a cowboy shoot. Those boys are always willing to let you shoot their guns.

 

[cortez kid]

I would like to get a Colt SAA, but only because I'm a Single Action shooter and feel I should have one. My most favarite gun by far is an Old New Model Vaquero in stainless. Had the chance to compare side by side with a Gaucho. The Vaqeuro was much better built. The Vaquero shoots like I'm pointing my finger. If I was found in the "from my cold dead hands" position, it would be the Vaqeuro you'd be prying.
kid

 

[eliphalet]

I think this Cowboy action thing is great. For couple of reasons .

1, It is getting lots of people into shooting that might not otherwise, always a good thing.

2, These shooters are not in any way giving the Brady types fodder to feed on I don't think.

3, I have been a single action fan over 40 years now and like most fads ( cowboy action) it will probably slowly fade. I hope it doesn't for several reasons but if it does, this will probably mean overages of used Single actions and levers on the market for guys like me to buy. Even if it becomes more and more popular this is still good.

Is that selfish?

As far as new SA's I like the new case colored Vaquero.