"Once you fall for a SAA, you will never be the same, and others won't understand."
The Colt Single Action Army is pretty special in any of its guises. To me it feels unique, even when compared with other single action revolvers and Colt clones but that's probably just all in my head. Your going to have a difficult time finding one for even $1200, new or used, in any condition. There's an uglified Colt Single Action Army .45 Arizona Centennial on GunBroker right now with no floor but it's at $900 with a day or so left. Look for it to break $1000.
In general I don't much care for the Ruger Blackhawks or Super Blackhawks. There are a few exceptions though. There was a photo of a 4 3/4-inch Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP convertible in the Speer No. 9 manual I got with my reloading set-up back in the late 1970s. I've lusted after the revolver in that photo for over 35 years now. These new Ruger .44 Special revolvers with the great-looking black plastic stocks, reminiscent of the old Colt hard rubber stocks, have a lot of appeal, both due to size and because of the chambering. I would expect that either of these Ruger single action revolver models could happen along to be added to the menagerie at any time.
The only single-action revolver I have on hand is a Colt Single Action Army in .38-40. It's 108 years old, original and scroungy, yet still mechanically sound and gratifyingly accurate. The 1st Generation (read that pre-World War II) Colt Single Action Army revolvers in original, worn yet unmolested condition, start at $2000 and go up from there and $2000 will generally only get you the less popular chamberings such as .32-20, .38-40, and .41 Long Colt. As the degree of original surface finish improves, prices go up in large increments for remaining examples. Plan on adding at least $500 more for clean, sound pre-World War II Colt Single Action Army revolvers in .44-40, and .45 Colt. Original pre-war Colts in .38 Long Colt, .38 Special, .44 Russian, .44 Special, or any of a host of other minor chamberings that could be had in the Single Action Army are in the upper stratosphere of advanced and well-heeled Colt collectors. Martially marked originals, clean and unfooled with are also beyond reach of most folks these days.
Even junky, molested, customized, over-polished, refinished, built-up-out-of parts, mongrel 1st generation Colt Single Action Army revolvers will set you back a thousand to two thousand. To me personally, this is silliness but they're that popular.
In the summer of 1968 I got to shoot my first handgun. I can't now recall which one I shot first though. Both occasions were in the yard of our old lake cabin and both handguns belonged to my uncle. One was a Colt Single Action Army .45 Colt, the so-called "Artillery Model," and the other was a 4-inch blue Smith & Wesson Model 15 .38 Special.
The Artillery Model Colt that was my uncle's was an arsenal rework of the older 7 1/2-inch Colt M1873 .45 revolvers of Indian wars fame. In the mid-1890s, supplies of these were rebuilt by both Springfield Armory and through contact with Colt as a back-up supplement to the Colt double-action .38 (Colt New Army) revolvers recently adopted by the U.S. armed services. These single-action .45s were rehab'ed mechanically as needed with barrels cut back to 5 1/2-inches. They came in handy during the Philippine Insurrection when it was discovered that the Moro tribesmen didn't obligingly fold up for the .38 Long Colt cartridge as the Spanish and Spanish colonial troops apparently had in the recently concluded Spanish-American War. The older .45 Colt Single Action Army M1873s were trundled out and issued to general acclaim. Acclaim which has been aggrandized in the more-than-a-century since in an almost mythical manner, most likely all out of proportion to any actual stopping power differences observed. At least the military personnel of the day seemed happy with the .45 revolver.
My dad and my uncle were on a fishing trip in southern Oklahoma in 1948 and my uncle picked up the Artillery Colt for $5. It was shot with all manner of heavy Unique-fueled handloads to no apparent detriment. It offered more recoil than a skinny 11-year-old could really manage then in 1968 but it was glorious to fire all the same.
My uncle suffered an untimely death due to being struck by lightening while on a fishing trip in 1971 and the Colt ended up in my aunt's possession as her home-defense weapon. My uncle had previously left it on hand for her use back when he worked nights. The cousins borrowed it on occasion for more shooting fun in which I occasionally got to participate but she adamantly wanted it returned when they were finished. Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s she returned home one evening to find her house being burgled. She retrieved the Colt and cleared the house, chasing the miscreant away. A call to the police brought out officers to investigate. They lauded her for her actions though one officer did politely request that she allow him to lower the hammer on the Colt which he had observed lying still cocked on the kitchen table.
The Artillery model in this link looks very much like the condition of the revolver my aunt still has.
Item:9465723 Colt Colt SAA Artillery type 45Colt With Colt Letter For Sale at GunAuction.com
