Colt Single Action Army handgun
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Also known as the Colt Peacemaker or Single Action Army, the Colt Single Action Army handgun is a single action revolver holding 6 rounds of ammunition, that was designed for the US cavalry by Colt's Manufacturing Company and adopted in 1873, and it was perhaps the most prolific pistol in the wild west.
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Ammunition
The Single Action Army uses .45 Long Colt (.45 LC) cartridges, which should not be confused with the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (.45 ACP) cartridge commonly used in semi-automatic pistols. Standard .45 ACP ammunition is regulated to under 21,000 PSI, while .45 LC must be kept under 14,000 PSI to be safe in older guns. Despite the lower pressure, the muzzle velocity of the Single Action Army is about the same as--or slightly higher than--many .45 ACP pistols, due to its long barrel length. Using the original load intended for the Single Action Army, a 250 grain cast lead bullet over 40 grains of FFg black powder, muzzle velocities of around 1000 FPS can be achieved. However, because that load pushed the chamber pressure limit of the original 1873 revolvers the government cut the powder charge down to 36 grains of FFg black powder, which gave the bullet the 800-900 FPS muzzle velocity.
Operation
The term "single action" refers to the behavior of the trigger. Its hammer must be cocked manually before each shot, and the trigger performs only a single action, releasing the hammer. Most modern revolvers are "double action," as pulling the trigger will both cock and release the hammer.
Like many other contemporaneous revolvers, the cylinder of the Single Action Army can hold 6 rounds. However, because there is no mechanism which prevents a round from discharging a loaded chamber if the hammer is struck forcibly, most prudent users will only load "five beans in the wheel." Although many modern reproductions, such as those made by Beretta, utilize a transfer-bar safety which prevents such an accidental discharge, many people still choose to load only 5 cartridges for the sake of historical accuracy. In the popular sport of cowboy action shooting, even if one has a modern revolver, like the Ruger Vaquero, with the transfer bar safety (in which it is perfectly safe to load and carry six in the cylinder), they are only allowed to load five and keep the hammer on an empty chamber.
Loading
The common loading method is to load 1, miss 1, then load the rest. This causes the empty chamber to be under the hammer. When the hammer is cocked, it will rotate the chamber to one with a round inside. Furthermore, as the swing-out chamber had yet to be invented, Colt Peacemakers are loaded by opening a loading gate on the right side of the gun, behind the cylinder. Each round is loaded individually as the user turns the cylinder and ejects the casing with the built-in ejection rod attached below the barrel. Many cowboys, lawmen, and even calvary soldiers prefered the Smith & Wesson Schofield revolver chambered for 45 S&W for its speed in reloading and for the ease with which it could be reloaded while mounted. However, because the Colt's cartridge was more powerful, and because the Colt revolver tended to be a more sturdy gun because of it's solid frame (the Schofield was a tip-up, or hinged frame, revolver), the Colt was the final choice for the U.S. Army and, therefore, for any peace officer or civilian who could afford one.
Legacy
The Single Action Army is still being manufactured today, although genuine Peacemakers back from the wild west are obviously rare and highly regarded as collectors items. The gun is perhaps most widely associated with the wild west and spaghetti westerns, although many films and cultural shows still use this.
A villain of Metal Gear Solid, Revolver Ocelot, wields a Single Action Army, commenting that it is the "single greatest handgun ever made" before doing battle. He adopts the weapon in the prequel, Metal Gear Solid 3, after he jams his semiautomatic Makarov pistol during combat with Naked Snake. After this incident he eventually could use it with unheard of accuracy, able to shoot someone in the heart in the blink of an eye. He was also a master of ricochet shots. In Metal Gear Solid 3, he was often seen using these techniques, as while as stylish play with his dual guns.
All original, good condition first generation Single Action Armys, those produced between 1873 and 1941, are among the most valuable to the collector. Especially valuable, often going for well over $10,000, are the OWA and the Nettleton Single Action Army Colts.
The OWA Colt refers to the earliest issued Single Action Army's which were inspected by Orville W. Ainsworth. O.W. Ainsworth was the ordinance sub-inspector at the Colt factory for approximately the first 13 months (Oct. 1873 to Nov. 1874) of the Single Action Army's production. It was Ainsworth that inspected the Colts used by Col. G.A. Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn.
Henry Nettleton was the ordinance inspector in 1878 at the Springfield Armory. Second only to the OWA Colts, Nettleton Colts are prized by serious collectors. Both the Nettleton and OWA Colts will have the cartouche (OWA or HN) on the left side of the wood grip.
Another historical military SAA revolver is the Artillery Model. The artillery model was a 5 1/2" barreled Single Action Army issued to the rear-eschalon troops, artillerymen, and such during the Spanish-American war period. It was during the period following the indian wars that the cavalry SAAs had fallen into disrepair and had been sent back to the Colt factory or Springfield Armory to be refurbished, rebarreled with the shorter barrel (the original cavalry model had a 7 1/2" barrel), and re-issued (in 1895). The standard military revolver at the time was the Colt double action New Army revolver chambered in 38 Colt. However, it was with the artillery model SAA the Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders charged up San Juan hill. Artillery models can ususally be identified by the original inspector's cartouche (such as the OWA or HN) on the left side of the grips and the cartouche of Rinaldo A. Carr (RAC), the inspector who inspected the refurbished guns, on the right side.
The Single Action Army has been copied by numerous makers both in America and in Europe. The two major makers of Colt replicas are Aldo Uberti in Italy and United States Firearms Mfg. Co. in Hartford Connecticut. Both companies make superb replicas that are much more affordable than the real Colt (for those who don't have to have the "real thing").
External links
- Modern Firearms (http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg32-e.htm)
- Sixguns (http://www.sixguns.com/range/colt.htm)
- Photo and information about currently produced Colt Single Action Army revolvers (http://www.gunshopfinder.com/colt/coltsaa.asp)