Modern copy of the Colt Single Action Army handgun

The Colt Single Action Army handgun, also known as the Colt Peacemaker or Single Action Army, is a single action revolver safely holding 5 rounds with an empty chamber under the hammer. It was designed for the US cavalry by Colt's Manufacturing Company and adopted in 1873. It was one of the most famous pistols of the wild west, having a similar fame as the Walker Colt and the Colt 1851 Navy.

It is sometimes referred to as the 'Colt .45', and should not be confused with the M1911 semi-automatic Colt pistol, which is usually referred to as the '.45 auto'.

Ammunition

The original, and usually most common, caliber for the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) was .45 Colt, often called the .45 Long Colt (.45LC) to avoid confusion with the shorter .45 ACP cartridge used in automatic pistols.

The .45 Colt is a protruding-rim (commonly called 'rimmed') cartridge originally loaded with black powder and intended for use in revolvers (the rim keeps the cartridge from sliding through the cylinder), while .45 ACP ammunition is a rimless, meaning that the cartridge rim is the same diameter as the base of the case, designed to use smokeless gunpowder, which generates much more power per unit weight, and intended for use in autoloading pistol (the rimless design makes it easy to store in a magazine). Because of this, the .45 ACP brass is much shorter (0.898 inches/22.8mm) than the .45 Colt (1.285 inches/32.6mm) because it only must hold around 5.5 grains of smokeless powder.

The .45 ACP is regulated to under 21,000 lbf/in² (145 MPa), while .45 Long Colt must be kept under 14,000 lbf/in² (97 MPa) 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 longer barrel. Using the original load intended for the Single Action Army, a 250 grain (16 g) cast lead bullet over 40 grains (2.6 g) of FFg black powder, muzzle velocities of around 1000 ft/s (300 m/s) 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 (2.3 g) of FFg black powder, which gave the bullet the 800 to 900 ft/s (240 to 270 m/s) muzzle velocity.

The .45 SAA was accepted in 1873. The US Army approved a second standard military handgun of the same period, a Smith & Wesson No. 3 "top break" single action with modifications by a US Army Major by the name of Schofield. That gun took a shorter slightly less potent version of the .45 Colt round which would also fit in the Colt SAA revolver. However, the S&W No. 3 could not take the longer .45 Colt, leading to the army issuing the slightly shorter S&W round to all troops. This was also a reason for reducing the powder charge from 40 grains to 36 grains.

By 1876 the Colt SAA was being offered from the factory in additional calibers for civilian and foreign military sales. Many were sold in .44-40 Winchester Center Fire (WCF) to allow cross-compatibility with the Winchester '73 lever action rifle (this model was called the "Frontier Six-Shooter" which was etched and later stamped on the barrel). Additional period calibers for the SAA included .41 LC, .38 LC, .38-40 WCF (with ballistics surprisingly similar to modern police .40 S&W semi-auto ammo), .32-20 WCF, .44 Russian and .44 Special. For the British market, Colt's offered .450 Boxer and Eley, .455 and .476 Eley. In 1875, a .44 Rim Fire variant was offered, serially numbered in a separate number range 1 through 1800, some revolvers were later converted to .22 RF. In the 20th century the SAA was sold in more modern calibers including .357 Magnum, .38 Special and .45 ACP.

It is important to note that many ammunition makers produce high-powered hunting loads in .45 Colt. These are intended for modern revolver models that are also made in high-powered chamberings such as .44 Magnum. This is because the .45 Colt has enough case volume to be about as powerful as a .44 Magnum when loaded with modern gunpower instead of less-efficient black powder. However, use of these high-powered modern cartridges in old, original SAA Colts, intended for low-pressure black powder rounds, will almost certainly result in the destruction of the gun and the hand holding it. Users of the low-pressure-only SAAs should only use ammunition designed for it, such as Cowboy Action ammunition.

There is some controversy among gun historians and enthusiasts on the historical correctness of the term .45 Long Colt to describe the cartridge originally used in the "Peacemaker". Some argue the official name for the cartridge is simply .45 Colt, as there was no ".45 Short Colt". There was, however, the shorter .45 Schofield caliber, used in the top-break Schofield revolver, which can also be fired in the SAA. At any rate, the name .45 Long Colt is often used today, including among ammunition and firearm manufacturers, to differentiate the visibly longer .45 Colt cartridge from more modern .45 caliber loads such as the very popular .45 ACP.

Operation

The term "single-action" refers to the behavior of the trigger. Its hammer must be cocked manually before each shot, then it releases the hammer. Most modern revolvers are "double action," as pulling the trigger will both cock and release the hammer without having initially to cock the hammer. Double-action revolvers typically also have a swing-out cylinder, which enables the rapid simultaneous unloading of fired brass and rapid reloading using a speedloader. However, the SAA's fixed cylinder system is considered stronger, and used extensively in high-powered hunting revolvers like the Ruger Blackhawk and the Magnum Research BFR.

The distinctive "plow" shape of the grip is designed to let the gun rock back in the shooter's hand after firing, to make it easier to thumb the hammer back and present the gun.

Like many other contemporary 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, the new Colt SAA "Cowboy" Model and 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 halfcock the hammer, then load 1, miss 1, then load four, to fullcock the hammer and to release it carefully on the empty chamber. When the hammer is cocked, it will rotate the chamber to one with a round inside. Furthermore, as the swing-out cylinder 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 cavalry soldiers preferred the Smith & Wesson line of top-break revolvers, including the .44 Russian and the Schofield revolver chambered for .45 Schofield, for their speed in reloading and for the ease with which they 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 its solid frame, the Colt was the final choice for the U.S. Army and, therefore, for any peace officer or civilian who could afford one.

The loading gate for rounds was on the right side as a nod to use on horseback, as was the barrel-mounted ejector. The user was supposed to hold both the reins and gun in the left hand and insert rounds with the right.

Legacy

The Single Action Army is still being manufactured today, although antique Peacemakers are obviously rare and highly regarded as collectors items.

All original, good condition first generation Single Action Armies, 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 very first production Single Action Army, thought lost for many years after its production, was found in a barn in Nashua, New Hampshire in the early 1900s.

The OWA Colt refers to the earliest issued Single Action Army guns which were inspected by Orville W. Ainsworth. Ainsworth was the ordnance sub-inspector at the Colt factory for the first 13 months (Oct. 1873 to Nov. 1874) of the Single Action Army's production. It was Ainsworth who inspected the Colts used by Col. G.A. Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn. The number range of possible Little Bighorn Colts is 4500 - 7527.

Henry Nettleton was the ordnance 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 have the cartouche (OWA or HN) on the left side of the wood grip.

Another historical military SAA revolver is the Artillery Model. It was issued to the rear-echelon troops, artillerymen, and such during the Spanish-American war period. Following the Indian wars, in 1895, the cavalry SAAs had fallen into disrepair and had been sent back to the Colt factory or Springfield Armory to be refurbished, fit with a shortened barrel, (cut from a 7 1/2 in (191 mm) to a 5 1/2 in (140 mm) and re-issued. Most of the Artillery Colts had mixed numbers. The standard military revolver at the time was the Colt double action New Army revolver chambered in 38 Colt. Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders charged up San Juan hill wielding the Artillery Model. Artillery models can usually 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.

More often even more valuable are original factory engraved Colt SAA's. Colt engraved less than one (1) percent of 1st generation production, which makes them extremely rare. Often, engraved pieces were ordered by famous people of the day, including law/police, government/heads of state, film, radio and television stars (e.g. J. Edgar Hoover, Teddy Roosevelt and John Wayne). Colt employed a number of highly skilled engravers, many of whom were highly trained artisans who immigrated to America from Europe.

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, which is a property of Beretta, and United States Firearms Mfg. Co. in Hartford Connecticut. Both companies make superb replicas that are much more affordable than the real Colt.

A number of "near clones" of the Colt SAA have appeared which mimic the size and feel of the SAA while offering a modern transfer bar ignition system similar to modern Double Action (DA) revolvers. Unlike the SAA and "true clones", these can be carried with all six rounds loaded versus "five up carry and hammer on the empty cylinder". After Beretta bought Uberti they ordered a high-end SAA near-clone with a transfer bar known as the Beretta Stampede. The other two transfer bar SAA near-clones are the Ruger "New Vaquero", and the Taurus Gaucho, both introduced recently. These three are much safer for the newbie "cowboy shooter" while being close enough to SAA ergonomics to fit in the same holsters. The Ruger "Original Vaquero" looks a lot like the SAA but is built on a bigger frame able to take the .44 Magnum and is not considered an "SAA clone" like the "New Vaquero".

Famed British adventurer and soldier T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia") had a special fondness for this weapon because it saved his life during one of his pre-World War I trips to Mesopotamia; he was attacked by an Arab bandit who stole the gun and tried to shoot Lawrence. However, the bandit was unable to fire the weapon because he did not understand the revolver's mechanism. Lawrence thereafter always carried one of these weapons for good luck. (see Lowell Thomas, With Lawrence In Arabia (1924)).

US Army General George S. Patton, who began his career in the cavalry, carried a custom-made SAA with ivory grips engraved with his initials and an eagle, which became his trademark. He used it during the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916 to kill two of Pancho Villa's lieutenants, and carried it until his death in 1945 shortly after the end of World War II