The Saga Of The Single Action Army

By Patrick Sweeney

It is popular in some circles to view the iconic Single Action Army (SAA) as an exemplar of perfection. It isn’t. I hate to sound harsh, but in fact, it is a pretty fragile revolver. It was groundbreaking and revolutionary. What it is, in a business-­­school sense, is an example of sticking with something thought to be perfect long after improvements could have been made.

Samuel Colt made great revolvers and then resisted all attempts to improve his fundamental characteristics. He fought against the solid frame with topstrap and insisted on sticking to his open-­­top design. Colt refused to consider self­­contained cartridges. Soon after Colt passed away in 1862, Colt’s company turned to manufacturing conversions to cartridges by rebuilding cap-­­and-­­ball revolvers. When Colt management — all of whom rose through the company under Sam Colt — went with a solid-­­framed revolver, they stuck with the flat springs that the original plans had incorporated since the 1830s.

I did solid, if not brisk, business as a gunsmith replacing busted flat springs in Colts, mostly the …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo