The Colt SAA with 7 1/2-inch barrel

[Bill in Oregon]

I've been ending my day watching "Gunsmoke," always a favorite in our household. In the middle years, the opening sequence shows James Arness/Matt Dillon drawing his 7 1/2-inch Colt SAA against Arvo Ojala, influential Buscadero holster designer and fast-draw expert.
Always makes me jones for a full-size SAA, with that long barrel in .45 Colt. How slow was it to deploy? That long barrel can't have been much of an advantage when shooting from the hip. And yet the mystique endures.
I am even more drawn to the long barrel after finding this image of my 2nd great uncle Benjamin Franklin Burks with his son Thomas somewhere between Mississippi and Oklahoma, probably in the 1880s. Father and son both hold Colt SAAs with the long barrel. They look pretty serious.

[JimT]

With practice ... using live ammo at factory level ... the 7 1/2" can be drawn quite fast and good hits made. 40 years ago I was fairly decent with a 7 1/2".

Toss a piece of wood with the gun hand, then draw and hit it.

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[piller]

Hand-eye coordination might not be that good for everyone. I am a natural left hander, left eye might be dominant - but hard to tell, forced to be a right hander through extreme use of belt and automotive air contitioner hose. Using sights I am good.

[marlinman93]

I too was enamored by the long barreled Colt SAA and got a deal on a 2nd Gen in .357 with 75" barrel. It didn't take me long to figure out I hated that long barrel. I often started to draw it, and didn't raise the grip high enough to clear the barrel, or went to holster it and had to look down to see if the muzzle was clearing the holster.
It worked out great though as I took it to one of the big Expo gun shows and walked past a table that had what I thought was a repro 1875 Remington in .44-40 on it. Picked it up and asked his price, and then asked if he wanted my Colt as part trade. He took the Colt and $50 more. On close examination the 1875 Remington was an original nickel plated revolver in beautiful shape! And it had a shorter barrel too!

[Old Savage]

Get all the barrel lengths.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I prefer the shorter barrel lengths to carry. But I like the longer barrels for some uses and I prefer to carry those in a cross draw holster.

[JimT]

For me the longer barrel pointed more naturally. In those days I did a lot of point shooting, rapid fire at times.

[marlinman93]

I had an original S&W New Model #3 in .44 Russian and it had a long barrel. I had a cross draw holster built for it and it did make that S&W a lot nicer to carry and draw. I still have the holster and use it for my SAA with 5.5" barrel, but it's a little loose in the holster, so I always hook the hammer loop when it's holstered.

[Streetstar]

Get all the barrel lengths.

This is the way

[jeepnik]

Hand-eye coordination might not be that good for everyone. I am a natural left hander, left eye might be dominant - but hard to tell, forced to be a right hander through extreme use of belt and automotive air contitioner hose. Using sights I am good.

Mine was a yardstick. It gave Mrs. Rivera a longer reach and more velocity. The flat didn't work, so she used the edge. There are some teaching methods that really were draconian and hopefully are long gone.

[jeepnik]

Maybe it was Marty Robbins' Mr. Shorty but I've always preferred a shorter barrel. 5.5" is as long as I'll go. I prefer my short barreled bad .45 (sorry Marty for taking license with the lyrics).

[Hawkeye2]

Dare to be different! With the long barrel you will stand out from all the actors in B westerns. Actually more cowboys were probably hit over the head with a Colt than shot by one and the long barrel has it all over the shorter ones there.

[765x53]

If you have to "Draw" your gun you weren't ready. As attested by your photograph.

[jeepnik]

If you have to "Draw" your gun you weren't ready. As attested by your photograph.

Not true. You can be deep in the deepest stuff when you need to draw a handgun. Life ain't a John Wick movie.

[Griff]

Back in the early '90s, most cowboy action clubs were beginning to add a second sixgun into scenarios. In '93 while attending a gun show in Ft. Worth I found a 2nd Gen Colt SAA in .357 with a 7-½" bbl. My wife had been shooting 4-¾" model also in .357 and sharing it with our son. She'd always shot with crossdraw holster, and with the new revolver, continued the same way.

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Unfortunately, every time I shoot it, folk's think it's my gun...

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[Streetstar]

Back in the early '90s, most cowboy action clubs were beginning to add a second sixgun into scenarios. In '93 while attending a gun show in Ft. Worth I found a 2nd Gen Colt SAA in .357 with a 7-½" bbl. My wife had been shooting 4-¾" model also in .357 and sharing it with our son. She'd always shot with crossdraw holster, and with the new revolver, continued the same way.
PICT0054-1.JPG
Unfortunately, every time I shoot it, folk's think it's my gun...
IMG_0104.JPG

Awesome Griff ! Im currently single so you are giving me "Marriage goals" to think of !


Not a Colt but maybe i can put this one in my dowry soon !!!

[Griff]

Awesome Griff ! Im currently single so you are giving me "Marriage goals" to think of !

My wife was the dimmest bulb on the Christmas Tree, (afterall, she married me), with an IQ that ranged up into the genius area. Her very first time shooting a gun was my Ruger 3-screw with .38Spls and my Winchester 64A; she loved both. Then her younger brother talked her into shooting his Ruger M77 in 7mmRemMag. Planted the scope into her glasses resulting in them burrowing into her nose and eyebrow. Luckily, it didn't leave a scar (visible), but she never went near a scoped anything again. She started her cowboy action shooting career with a Ruger 3-screw and traded it in on that first SAA when they expanded the Lady's category to include a separate Lady's Traditional category. When she passed, I had just started the process to order 2 Colt SAAs with 4-¾" bbls with the Custom Shop in a presentation configuration to celebrate our upcoming 50th Anniversary. Inscribed on the bbl above the ejector rod housing, "Ensuring 50 Years" on one & "of Wedded Bliss" on the other, along with her SASS alias on the backstrap and her SASS # as serial # on one, and SASS# reversed on the other. That's a marriage goal!

[Walt]

I shake and have the jitters so badly that I don't do well with long barrels; they amplify my inability to settle down and hold fairly still. So I do better with the shorter barrels and my ability to focus on the front sight is improved as well.

[Streetstar]

Awesome Griff ! Im currently single so you are giving me "Marriage goals" to think of !

My wife was the dimmest bulb on the Christmas Tree, (afterall, she married me), with an IQ that ranged up into the genius area. Her very first time shooting a gun was my Ruger 3-screw with .38Spls and my Winchester 64A; she loved both. Then her younger brother talked her into shooting his Ruger M77 in 7mmRemMag. Planted the scope into her glasses resulting in them burrowing into her nose and eyebrow. Luckily, it didn't leave a scar (visible), but she never went near a scoped anything again. She started her cowboy action shooting career with a Ruger 3-screw and traded it in on that first SAA when they expanded the Lady's category to include a separate Lady's Traditional category. When she passed, I had just started the process to order 2 Colt SAAs with 4-¾" bbls with the Custom Shop in a presentation configuration to celebrate our upcoming 50th Anniversary. Inscribed on the bbl above the ejector rod housing, "Ensuring 50 Years" on one & "of Wedded Bliss" on the other, along with her SASS alias on the backstrap and her SASS # as serial # on one, and SASS# reversed on the other. That's a marriage goal!

Dang brother -- thank you for that testimony ---- I dont have time let to have a 50th anniversary to look forward to --- but darn tootin' i love to hear some cool stories of folks who have done it right


Did you ever get the Colts? -- I would probably shoot the heck out of mine and left my ladies' pristine - Til Valhalla- we shall meet again

[Griff]

Did you ever get the Colts? -- I would probably shoot the heck out of mine and left my ladies' pristine - Til Valhalla- we shall meet again

No. I'd emailed Colt a month before our 48th anniversary for price and a timeline, and got the quotes with lead time just about the time she was diagnosed with cancer. I called Colt afterwards and told 'em I wasn't going to proceed and why. Buying 'em after she passed just felt selfish.

[Ysabel Kid]

Get all the barrel lengths.

The best advice! I'm trying! I have...

3.5"
4.75"
5.5"
7.5"
12.0"

They are all fun in their own rights.

[veeman]

Other than a couple Ruger Blackhawks with 7.5" barrels, I have only a USFA SAA 7.5" 38/40.

[JimT]

That USFA is a Beautiful gun!

[Bill in Oregon]

I'll say!

[Safestuffer]

I have accumulated by chance all three common barrel lengths
USFA in .45C, Standard Mfg in .44spc,

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And a Colt FSS reworked into a .44spc.

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Each has its pro's and cons. The longer barrel does carry and draw a bit more awkwardly depending on your choice of holsters. But it also makes up for it imo in its better accuracy. Gallon jugs at 100yds are no problem for the longer barreled Colt.