The Centennial was done by Colt, it was early 70s 2nd Gen, and none of that gold plated hammer/trigger/cylinder stuff, only some gold paint in a light engraving on left side of barrel which comes off with acetone and toothbrush which leaves only some engraving on side of barrel that must be angled right to even read.
Any Colt Single Action Army (1st, 2nd, or 3rd Gen) Love Around Here?
- Thread starter Rampant Colt
- Start Date
I posted this a couple of years ago, figgered its worth a repeat. Wife’s cousin found this in a barn, in a bucket. Rusty, action locked up. He showed it to me, I offered to piddle with it some. With the help of a lot of Kroil, I got it apart, cleaned and steel wooled all the parts, put an old mainspring and trigger bolt spring from an Uberti copy in it. Not quite smooth as silk, but still very nice. Based on SN, it was manufactured in 1901. I sure wanted to run some rounds through, but just gave it back, since it wasn’t mine.
Outstanding! A TRUE find. Closest I ever came to that was a coworker bought a house with contents from an old man moving into assisted living, the gent was from Arizona and the house a museum of all things Arizona West, and there were a few guns...he did not want guns, wanted me to look them over and possibly buy them...
All five were junk except for the nickeled 80% Colt Frontier Six Shooter with broken bolt from 1903, gun documented through generations including original receipt, it was the gent's grandfather's gun and the grandfather was an Arizona Ranger at that time. I told my coworker the gun was worth too much for me to estimate, and he asked did I want to buy it, and I said I did not have that sort of money, so he asked how much did I have, and I told him I could only spare $1000, and he handed me the gun and told me to bring the money to work when I scraped it up. I fit a new bolt of correct legs/tail for that vintage and happily shot it with BP for quite a few years until a sucker....err...collector offered me more than I could refuse, this included the documents by then bolstered with a Colt letter. This even beat my purchase of a stainless Gold Cup for $250 in 1999. (PS-wanted to add I have always told folk the true worth of guns, including the Gold Cup, also from a coworker, who wanted a Glock .45 and I had a local dealer who had one at very good price. Don simply no longer wanted the Gold Cup, and when I told him I could not afford it, he asked how did $250 sound, I replied that it was a steal, he replied he knew that and did I want it?.....I have nothing but lowest esteem for those who buy low from the ignorant and then brag.)
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Apologies. Not at all familiar with their commeratives, be it NRA, state, etc.
ill be getting an early 2nd gen in .45 lc. Was given to my grandpa by one of his employees No box or paperwork. My dad has it. I bought him a ruger vaquaro 20 years ago so he would stop shooting it. They are pretty, just not my thing.
I am first and foremost a shooter, and want guns which hold up. WHEN a SAA with Colt or equiv. parts is properly tuned/timed (which pretty much ended in the 1960s and really best until end of 1st Gen with original tooling/gauges ditched for WWII), they can hold up quite well, circa 10,000 rds before you need worry a hand or trigger/bolt spring might break. Most later ones pretty much needed (current rate) about $500 worth of work to be in that state with properly timed bolt, zero backlash on cylinder carry-up, bolt locking just as hammer fully cocks, etc, and without all which the gun is mechanically fighting itself and wearing prematurely. The problem today is lack of folk who truly know the guns and lack of proper parts. Smith Enterprises can help with bolts and hands/springs.
This is a shoulda have story. A local gunshop ended up with a rusted up mess of a early SAA .45 built in 1876. Year of statehood for Colo. that's where I was at the time. I looked at it several times thought about buying it I think asking price was $300. A friend ended up getting it and soaked it in Kroil for 2 or3 weeks maybe even a month. worked the parts gently over that time replaced the springs and it cleaned up real nice. I don't think he ever shot it but he did get it functioning again and it didn't look half bad considering what it started as. Shoulda bought it but thought it was to far gone. Wonder what it is worth?
They are worth enough folk pay to have full blown restorations done including building up metal on worn corners and pitting via welding, recutting original marks, etc...left shabby but shootable with history visible they still bring insane prices, folk imagine all manner of romance when it just as likely spent the last 100yrs as some sheep-herder working gun.
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