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I have a Taylor's & Company "Smoke Wagon" in 45 Colt. I wanted a classy, high quality SA revolver that did not have Ruger's name and "Warning" on it. Have only run a couple two or three (20 round) boxes through it so every so often (when I see something else I want) I get that "maybe I should sell it because I don't shoot it enough" feeling ... until I pick it up and pull the hammer back.
It will make you smile.
Taylor's & Company "Smoke Wagon" is simply stunning. I have a few custom handguns by Austin Behlert (Browning HiPower and Colt Combat Commander), Andy Cannon (S&W 625 "Model of 1988), and Larry Kelly (S&W 4" M629 "No Dash"). The Taylor's is on par with any of these.
Highly recommend looking at their product.
IF you want a 45 Colt, get the 45 Colt so there are not regrets.
Good luck!
It will make you smile.
Taylor's & Company "Smoke Wagon" is simply stunning. I have a few custom handguns by Austin Behlert (Browning HiPower and Colt Combat Commander), Andy Cannon (S&W 625 "Model of 1988), and Larry Kelly (S&W 4" M629 "No Dash"). The Taylor's is on par with any of these.
Highly recommend looking at their product.
IF you want a 45 Colt, get the 45 Colt so there are not regrets.
Good luck!
There is a distinct difference between the Rugers and a true Colt SAA or one of the clones like what comes from Uberti (the Smokewagon is an uberti Cattleman that has been tuned and hand finished)
We have both the Ruger New Vaqueros and the Taylors Smokewagon Deluxes and love them all, but they feel different for sure. I could write for days about the differences but here are a few important ones:
the original Colt Single Action Army is a "4 click" type action. This means when you pull the hammer back, you will hear for distinct clicks. This is a classic sound many people are looking for - you'll listen for it in old westerns now, I guarantee you! Each click does something unique.
1st click: safety notch
2nd Click: half cock (for loading and unloading)
3rd Click: bolt releases and locks the cylinder in position
4th Click: full cock
It's a very satisfying set of "clicks" that some say spells out C-O-L-T. of course all the Uberti guns do it too, as do most of the other clones.
The exception is the Ruger Single Action revolver lines. they do NOT have a 4 click system. in fact, it only has TWO clicks. The Ruger actually works somewhat differently inside. The tell tale sign of this can be seen when comparing the hammers. True Colt clones (and Colts themselves, of course) have a hammer with an attached firing pin. You can see the firing pin protrude from the recoil shield when the cylinder is removed and the hammer is allowed to drop. when loaded and the hammer drops, the firing pin moves through this hole in the recoil shield and strikes the primer of the round in topmost chamber. Here's the rub. When you load that revolver with 6 rounds and allow the hammer to come to rest, that firing pin is sitting on the primer of the topmost round. Drop the gun or have something else strike the hammer and POW. that round goes off - usually to terrible effect. The solution, back in the day of the cowboy, was simple. Load only 5 rounds and let the hammer come to rest on the empty chamber.
Ruger attempted to alleviate this problem by re-inventing the single action firing mechanism. Looking that the Ruger hammer, you will notice that the face is either flat, or has a half round cutout in it. so where the heck is the firing pin? it's trapped in a spot in the receiver. When the hammer is allowed to come to rest in the receiver (without holding the trigger down) the hammer cannot make contact with the firing pin, thus preventing unintentional discharges. It takes another component in the mechanism to fire the gun. When the trigger is depressed, a transfer bar raises up in between the hammer and the firing pin. when the hammer drops, the energy is transferred through the transfer bar (imagine that), and into the firing pin which then sets off the round.
Pretty ingenious setup, and it brought the classic single action into the modern world of guns with safeties. This transfer bar created one other advantage. When it's time to load a SAA you usually have to put the hammer into a half-cocked position. this lowers the bolt, releasing the cylinder and retracts the firing pin. You can then open the loading gate and unload/reload the gun by manually spinning the cylinder around and ejecting spent shells.
With the Ruger Single Action's, simply opening the loading gate is all you have to do. the firing pin is always retracted into the receiver and the loading gate now lowers the bolt, allowing the cylinder to turn. no more need for a half-cock notch. In fact there's no need for the safety notch either! So, you end up with a Single Action with only two clicks in the cocking cycle. one releases the bolt allowing it to rise up and lock the cylinder in place, the other is the full cock. Now you can load the gun with the hammer all the way down AND you can carry it safely with 6 rounds in the chambers - except it's no allowed in SASS, so I never do it.
Of course there is a down side. the transfer bar takes a sharp 'whack' every time you pull the trigger with the hammer cocked. live fire or dry fire it's no different. These transfer bars can break. If it breaks in the field you now have an expensive rock. Yes. I have seen it happen in competition. with my own eyes. Lots of competition shooters will send a set of Ruger Vaqueros off and have the transfer bar removed. this is done by either filling in the notch on the hammer or installing a new hammer that never had the notch to begin with. the hammer is then given a safety notch and you essentially end up with a three click vaquero.
I own two sets of Ruger New Vaqueros. I know them very well. I compete with them as does my daughter. We both love these guns. They are built like tanks! They will take every 357 magnum load you can throw at it with no problems (though we shoot 38's in them usually). The New Vaquero is the closest thing Ruger has to a Single Action Army clone and they are VERY good guns. The Blackhawks are similar to a SAA in design, but not a clone. They were never meant to be. The kid won the state championship AND went on to win the Regional championship with hers Vaqueros. Good Good guns. Lots of folks also shoot Blackhawks. Again, very good guns.
We also own a set of Taylors Smokewagon "Deluxe's" - they are also very good guns. My wife won the state championship with them this year and came in third in our region overall in her category. They are somewhat smaller than the Rugers. Thats because the ruger is actually a LARGER gun than the original Colt. The Smokewagon is an exact replica of the Colt. Her guns are quite a bit lighter and carry a beautiful color case finish. They are top quality. guns, no doubt. The same gun can be had in a base finish directly from Uberti. The Smokewagon is just a finely finished and tuned Uberti Cattleman. The cattleman in stock finish has a heavier trigger pull, heavier hammer spring, a lower grade finish, and plain walnut grips with no Checkering. Still a good gun, but "rough" right out of the box.
The Rugers will have heavy springs right out of the box too, but they're a pleasure to shoot. the point well (at least the non-bisleys I shoot do) and are a pleasure to shoot.
There are a number of other differences, and I'm not even talking about the Ruger Blackhawks. There are tons of cool aftermarket parts for both and both can be made to shoot as silky smooth as you like. There are 45 Colt versions of both. If you want Authenticity, get one (or two - if you ask me!) in 44-40 and roll your own ammo. lead bullets are easy to find and you can pick either black powder to REALLY get authentic or smokeless and shoot all day long!
If you want the true Cadillac of single action armies that can be shot without fear of losing value (like would happen with an original Colt 1873 SAA), get yourself a set of USFA Rodeos. They are, perhaps, the finest single action army clone on the market today. They're not cheap (USFA is out of business now), but you get what you pay for. Their pistols are highly sought after, and loved by Cowboy Action Shooters. Truly hand fit, hand finished firearms that are true to the Colt design and collector quality.
Want to be truly Unique? get a set of clone Scholfields and play Charlie Prince from 3:10 to Yuma. You get all the single action fun you want, with the faster reloads of a break action - not to mention style points!
We have both the Ruger New Vaqueros and the Taylors Smokewagon Deluxes and love them all, but they feel different for sure. I could write for days about the differences but here are a few important ones:
the original Colt Single Action Army is a "4 click" type action. This means when you pull the hammer back, you will hear for distinct clicks. This is a classic sound many people are looking for - you'll listen for it in old westerns now, I guarantee you! Each click does something unique.
1st click: safety notch
2nd Click: half cock (for loading and unloading)
3rd Click: bolt releases and locks the cylinder in position
4th Click: full cock
It's a very satisfying set of "clicks" that some say spells out C-O-L-T. of course all the Uberti guns do it too, as do most of the other clones.
The exception is the Ruger Single Action revolver lines. they do NOT have a 4 click system. in fact, it only has TWO clicks. The Ruger actually works somewhat differently inside. The tell tale sign of this can be seen when comparing the hammers. True Colt clones (and Colts themselves, of course) have a hammer with an attached firing pin. You can see the firing pin protrude from the recoil shield when the cylinder is removed and the hammer is allowed to drop. when loaded and the hammer drops, the firing pin moves through this hole in the recoil shield and strikes the primer of the round in topmost chamber. Here's the rub. When you load that revolver with 6 rounds and allow the hammer to come to rest, that firing pin is sitting on the primer of the topmost round. Drop the gun or have something else strike the hammer and POW. that round goes off - usually to terrible effect. The solution, back in the day of the cowboy, was simple. Load only 5 rounds and let the hammer come to rest on the empty chamber.
Ruger attempted to alleviate this problem by re-inventing the single action firing mechanism. Looking that the Ruger hammer, you will notice that the face is either flat, or has a half round cutout in it. so where the heck is the firing pin? it's trapped in a spot in the receiver. When the hammer is allowed to come to rest in the receiver (without holding the trigger down) the hammer cannot make contact with the firing pin, thus preventing unintentional discharges. It takes another component in the mechanism to fire the gun. When the trigger is depressed, a transfer bar raises up in between the hammer and the firing pin. when the hammer drops, the energy is transferred through the transfer bar (imagine that), and into the firing pin which then sets off the round.
Pretty ingenious setup, and it brought the classic single action into the modern world of guns with safeties. This transfer bar created one other advantage. When it's time to load a SAA you usually have to put the hammer into a half-cocked position. this lowers the bolt, releasing the cylinder and retracts the firing pin. You can then open the loading gate and unload/reload the gun by manually spinning the cylinder around and ejecting spent shells.
With the Ruger Single Action's, simply opening the loading gate is all you have to do. the firing pin is always retracted into the receiver and the loading gate now lowers the bolt, allowing the cylinder to turn. no more need for a half-cock notch. In fact there's no need for the safety notch either! So, you end up with a Single Action with only two clicks in the cocking cycle. one releases the bolt allowing it to rise up and lock the cylinder in place, the other is the full cock. Now you can load the gun with the hammer all the way down AND you can carry it safely with 6 rounds in the chambers - except it's no allowed in SASS, so I never do it.
Of course there is a down side. the transfer bar takes a sharp 'whack' every time you pull the trigger with the hammer cocked. live fire or dry fire it's no different. These transfer bars can break. If it breaks in the field you now have an expensive rock. Yes. I have seen it happen in competition. with my own eyes. Lots of competition shooters will send a set of Ruger Vaqueros off and have the transfer bar removed. this is done by either filling in the notch on the hammer or installing a new hammer that never had the notch to begin with. the hammer is then given a safety notch and you essentially end up with a three click vaquero.
I own two sets of Ruger New Vaqueros. I know them very well. I compete with them as does my daughter. We both love these guns. They are built like tanks! They will take every 357 magnum load you can throw at it with no problems (though we shoot 38's in them usually). The New Vaquero is the closest thing Ruger has to a Single Action Army clone and they are VERY good guns. The Blackhawks are similar to a SAA in design, but not a clone. They were never meant to be. The kid won the state championship AND went on to win the Regional championship with hers Vaqueros. Good Good guns. Lots of folks also shoot Blackhawks. Again, very good guns.
We also own a set of Taylors Smokewagon "Deluxe's" - they are also very good guns. My wife won the state championship with them this year and came in third in our region overall in her category. They are somewhat smaller than the Rugers. Thats because the ruger is actually a LARGER gun than the original Colt. The Smokewagon is an exact replica of the Colt. Her guns are quite a bit lighter and carry a beautiful color case finish. They are top quality. guns, no doubt. The same gun can be had in a base finish directly from Uberti. The Smokewagon is just a finely finished and tuned Uberti Cattleman. The cattleman in stock finish has a heavier trigger pull, heavier hammer spring, a lower grade finish, and plain walnut grips with no Checkering. Still a good gun, but "rough" right out of the box.
The Rugers will have heavy springs right out of the box too, but they're a pleasure to shoot. the point well (at least the non-bisleys I shoot do) and are a pleasure to shoot.
There are a number of other differences, and I'm not even talking about the Ruger Blackhawks. There are tons of cool aftermarket parts for both and both can be made to shoot as silky smooth as you like. There are 45 Colt versions of both. If you want Authenticity, get one (or two - if you ask me!) in 44-40 and roll your own ammo. lead bullets are easy to find and you can pick either black powder to REALLY get authentic or smokeless and shoot all day long!
If you want the true Cadillac of single action armies that can be shot without fear of losing value (like would happen with an original Colt 1873 SAA), get yourself a set of USFA Rodeos. They are, perhaps, the finest single action army clone on the market today. They're not cheap (USFA is out of business now), but you get what you pay for. Their pistols are highly sought after, and loved by Cowboy Action Shooters. Truly hand fit, hand finished firearms that are true to the Colt design and collector quality.
Want to be truly Unique? get a set of clone Scholfields and play Charlie Prince from 3:10 to Yuma. You get all the single action fun you want, with the faster reloads of a break action - not to mention style points!
No need to apologize!!! You offer a wealth of great information!!! THANK YOU!!
And my apologies to the OP for this hijacking .... Do have any opinion on the Taylor's (Pedersoli) Sharps and is that rifle worth the price v. the Taylor Chiappa Sharps?
Thanks!
I don't have direct experience with the Taylors version of the Pedersolli Sharps, but I have a Pedersolli 1874 Deluxe #3 that it an outstanding rifle. it's chambered in 45-70 and is a lot of fun to shoot! It's also incredibly accurate. I've shot it to 300 meters with great success, thought it does take a steady hand and good position build using the Creedmore sights. It's much harder to shoot that a scoped bolt action. I love the challenge.
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