princeout
.375 Atomic
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Posts: 2,001
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Post by princeout on Aug 20, 2015 19:22:57 GMT -5
Your first Colt single action needs to be an SAA in .45 Colt. I agree - but 45 Colt is my favorite handgun cartridge. My first and only Colt is a 1st Gen 45 Colt, massaged by Bowen, commissioned by a previous poster, Reconciler. I need to get around to taking a picture so I can post it. Brian, if you still have a picture, feel free to toss it out there! Either a 44 Special or a 45 Colt will be fun. Both are great cartridges. Good luck trying to make your choice! Tim |
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Post by sagebrushburns on Aug 20, 2015 21:32:31 GMT -5
I have about a dozen Colts, both SAAs and New Frontiers, and I shoot and enjoy just about all of them. Collectibility wise, the 45 Colt is more desirable, but shooting wise the 44 Special is just as good. For cowboy action shooting I prefer the 7 1/2" barrel, but for field carry I prefer the 4 3/4" and 5 1/2" as they're a bit "handier". For collectors the New Frontier is a bet of a red headed step child, but for shooters it is very sweet - the sights are much easier to see and adjust. There are occasional 3rd gen (post 1980) Colts with quality issues but most of them vary from good to excellent. The recent production is among the best SAAs ever. I have a 2013 New Frontier and a 2014 SAA and they are both just about perfect right out of the box.
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Post by nolongcolt on Aug 21, 2015 0:13:47 GMT -5
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Post by bigmuddy on Aug 21, 2015 8:07:21 GMT -5
That one is listed as a 2nd gen but its a 3rd. The second gen NF's all have 4 digit serial numbers and that one has 5. Seems common to mistake the first zero as I have seen several marked as 2nd's. If it truly was a second gen 5.5" in that shape it would be pretty valuable as they are not common; 540 guns if my memory is correct. That would not be a bad price. Dan |
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Post by texagun on Aug 21, 2015 8:16:43 GMT -5
I would suggest looking up the posts by Bob Wright on this website. He has some of the nicest New Frontiers I have seen and I regard him as an expert on the subject.
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Post by texagun on Aug 21, 2015 8:26:57 GMT -5
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Post by cherokeetracker on Aug 21, 2015 9:46:03 GMT -5
I have always wanted a Colt but I also would like a new Corvette. Well time has come and it's now time to buy a Colt. I should start with I want to get a shooter not a looker. I'm not sure about .44 spl. or a .45. My big question is which one. I think that I'd be better off getting one that is NIB, but even that could have problems. Some people that I know tell me that the newer Blue Boxed guns are good ones, others say the Brown boxed are the better to have. One thing I do know is that none of these self proclaimed experts (these are local village idiots, not people from this site) have any Colts that I have ever seen. So if anyone can and would offer some advice I truly would be Thankful.
I have .44spl. and .45 Rugers and have enjoyed shooting them for years, I just want to fix this itch for a Colt. What do you want to do with the Colt? And second question is how much money are you will to spend? Do not answer my question here, as this is none of my business. But ask yourself. 1st reason I ask this, is how are you, when it comes to your guns? Do you just accept and deal with the factory guns as they come out of the box? Or do you have to have trigger jobs, tuning, forcing cones rechamfered, etc etc. What barrel length? When you decide this, I will be better equipped to help you. And yes, Bob Wright is very knowledgeable about Colts. I would suggest that you get your belt full of knowledge, like this. |
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chutch
.30 Stingray
Posts: 283
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Post by chutch on Aug 21, 2015 9:52:10 GMT -5
I blame Bob Wright too ! I'm hot on the trail for a NF 44 Special 7.5". I have an early third SAA with the oversized throats . It shoots well enough but it will lead-up like crazy. The front sights on the NF's are a thing of beauty. Biggest issue with scratching the itch now is the prices have skyrocketed since Colt's bankruptcy announcement.
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4597
.30 Stingray
Posts: 182 
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Post by 4597 on Aug 21, 2015 10:52:20 GMT -5
This is some of the best information a guy could ask for. Thank You All.
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Post by CraigC on Aug 21, 2015 11:23:09 GMT -5
Colt has put out some over-polished, poorly fitted turds during 3rd generation production. Some are good, some are acceptable and some are just bad. The newer guns are the best they've ever been. They are very well put together guns and many are case colored by Turnbull. The best of 3rd generation production is going to come from the last several years.
For me, the sights of the New Frontier are infinitely better. They don't have the classic Colt SAA lines but for a shooter, they are hard to beat.
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Post by nolongcolt on Aug 21, 2015 12:14:48 GMT -5
That one is listed as a 2nd gen but its a 3rd. The second gen NF's all have 4 digit serial numbers and that one has 5. Seems common to mistake the first zero as I have seen several marked as 2nd's. If it truly was a second gen 5.5" in that shape it would be pretty valuable as they are not common; 540 guns if my memory is correct. That would not be a bad price. Dan I asked the seller about this and he showed me the Colt serial number lookup from Colt that showed this gun to be a 2nd gen gun made in '62. Hard to argue with what he sent me. I am no expert on these numbers and in fact find them somewhat confusing especially when reading the Blue Book descriptions, so just passing along what the seller told me. |
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Post by sagebrushburns on Aug 21, 2015 21:06:54 GMT -5
Something does not compute here. According to Wilkerson that is a 3rd gen s/n from about 1978. Again, according to Wilkerson, there are no 2nd gen New Frontiers with a s/n beginning with "0". Finally, again according to Wilkerson, there are only about 50 5 1/2" 45 New Frontiers in the original (late 70s-early 80s) run of New Frontiers, and these were built using left over 2nd gen frames and barrels and have 2nd gen type s/n's with no "0". When Colt reintroduced the New Frontier in past few years (about 2011?) they did build 5 1/2" 45s and the new ones have "NF" as prefix instead of suffix. It would seem to me that further clarification and very close inspection are in order here.
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Post by bushog on Aug 21, 2015 21:12:25 GMT -5
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Post by weagle99 on Aug 22, 2015 19:03:49 GMT -5
Stay away from that one. Poor fit and finish. Obvious 3rd gen gun with the 12345NF style S/N. |
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Post by weagle99 on Aug 22, 2015 19:05:55 GMT -5
That one is listed as a 2nd gen but its a 3rd. The second gen NF's all have 4 digit serial numbers and that one has 5. Seems common to mistake the first zero as I have seen several marked as 2nd's. If it truly was a second gen 5.5" in that shape it would be pretty valuable as they are not common; 540 guns if my memory is correct. That would not be a bad price. Dan I asked the seller about this and he showed me the Colt serial number lookup from Colt that showed this gun to be a 2nd gen gun made in '62. Hard to argue with what he sent me. I am no expert on these numbers and in fact find them somewhat confusing especially when reading the Blue Book descriptions, so just passing along what the seller told me. He probably dropped the leading zero. Plus Colt's website mostly sucks for anything not completely straightforward. |
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