J.P. Sauer SAA, anyone?

D

DeltaWhiskey

New member
A friend of mine has asked me to take a look at an old SAA style revolver that he has. It's a J.P. Sauer & Sons Western Marshall, chambered in .44 magnum. I have precious little experience with this type of revolver, so i was hoping to field this question to someone who might. The loading gate on the pistol won't shut. Just swings on the side of the frame like a gate in a hurricane. I was wondering what it would take to fix the gate so that it would remain shut.
 
couple of things to look for

There should be a screw with a spring and a detent that helps hold the loading gate up against the frame. When you rotate the gate outward, you should feel some resistance and a click which is the gate mashing down the detent. When you close the gate, the detent should go down and then snap back up pushing the gate back up against the frame.

It sounds to me like either the detent is broken or either the spring is or both. The screw could possibly be missing, backed out for some reason as well. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out once you remove the screw. I would remove the cylinder and the laoding gate and then remove the screw with the spring and detent to check it out. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the input! Can anyone tell me how to break down a SAA or possibly refer me to somewhere online where I can research it?
 
Sauer used to make the Hawes guns as I recall, so the same schematic will serve.

Here's one at Gun Parts.
http://www.e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp?chrMasterModel=1510zLARGE FRAME

To get to the loading gate assembly, you have to remove the back strap and grip frame.

FIRST, remove the back strap.
This is retained by three screws, one at the bottom front of the grip, and two at the top, on each side of the hammer.

With that off, loosen and remove the mainspring screw and mainspring.

Next, remove the three screws that retain the trigger guard.
One at the bottom front of the guard, and two at the top rear just behind the trigger.

With these parts off, you can remove the small screw on the right side of the frame, just beside the trigger.

Under that screw should be a spring and plunger that retain and power the loading gate.
 
that you'll have to pay for

picking at you a little, but I am not sure other than the original owners manual where you might find one. You will need to remove the trigger guard screws to get to the detent screw.

I would pull out the base pin and then remove the cylinder. Then remove the two screws by the handle and pull it apart. On the very bottom right below the loading gate, there should be a screw that goes straight up toward the gate on the very bottom. Back it out and remove the screw with the spring and detent. Most likely, the detnet or spring is missing or broke, but it may be the screw is broken. e-Gunparts.com has all three if they all need to be replaced or each individual piece can be replaced. Good luck with it.
 
Gents, thanks for your help! I was able to strip the pistol and find that all that was needed was to tighten up the set screw under the gate spring.

Firing Line Forums members are the best!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top