modern caliber

Driftwood, Thanks for the info. about the Standard Manufacturing guns.
I wasn't aware that its parent the CT Shotgun Co. had started making so many different models including the single action revolver.
The company is located in my hometown where I currently live.
When I was growing up, I knew the fellow who began the company and was always proud of his accomplishments both for him and for our small city.
The Colt Manufacturing plant is located in the neighboring city of West Hartford, CT.
Another gun manufacturer located in my city is Stag Arms who was a long time supplier of parts for the Colt AR rifles and then they eventually began producing their own AR's including the 1st left handed AR rifle.
The former USFA (U.S. Firearms) operations were located in Hartford in the old original Colt building and I was going to recommend one of those until I saw their prices and also realize that parts can always be an issue.
Not too many years ago I saw a matched pair of used Rodeo .38's for sale at a local gun shop on consignment in the $700-$800 range for the pair and I was going to buy them but someone else bought them 1st.
And now their prices have skyrocketed even though the Rodeo was their bargain model with a rough phosphate type finish.
Some local people used to work for USFA and they made very nice guns and had a fine reputation.
But considering their current outrageous prices, I can't help but feel pride in the Standard Manufacturing guns.
Any idea how well they shoot, function & handle?
Have you heard any feedback about them?

I did find this video and plan to research more about it:

https://www.full30.com/video/2f6c2cfa9c056d9985ca11f680db6d28
 
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If you want a shooter , I bought my only 357 in 1970 , a Ruger Blackhawk .
I shot it a lot then and still shoot it a lot. I have put some stupid hot magnum loads through it back in the day . Nothing has ever broken and I still shoot it regularly.
Might want to check them out if you want to shoot it a lot.

They now have Vaquero's and Bisley's in blue steel and stainless and convertible models.
You can get one revolver and shoot 38 Special, 357 Magnum and with the extra cylinder it will shoot 9mm Luger...all kinds of good stuff available today .
Gary
 
But considering their current outrageous prices, I can't help but feel pride in the Standard Manufacturing guns.
Any idea how well they shoot, function & handle?
Have you heard any feedback about them?
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Nope. I have seen the same video that you posted. I have not handled one.

Although one thing I noticed is they have the old style conical firing pin that was the first type of firing pin Colt put in the hammers of the Single Action Army. Apparently the owner insisted on this style of firing pin.

This is a photo of the hardened insert fitted into the frame of a Colt. It prevents the firing pin from raising a burr on the relatively soft steel of the frame as the firing pin zooms through the hole in the frame.

coltrecoilplate.jpg





This is an Uberti Cattleman. It does not have a hardened bushing set into the frame. the dings around the hole were put there when I removed the burrs that the firing pin had made as it flashed through the hole.

firingpinholeuberti.jpg





The Standard revolvers do have a hardened bushing set into the frame, it is a bit different in shape, but it is there for the same purpose. When the hammer falls on a Colt, the firing pin 'finds its way' through the hole. There are geometric reasons for this, but the bottom line is the firing pin is free to wiggle slightly up and down as it 'finds its way' through the hole. As this happens over and over again, the hard firing pin can reform the metal around the hole, resulting in a burr raised around the hole. I once had a used Uberti that had such a bad burr raised around the hole that it was scraping primers under it as they rotated by. Not a good thing. The idea of the hardened bushing in the frame is to prevent this from happening.




This photo is from Eddie Janus' Peacemaker Specialists web page. it shows the old conical style firing pin of the early 1st Gens.


datauri-file_zpsewwztvxi.jpeg






The hammer of this 1st Gen Bisely Colt has the old style conical firing pin.

1st%20Gen%20Bisley%20Hammer%20Spring%2003_zpsdcgqkmsv.jpg





The firing pin on this 2nd Gen Colt hammer is typical of the later 1st Gen and all 2nd Gen hammers.

2nd%20Gen%20Firing%20Pin%2002_zpsbv0ihyjf.jpg



The concave shape of the 2nd Gen firing pin results in less contact with the frame than the old conical firing pins. The firing pin is fastened to the hammer by a rivet through its middle, and the rivet allows the firing pin to wiggle slightly up and down as it traverses the hole in the frame. This wiggle is what allows the firing pin to find its way through the frame.

Anyway, I chatted on line not too long ago with a guy who has one of the Standard revolvers. He mentioned that he could see the underside of the firing pin had been filed on to remove some of the metal. He felt this was done because they discovered that the conical firing pin was having an interference problem with the hardened bushing in the frame.

Hand filing each of the firing pins to solve this problem has to be expensive. Maybe they will solve the problem, or maybe they will persuade the owner to go with a concave firing pin.
 
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Jim Watson said:
B+ is the engraving coverage. In Colt parlance A is the least, D is full coverage. (S&W is the other way 'round.)
B+ implies greater coverage than regular B but not as much as C.

The big question is whether it is FACTORY engraving and whether it is standard, expert, or master (signed) quality.
Aftermarket engraving can be of high quality and very attractive but does not give nearly as much added value as factory engraving.]

Some research revealed that the revolver in question was manufactured after 1994. The serial number is: S74997A. The seller informed me that the revolver in question was engraved at the factory.

You are right, I need to give this some thought. The engraving is quite nice and enhances the look. However, is it something I want to pay a lot to have.
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Driftwood Johnson

Thank you for your informative reply.

I am considering the purchase of Standard Mfg. revolver, and your information on the firing pin raises an issue. I will sent a note to the company and inquire about it. This won't be deal-breaker, just curious to know more about this.

I watched the Hickock45 video.

1. He missed the target, not once but twice. I have watched many of his videos and he has never missed, that I can recall. He later mentioned that it shoots low and left (or was it right?) If he missed, I better bring lots of ammo to the range.

2. The color of the gun used in the video was almost black. The grip was dark brown. He kept saying it was a 'beautiful gun.' That gun had no appeal to me other than the fact that is well built. I looked at the revolvers depicted on the Standard Mfg.'s webpage and they are a different color. The photos show a revolver that has brown or copper tone with a similar tone to the grip. So, which color is accurate? I don't want to believe that I am geeing a revolver that I like, and then to discover that it is not what I expected.
 
gwpercle said:
If you want a shooter , I bought my only 357 in 1970 , a Ruger Blackhawk .
I shot it a lot then and still shoot it a lot. I have put some stupid hot magnum loads through it back in the day . Nothing has ever broken and I still shoot it regularly.
Might want to check them out if you want to shoot it a lot.

They now have Vaquero's and Bisley's in blue steel and stainless and convertible models.
You can get one revolver and shoot 38 Special, 357 Magnum and with the extra cylinder it will shoot 9mm Luger...all kinds of good stuff available today .
Gary
Click to expand...

I went to the local range where they rent guns and shot a .357 with both a .357 and the .38 special. Nice to have that flexibility. I went through $75.00 of ammo. This could get expensive.

I like the idea of having a modern revolver. I also want to have a historic gun. I have a Davide Pedersoli, Co. Harper's Ferry. Thus, I may forgo one expensive gun and buy a modern revolver and a Pedersoli reproduction.

Thank you for your insight.
 
ms6852 said:
Here is a link to some of the older replicas you may like. I choose this link because this store is about an hours drive from my house. Cimmaron, Uberti, and Ruger vacquero and Bisleys could suit your needs. Like you I have plans for one of this guns in .357 caliber as I already reload and certain models can be ordered for .357. Now this guns are all single action.
https://www.texasjacks.com/guns-n-stuff/single-actions.html?caliber=209
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Thank you for this information. I was not aware of the many brands of reproduction pistols that are available.

Yup, Single Action. That's fine with me.
 
seeker_two said:
It will work with just about any .357 Magnum load within SAAMI specs.....Ruger-only loads are a no-go. It won't work with .357SIG.

Another option is a SA revolver in .45ACP. All the fun of .45 Colt ammo at half the price.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
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Thank you. I want to be sure I don't make a mistake
 
1. He missed the target, not once but twice. I have watched many of his videos and he has never missed, that I can recall. He later mentioned that it shoots low and left (or was it right?)
Click to expand...

Low left seems to be the norm for SAA copies.
Low because the front sight is tall, I have a theory on the left deflection, maybe I had better run it by Driftwood Johnson before I post public.
CAS gunsmiths do a brisk business filing front sights down, rear sights square, and "tweaking" barrels to correct windage.
My Cimarron/ASM has the front sight visibly out of plumb, even though cutting the rear notch in the "hogwallow" from V to square was biased as far right as possible. But it hits. My Colt was close enough.

All the more reason to get a Blackhawk and just turn the adjusting screws.
Ruger took off the adjustable sights to produce the Vaquero... and raised the price. Genius marketing.
 
Howdy Again

Front sights on Colts, and their replicas have always been high.

So with a Colt, or reproduction you can always file the sight down to raise the point of impact. But you better be sure of your load before filing the sight down, because once you've taken the metal off it is tough to put it back on.

The front sight on the 2nd Gen Colt at the top of this photo has not been touched. I have left it just the way it was when it was made in 1973. The front sight on the one at the bottom has had some surgery. If you look carefully, you can see the shiny metal where some metal was welded on the top of the sight. Long before I bought it.

SecondGens_zps1cfdcbb0.jpg





Here is a close up of the front sight with the shiny metal welded on. It looks like the smith undercut the original sight in order to help make sure the new material would stay put. Notice the top rear corner of the sight is not rounded at all.

Front%20Sight_zpsgdbykrfm.jpg





Interestingly enough, the short barreled Colt is more accurate than the long barreled one. At least in my hands. Even with the shorter sight radius, when I need to fire at a slightly more distant CAS target, I always grab the shorter one if I have a chance.




The front sight on this Uberti Cattleman is pretty much the same as on the Colts.

cattleman%2004_zpsjgx0blgh.jpg





CAS gunsmiths do a brisk business filing front sights down, rear sights square, and "tweaking" barrels to correct windage.
Click to expand...

Frankly, I don't bother filing down the front sights on any of my single action revolvers. I am not trying for pin point accuracy, I am just trying to hit a big piece of steel. It does not matter where we hit it, so long as we hit it. I did file down the front sight on this Ruger Vaquero right after I bought it, you can see how the top is flattened a little bit, but I don't bother anymore.

Vaquero.jpg





My Cimarron/ASM has the front sight visibly out of plumb, even though cutting the rear notch in the "hogwallow" from V to square was biased as far right as possible. But it hits. My Colt was close enough.
Click to expand...

I had an Uberti Cattleman a bunch of years ago that had a front sight out of plumb too. I sold it and used the money for a down payment on a Ruger.

But you raise a good point regarding the V rear sight. Many of the replica Colts reproduce the V rear sight that was typical on the early Colts. I have terrible eyesight and have trouble seeing the front sight in that tiny V. Colt changed the shape of the rear sights on the 2nd Gen, making a nice square rear sight. Much easier to see the front sight in that nice square.

In the photo below, the square rear sight of a 2nd Gen Colt is on the left, the V rear sight of my Uberti Cattleman is on the right.

2ndGenColtandUbertiCattleman_zpsbe079bb7.jpg





One more thing about front sights. I remember reading years ago that gun writer Mike Venturino said that most Smith and Wesson Top Break revolvers tend to shoot high.

It was not until I had one that I realized he was correct. The reason is the front sights were very, very short. Look at this comparison of a 2nd Gen Colt to a S&W Shofield. Look how tiny that front sight is. I have to remember to hold very low with any of my big Top Break Smiths, or I will shoot right over the target.

Second%20Gen%20Colt%20and%20Schofield_zps75gswsvj.jpg
 
This is true. My step daughter got married and moved her husband in. He ruined my wife's car and I got pretty hot about it. While I was at work the next day he ran out on her and took 15 of my handguns with him.
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To quote Judge Roy Bean from Streets of Laredo: "I hate thieves. A man that'll steal a penny from you...will steal a million dollars"

I hope you got your guns recovered in good condition, and as for the loser who took them, I hope he has a great new job after that......making license plates. :mad:
 
I hope you got your guns recovered in good condition, and as for the loser who took them, I hope he has a great new job after that......making license plates.
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Nope, never got them back. He's serving a 25 year sentence for grand theft and assorted drug charges.
 
For convenience and economy, it is hard to argue against .38/.357 and a 9mm cylinder for Ruger Convertible.
But the gun was designed as a .45 and the smaller holes in .38 barrel and.cylinder really affect the handling. I do not recommend .44 Special, .44 WCF, or .46 LC for the non-reloader.
But you CAN get a .45 LC/ACP Convertible and .45 Auto is not too expensive.
 
Regarding the 2 different types of colorations for the Standard Manufacturing revolvers,
I called the company and spoke to a lady who had the answers about why there are
such diverse color differences in the photos that are shown on the Bud's website.
The 4.75 inch revolver shown there looks brownish while the 7.5 inch model looks very blue.

She was quite clear that there are 2 different options available.

One option is called case colored which has more of an earthy tone.
The other option is called blue which is the traditional blue case coloring and shows up
as being very blue case coloring on the Bud's website.

So it depends on which type of coloring is ordered.

It was only a local call for me and she invited me to come on down and take a look at their products sometime.
I told here that I would call her back if I wanted to come and look around.

Here's the blue model on Bud's:--->>> https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog...137/Standard+Mfg+SAA+45LC+7.5+One+Piece+Grips

And here's the case colored:--->>> https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog...g+SAA+45LC+4.75+Single+Action+One+Piece+Grips
 
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