60 Years With The
Colt Single Action

My first sixgun was a Ruger .22 Single-Six purchased right after graduation from high school in 1956. I thought this was about as good as it gets when it came to a single action sixgun, but I soon started looking at the many 1st Generation Colts which were available at the time. Colt had stopped production of the Single Action Army in 1940 and said they would never produce it again.

However, used guns were available, and you could get a really nice shooter in excellent mechanical condition for under $100. I paid $90 for a pre-WWI Colt with thinning blue, faded case colors which were almost gray, gutta-percha grips which showed much handling over more than 1/2-century of use, and a tight-fitting cylinder with an excellent bore. A 4-3/4-inch .38 WCF, the WCF stood for Winchester Centerfire and this cartridge is now known mostly as the .38-40. At the time I was making $1 per hour, so I could not afford to shoot it much.

The local gun shop trusted all us teenagers allowing us to have credit and they kept an index card in a file box to track our purchases. I no sooner made the down payment on the .38 WCF when the first of the new 2nd Generation Colts arrived. In very late 1955 Colt announced the Single Action was coming back. The first guns were .38 Special and .45 Colt with .357 Magnum and .44 Special soon following. The first one to arrive was a 7-1/2-inch .45 Colt and I could not resist it so it went on my index card and I took it home. As long as we paid something every week the gunshop owner was happy.

Before I was 18 I had a pair of 7-1/2-inch Colt .45 Single Actions riding in a double-holster rig by Ray Howser of the old Pony Express Sport Shop in Encino, California. With the growth of Fast Draw, I ordered an Arvo Ojala Hollywood Fast Draw Rig for a single 7-1/2-inch Colt. Virtually every TV Western hero wore an Ojala rig at the time. It is unique in its black basketweave. It is also unique in the fact on the first date I had with Diamond Dot we went to the local drive-in for a burger and then out of town to pick up my newly arrived Ojala belt and holster. That gun shop and drive-in have been gone for many decades, however, I still have the belt and holster and definitely also have Diamond Dot.

In 1962 Colt made a most positive change in their Single Action Army to come up with the New Frontier. The first one I saw was in .44 Special and I lusted over that gun deep in my sixgunnin’ soul as few others. The New Frontier was somewhat modernized by the frame being flat-topped and fitted with an adjustable rear sight matched up with a sloping ramp front sight. For most of us, this turned the standard Single Action Army into a sixgun more suitable for hunting. Over the years Colt has offered the New Frontier in .45 Colt, .44 Special, .44-40, .38 Special, and .357 Magnum. The first two are still offered and Colt is doing an excellent job in turning out first-class examples of this beautiful sixgun.

There is no doubt in my mind the Colt Single Action has been a study in perfection since the first .45 Colt exited from the Hartford factory. I look upon the New Frontier version as just perfecting upon perfection. The addition of adjustable sights give this sixgun so much more versatility when it comes to choosing loads. Also those chambered in .44 Special will accept the .44-40 cylinder, and vice versa, and each load can be dialed in individually. The .45 Colt New Frontier is certainly not as strong as a Ruger Blackhawk .45, however, it can be loaded with 260-grain cast bullets at velocities no deer can ignore.

Over the years, I took part in the single-action games beginning with Fast Draw using the Ojala holster. Then much later in my 50’s I took part in Cowboy Action Shooting using a pair of 7-1/2-inch Colt .45’s, and in my late 60’s took part in Cowboy Fast Draw again using a 7-1/2-inch Colt .45. At the time I was the only one locally using such a long barrel and now in my honor they have a Shootist Category which requires the use of a 7-1/2-inch .45 Single Action. I have simply found there is no sixgun which balances in my hand as perfectly as a 7-1/2-inch Colt .45 Single Action.

The Bisley

In the late 1890’s Colt made a somewhat radical change to come up with the Bisley Model. This version was fitted with a wide low target hammer, wide target trigger, and the grip was changed to come up higher in the back as well as behind the trigger guard all designed for less rolling in the hand under recoil and better suited for target shooting. One of my prized possessions is a 4-3/4-inch Bisley Model .45 completely restored by the late Jim Alaimo of Nutmeg Sports. Jim went all out on this one with full engraving, carved ivory stocks, and Turnbull case coloring.

Elmer Keith pretty well nailed the Colt Single Action in 1955 writing, “For the man who was raised on the Colt single action, nothing is faster for the first shot, draw and hit. Even the latest double action is no faster for that first shot … The weight of the gun seems to lie right in the hand, and rest on the second finger as it should…. In the big .45 frame guns we find the 4-3/4-inch for single actions to be the best length for balance and fast handling. Good balance is absolutely essential for fast accurate hip shooting as you throw the gun toward the target….”

Now that I’ve lived long enough to become an old timer myself I feel comfortable quoting something I wrote many years ago: “Pick up a seashell and it is said one can hear the sea as the shell is placed over the ear. Pick up a Colt Single Action and you can hear the tickling of the ivories in the saloon on Main Street in Dodge City. You can smell wet cattle as they are driven north through the wind and rain and dust. You can taste fresh cooked bacon and beans over a campfire in the mountains of Montana. And you can see the history of our country stretching over a century.

“Pull back the large hammer, sight down the hog wallow trough that serves as a rear sight, and slowly squeeze the trigger. As the gun roars and gently rocks in the recoil of the .45 Colt you feel the mild but businesslike recoil of a heavy bullet as it settles its business with finality. No heavy-kickin’ Magnum here, but a load that has served sixgunners for over 100 years. Countless number of deer, black bear, cougars, and even grizzly have fallen to the old Colt. A young rancher friend of mine still carries a .45 Colt 4-3/4-inch as his everyday ranch sixgun and he has taken everything that walks hereabouts and he does it with black powder loads. This man will never suffer from the stress of modern life. He has discovered one of the real keys to happiness.

“Watch a group of Colt Single Action .45 devotees gather and start talking about the big Colt. You can tell ’em easily. A big Stetson, a $300 pair of boots, and a nickel’s worth of clothes in between. They have a contented look on their faces no one else can understand. Their eyes mist over as they talk in reverential, almost mystical, tones about the virtues of the Single Action Colt. Yes, they will look down their noses at your wondernine and maybe even politely laugh a little at your poor choice of a handgun. Call ’em throwbacks if you will, but don’t call ’em out.”

There are so many marvelous handguns available today we can almost hyperventilate trying to pick one over the other. We have the finest self-defense semi-automatics, superb hunting sixguns, everyday packin’ pistols which are always dependable, and a whole long list of Perfect Packin’ Pistols. However when I just want to stir my soul, quicken my spirit, or make my heart beat just a little faster, I’ll still reach for a Colt Single Action Army and head for the hills.

Colt Mfg. Co.
P.O. Box 1868
Hartford, CT 06114
(860) 236-6311
www.colt.com