AWA SAA review in Shoot Magazine.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Did anyone read this review of the AWAs, the SAA and Lightning by John Taffin?  He gave them very high marks.  How is the quality of AWA with Pietta parts compared to Cimarron with Uberti parts?

[44caliberkid]

I have had two AWA SAA's.  Both of them had beautiful finishes, nice blue, good case hardening.  However, both were mechanically deficient.   The 44 Special had undersized chamber mouths that resulted in poor accuracy and an inability to group.  The second one was a 44-40 that needed the barrel turned to correct windage and needed the hand and spring replaced to get it to function, very attractive, but a lemon.   I have heard that AWA's are just the old Armi San Marco's, with supposedly better (?) quality control.   Many importers quit Armi because of inconsistancies in quality control.  On the positive side, I've heard that AWA's customer service/ repair is very good, fast turn around and they fix the problem.   

[Virginia Gentleman]

According to the article, A. San Marco parts have not been used in quite some time and AWA is under new management.  Pietta makes the parts for the lightning and it was implied that they make the parts now for the SAA.  Pietta makes parts for EMF's Great Western II.

[Silver Creek Slim]

The Charles Daly SAA's are Piettas, also.

Slim

[Virginia Gentleman]

Has anyone read the article or have first hand experience with the newer AWAs?

[Uncle Jaque]

   I've been looking all over creation for the better part of 30 years for a decent SAA clone (no way can I afford a "real" Colt) with a 5.5" tube in my favorite handgun caliber, the .44 Special.

   Last Saturday, a friend took me to his favorite Gun Shop (we recently moved in to the area so I'm checking out all the local ranges and shops, with him being my Guide) and per usual, I asked if they had any .44 Spl. single actions.

   The Owner's Wife who was tending the counter at the time allowed as how she didn't know, but invited me - a complete stranger - to come behind the counter (this is, apparently, a very laid-back shop) and take a look through the plethora of pistols festooned upon the wall.

   My eyes almost immediately fell on a distinctive hogleg with a lovely color casehardened frame that sure looked like the real McCoy, and a particularly fine finish.

   Turning the tag over, I was hit with two shocks in quick succession, sort of like a blast from a double-barreled shotgun.

   The first was a positive surprise; it said - AWA (which did not mean anything to me at the time) - .44 SPECIAL!

   The second set me back on my heels a bit though; the part that follows the "$" - $500... for a USED revolver.   Even though it is in excellent condition, at least as far as the eye can tell, that seemed a wee bit steep for a used clone.

   The lock sounds fine, and the cyl. locks up nice and tight.  They keep a pile of "test ammo" on top of the vault that people can use to test fire used guns with, and I had my earmuffs on and target in hand before we found out that alas; no .44 Specials were to be discovered.

   My Pard, who is an avid Colt collector, strongly suggested that I put it on layaway, but I still balked at the price (being currently between careers and all).   It seems that he had owned it once and that it was a fine shooter... but it wasn't a Colt (although it sure had me fooled into thinking it was one; $500 for a used Colt would not have been half bad, would it?)
It seems that Colt was not amused by this similarity either, and sued AWA over it.  That is, apparently, why they dropped the "Peacekeeper" line. It seems to have crossed over the line between "Replica" and "Counterfeit".

    He showed me "the book" where the AWA Peacekeeper in VG (and I'd call this one "excellent") was valued at $750.  And since the Special is a "Special Order" feature, it would be even more.

   Amazing!

   Since then, I've been doing some online research on AWA.  It seems that they have had their "issues"; the revolvers started off well, but they had trouble with their line of "Lightning" rifles which brought them to bankruptcy. 

   In several CAS sites I searched up, the percentage of shooters who preferred AWA over other SAA clones seems to be about 10%; the general sense is that although they are pretty, they require a lot of tinkerage and tend to break with heavy use.  While going through management transition, parts availability became an issue - what is the situation now?

   I have a CETME battle rifle that runs fine but won't group up to my standards; I have about $500 into it, and if the guy will swap me even I might be tempted.  But is an AWA worth it?

   I'm getting too old, fat, and gimpy to have much practical use for a "Battle Rifle" any more, plus we have moved into much smaller quarters, and pistols take up much less room.

   My only SA Colt is the one that fostered my affection for the old plow - handle in the first place; the .22 Frontier Scout that I bought new in a Hardware store as a teenager.  So you fellas know a lot more about this than I do, in all probability.   Well; I do own a cap-and-ball Navy Arms "Reb" and a '53 Remington, both .44s, which I have tuned up, so I guess I'm not totally ignorant of the system.

   But any advice would be appreciated.  These things are wicked scarce in .44 Special, it seems, and it might be a while before i run across another one at any price.

Thanks - "Uncle Jaque"

[Mason Stillwell]

I have 2 of them. I cannot say enough good about them. They are quite frankly FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Mason

[Wymore Wrangler]

I've got two AWA Longhorns, I love them, but they don't get much work now that I'm shooting open tops.   

[Uncle Jaque]

Thanks fellas; that's encouraging.

But do you think that this is a decent deal for $5C?

I noticed that this one had the "Smokeless" cross-pin cylender pin restraint, crecent ejector head of the later models - not a problem, but just out of curiosity, when did Colt introduce these features?

It also has the firing pin on the hammer nose per the original, which I like - no indication of a transfer bar or any of that sort of newfangled thing.

  Five beans in the wheel and down on the empty chamber works well enough for me, although a .44 Spl chamber won't hold quite as much "buryin' money" as a .45 will.  It'll have to be a simple service... or I'll just roll up an organ donor card and stuff it in there.
  They can jest carve me up at the Doctorin' College an' let th' dawgs eat the scraps.

Next time I go up there, I'll bring along a box of my 250 gr. Keith cast SWC/ Unique reloads... and if this pistolla puts 'em where I point her, I might be tempted.

Of course the Special, being essentially a jazzed up .44 Russian, is quite all right with black powder, despite having a little less case capacity than the .45LC or .44-40.  But with a case chock full of FFFG behind 250 gr. of lead, I reckon she'll git'er done!  };^{)~

[44caliberkid]

  I had an AWA 44 Special once, paid $350 for it, sold it for not much more.  All said and done, it's still an Italian repro and isn't worth the extra $$$.  You can get a Uberti 1873 in 44 Special from EMF , brand new for less than $500. 
  Also, the one I had , had undersized chamber mouths and wouldn't shoot accurately.  Get a dial caliper and measure the diameter of the front of the chambers.  They should be .430, or maybe one or two thousandths larger.  Mine were .425.
   Make them a lower offer.  The blue book doesn't mean stink!   Book value often doesn't reflect real world price (what real people are actully paying for guns)

[Hill Beachy]

I noticed that this one had the "Smokeless" cross-pin cylender pin restraint, crecent ejector head of the later models - not a problem, but just out of curiosity, when did Colt introduce these features?

According to the late Ray Meibaum:

Base Pin Retainers
The first guns produced employed a screw in the front of the frame as a means to secure the base pin. These guns are commonly identified as "black powder guns". The change to the spring release pin was made about the same time (1896) as a stronger frame material was incorporated to accommodate the use of smokeless powder.

Front entry screw. 1873-1896.
Spring release base pin. 1896-1940.
Ejector Head
The round or "bullseye" ejector head was first used in 1873 until 1882 on civilian weapons. Bullseye ejector heads were used on military weapons until 1884. The first oval heads that were used in 1882 had a wide flaring base. The oval style was used until end of production in 1940. The probable reason for the change to oval style was for ease of holstering.

Round "bullseye" style. 1873-1882.
Oval shape. Begin 1882-Civilian.
Oval shape. Begin 1884-Military.
Oval shape. Standard until 1940.

Unfortunately his heirs have taken down all of the good info on the SAA which used to appear on the website (I knew there was a reason I saved it to a file!)

Have not owned an AWA and therefore cannot comment on the quality or shootability.

[Colonel Mortimer]

I've had an AWA Peacekeeper for 3 years now. Paid $450 new for it. Fit and finish are far superior to any of my other speggetti guns. I'm a lousy pistol marksman so I can't attest to accuracy but I don't miss any more with it than the other guns. It's the one gun in my stable that I really baby. If you like it 500 is not out of line as long as it still locks up tight and doesn't have too many dings.

[Virginia Gentleman]

That's an excellent price for a used one.  Too bad you can't find many like it around where I live for that price.

[Big John Denny]

I owned four of them at one time, all Peacekeepers in 45 Colt. If it has the ASM manufacturing letters on the bottom of the barrel I wouldn't buy it. Part of the problems with the old ASM guns AWA was selling was the cylinder had a tendency to crack or blow up when fired a lot, like we do in SASS. The newer models are supposed to be stronger, but I've never bought another one, and sold the one's I had.

Go with something else. Either a newer clone or the new model Vaquero, which has the feel of the old Colt grips and size. You can get a NMV in stainless steel cheaper then you could buy that used AWA.

[Evil Vaquero]

According to AWA (spoke with the rep)  some of the "Old" AWA SAA's do have problems.  The new ones, since AWA got "reborn" are not made by Armi San Marco, but by another Italian Company named Mateba?.  These have been reported to have no problems at all.

For the "Old" AWA's, I myself have been thinking of buying one (actually) two of their older models, NIB.  I did check with AWA last week, prior to making the purchase.  The models that I am buying are in a serial number range that have the prefix E in front of the numbers.  This was a special run of guns made up for the Distributor RSR.  These are good guns...having exhibited no problems at all.  The guns have REAL bone case-coloring.  These were made from Italian parts, but assembled here in the United States.

I realize that this post is a Johnny-come-lately post, but if you do have questions about AWA's, call them, and talk to Russel.  He has worked for the old and now works for the "New" AWA, and is a fountain of good information.



Evil

[Virginia Gentleman]

I read that Pietta of Italy now makes AWAs and they are made with forged parts in critical areas like the frame, cylinder and barrel.  These guns look good and I may try to pick one up this year.

[Black Powder]

I just got done posting a request on another thread for documentation on black powder frames and voila, here it is from 2006.  Nice legacy that Mr. Meibaum left for us.  Thanks, HB for posting that.

Kinda sounds like old model is a must for any authenticity for a character pre-1896.  There.  Simple enough.

AWA's 1873 Ultimate looks top drawer.  I'd like one.  I kinda see them as the little guy worth rooting for.  Wish they'd put more info (pics) on their web site.

BP

[Virginia Gentleman]

The only downside I see for the AWA is additional non-period correct markings like "Classic" and "Ultimate" on the gun and the roll marks in general not being period correct.

[Marshal harpoluke]

 

I  Have two of them, both in 357Mag. ,  They needed extensive work to put into SASS shape, but now they


Shoot very well.  they are prone to break leaf type ratchet springs, also the base pins have been replace with origanal Colt parts.


Pretty Yes, relibable No,  4; 1 versus Colts.


Still good for entry level into SASS.

[louisc]

how much does the micrometer coast i guess that would be an inside mic right?