Regarding the "Shot Pistol," here, in part, is what I posted on the USFA web site forum.
Tenring.com now has the USFA shot pistol listed on their web site. In their sales description they state;
"This unique, superb quality revolver does not have a loading gate. If the revolver is pointed up when cocking a live 45 Colt round will slide back a little and stop rotation or fall out completely. When cocking the gun must be level or pointed down. However, this is still a quality piece that shoots perfectly and is very easy to handle."
This alone should eliminate the USFA shot pistol from any consideration as a self defense weapon. If the .45 round will slide back, there is a possibility, however slight, that a .410 round will do the same. One must wonder why USFA chose to eliminate the loading gate.
I own a number of USFA SAA's and firmly believe that they are among the finest revolvers of their type being made today. USFA is a relatively small company with a limited number of CNC machines and it would seem that right now they are dedicating most of their resources to producing the shot pistol. As a result, the production of SAA's seems to be suffering. This is, of course, an assumption on my part based on the fact that the local gun shops that I deal with state that they are currently having difficulty getting orders filled by USFA.
When I first saw pictures of the Shot Pistol on the web, I honestly thought that it was an April Fool's joke. Someone's PhotoShop fantasy. I can't believe that USFA is sacrificing production of the SAA in order to produce this piece of junk. I am rapidly losing faith in USFA.