AWA SAA's?

[Michael 'Deadwood' Clemons]

Im asking for a friend that is pondering purchasing a pair of beautiful AWA's with incrediably nice real stag grips.
How is the quality of AWA? Any inherent quality problems? Without seeing the guns in person, could you give him a ballpark figure of what a pair of AWA single action '73 revolvers would be worth, minus the stag grips? Used but obviously shot little, and treated with TLC.
Thank you follks,
Deadwood

[Long Johns Wolf]

I have an AWA Longhorn with 4 3/4" barrel in .45 Colt, S/N63xx. Very pretty case colors, nice blueing. Meta- to-metal fit OK but the factory guy who did the finishing either loved band polishing the frame or the hole for the ejector housing is drilled too far to the outside of the frame. I have had the opportunity to inspect other AWA SAA's where the metal-to-metal and metal-to-wood finish was not as good. But the case colors were allways nicer, compared to Pietta or Uberti.
My piece shoots about 10" high with the factory sights, with CAS loads/200 gr bullets, but the pattern is OK. I filed the sight down and now POA and POI are OK for CAS purposes.
If my SAA is a typical example of the AWA quality in that S/N range and if I wanted the pistol to be a shooter I would consider replicas of other manufacturers like Pietta or Uberti.
Bootsie

[Lazarus Longshot]

My wife and I each have a pair of Longhorns that were purchased about 5 years ago when we first started shooting CAS. The Longhorn was the entry-level CAS SAA clone from AWA at the time (I think we paid something like $325 each for these).These have been excellent guns. These were shot box-stock for 3+ years, no action jobs needed, shooting at least two and usually four matches each month, plus practice. The only modification was to file the front sight to match point of aim with point of impact. Any SAA clone should shoot low from the factory, so that you can file the front sight to bring POI to POA with your loads. We still have the Longhorns, but use them as backup guns, and as loaners for new shooters.

We replaced them as our main match guns a couple of years ago with AWA Ultimates. These are unbelievable. Turnbull case-hardened frames. silky-smooth actions. When we ordered our guns, we sent our ammo to AWA, and her Ultimates were built to shoot POA with our loads.

I don't think there are better SAAs at any price than the Ultimates. And I'm including USFA and Colt in that statement.

To answer your question about pricing, we'd need to know which AWAs you're talking about. The Longhorn was the enry-level for AWA International, and the Peacekeeper was their top-of-the-line. The current AWA USA company ships the Classic as their entry-level, and the Ultimate as the top-of-the-line. Pricing for the entry guns (both Longhorn and Classic) was around $325-$400 when new, and the high-end guns (Peacekeeper and Ultimate) ran anywhere from $600-$900 depending on options.

[Marshal Deadwood]

Longshot, my pal can get the matched pair with 5 1/2" barrels and REAL stag grips for 800.oo for the pair. They look brand new.  I dont know if they are a matched pair down to serial numbers,,dont know that they arent.... other than that, they are indentical,,,look new,,and I KNOW them stag grips are worth dang near the asking price on the guns. I dont see how he can go wrong. I want to encourage him,,hes getting into the 'cowboy era',,,but I wanted some more experienced 'gun' knowledge on the AWA's so I could pass it along.
He will be most encouraged guys.
Thanks folks.
Deadwood

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I've got one of those "entry Level" Longhorns.  I love it and it has shot MANY thousands of full power loads without a hiccup.  I changed the bolt flat spring for a Heine wire spring 'cause I wanted, not had to.  Made a BIG difference in the smoothness - and it came very smooth.

I love mine.  $319 new in 1998 or 9

[Wymore Wrangler]

I'd jump on them at that price....

[PlacitasSlim]

I have 2 of the Longhorns and they are good guns. Quite a few people in our club shoot AWA's and are very happy with them.