Had the chance and passed...

[yahoody]

Saw this pop up yesterday.



http://www.armslist.com/posts/4405359/denver-colorado-handguns-for-sale--engraved--us-firearms--usfa--colt-replica-single-action-army-revolver

Had this gun in my hands last year for a few days.  Engraver was asking $4500 then.  I balked at the price tag.  It is built on a early Rodeo (A series IIRC) with some Uberti parts.  Didn't know enough back then to sort everything out with a USFA gun.  I was able to discern the Uberti cast hammer, ill fitting fake plastic grips and wasn't thrilled there was a Colt logo engraved on the USFA frame.

Les told me at the time this gun was the first engraved SAA he had done.  Engraving is from patterns Mike Dubber designed and sells.  Les' gold work is nice.

The only change is the gun is a year older today.  Asking price now on Armslist for that gun is $5750. 
Haven't seen a Rodeo go up and additional $1250 in the last year!  I bought the Colt pictured below with a real Pony engraved  and elephant ivory instead.  NIB for $3800 on GB.



Fun to look at the most recent work and see how his engraving has progressed and his cuts deeper.
This Colt is mighty pretty.

http://www.lesengraving.com/les_schowe_colt_saa_3.html



As a comparison Nutmeg will sell you a C+/D engraved Colt with real ivory for around $4000.  Or have them carve up your USFA for around $3000.  Gold work is always gonna be little extra 

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

That Colt logo engraved on the USFA frame would have been the deal killer for me, too.
For the life of me, I can't understand why so many USFA owners go to lengths to make their USFA guns look like they came from Colt.  Sometime back, on this forum, someone posted pictures of his USFA that he had fixed Colt grips to (he was bring to sell the gun).   I made the comment that "Putting Colt grips on a USFA is like putting Volkswagen hubcaps on a Mercedes."  Really ticked him off at the time!  As comments go, it might have been a bit extreme but none the less, if you want a Colt, buy a Colt.  Don't denigrate a USFA by trying to make it look like something it is not.

[Pangaea]

I bought a pair of Rodeos with consecutive serial numbers that have Colt Ivory (I'm assuming some kind of fake ivory) grips on them.  I need to get rid of them and get the original grips.

[yahoody]

I think at some point you really need to be a bit of historian.  Colt's are Colt's.  Obvious some history there.  Uberti/USFA what ever duplicate/copy of the Colt you want to pick out has it's own history.

Adding Colt logo grips to a Uberti only adds a pair of grips.  Ad the cost of grips and what ever it took to fit them.

I bought USFA guns originally because they shot as good as or better than my 1st Generation Colt's.  And at the time while not cheap still a fraction of the cost of a new Colt.

Frankly, for me, I was more put off by this gun because of the terrible fitting grips more than the Colt logo on the grips.   Engraved guns are all about the detailing IMO.   If you are unable or unwilling to have even a cheap pair of grips fitted....it tells me a lot about the rest of the project.   A Faux Colt by looking at the grips...more so with the rampant pony engraved.  But why would one add $4000+ worth of engraving and finish work to what was then a $500 gun?  The owner should thank his luck stars that it was on a USFA because the value has gone up on the base gun....luckily!

But asking price aside....the "value" would always be more IMO if the work had originally been done on a Colt.

I pondered buying this one a long time.  But even with Nutmeg ivory added (included in the price) at the original $4500.  ...I couldn't see the value there.  Just my opinion.

Call a Rodeo @ $1500 today.  And that is no question on the high side.  Say money is no object...what $ would you value this gun, as is?

I have a number in mind but would like to see what others think.