Colt Generations

[22lr]

OK.. I hope I'm not revisiting an oft repeated topic, but I need some clarification.

On Colt SAA's, I hear about 1st generation, 2nd generation, etc.  Could someone please tell me what years each generation was made, and what were (if any) the differences were.

Also while your digging through the archives for the answer, please lookup when the Colt "Cowboy" was produced.

Thanks in advance.

[St. George]

A better idea would be for you to look them up, since those questions have been asked and asnwered several times on one or more of these forums.

By searching on your own - you'll no doubt learn many different things.

You can also get a copy of 'The Blue Book of Gun Values' - by Fjestad

It'll give you both serial number ranges and commentary as well as values.

Typically it can be found at any gun show and Barnes & Noble's.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Colt Single Action Army First Generation production ran from 1873, with Serial Number 1 up until production was shut down in 1940 with Serial Number 357,859, to free up production capacity to produce 1911 Semi-Autos for the war effort.

Colt had no intention of starting up production again after the end of hostilities at the end of WWII, thinking that there would not be much demand for a design that was over 70 years old. Indeed production figures towards the end of 1st Gen production bear that out, with as few as 400 guns being produced in some years. However, Colt failed to take into account the fact that after the end of WWII many families bought their first television sets, and suddenly Matt Dillon, and Paladin, and dozens of other cowboys were galloping through the nation's living room's every week fueling a huge pent up demand for the old gun. In 1953, a young man named Bill Ruger, fresh from the triumph of releasing his ground breaking Semi-Auto 22 cal pistol in 1949, introduced the Single Six, a 22 caliber Single Action revolver, outwardly styled like the SAA, although on a slightly smaller scale. Production could not keep up with demand, and in 1955 Ruger introduced a center fire version, the first Blackhawk. Again, production could not keep up with demand. Colt finally saw the writing on the wall, and reintroduced the Single Action Army in 1956. This was the start of the 2nd Gen.

Second Gen Serial Numbers are distinguished from First Gen Serial Numbers by having an 'SA' suffix. 2nd Gen Serial Numbers start with 0001SA in 1956, and run up to 73,319SA in 1975. Production numbers for the first years of 2nd Gen production shot up as high as 9699 units in 1957, proving there was plenty of pent up demand for the old gun.

Third Gen production began in 1976. Serial numbers jumped from the number the 2nd Gen left off with directly to 80,000SA in 1976. This series continued up through 1978, when the series topped out at 99,999SA. Having topped out with 5 numerical digits in 1978, Colt changed to a 'SA' prefix and started all over again at SA01001 in 1978, and again ran out of numbers in 1993 with SA99,999. This time Colt again started a new series, this time with an 'S' prefix and an 'A' suffix, starting at S02001A in 1993. My reference book only goes up until S26,699A in 1999.

As far as feature changes by model, they are too numerous to list, and most changes are not limited to one generation. Most variations have been very subtle, minor engineering changes like the profile of the hand, the shape of the cylinder ratchet teeth, the shape of the firing pin, and similar minor engineering changes. One significant change made during the 1st Generation was changing over the syestem of retaining the cylinder base pin from a screw angled up from the front of the frame, to the current spring loaded cross latch. This change started appearing around 1892. Guns with the earlier style screw retainer are said to be the 'blackpowder' style frame, although there were guns manufactured with the new style latch, prior to 1900, the date that Colt officially warrantied the SAA to be safe for shooting Smokeless powder.

One of the most significant engineering changes that happened with the biginning of the 3rd Gen was the replacement of the removable cylinder bushing with a non-removable one press fit into place at the factory. More recently, Colt has gone back to the original removable bushing design. There are some who contend that the return to the removeable bushing constitutes a 4th Generation, but according to collectors, we are still in the 3rd Generation of production of the Colt Single Action Army.

I believe the Colt Cowboy was introduced around 1999. It was not well received, having experienced some initial quality problems. Most of these problems were eventually cleared up, but the Cowboy was already stuck with a bad reputation. I do not know exactly when it went out of production. It is not in production now.