Colt Single Action Army

About the Colt Single Action Army

The Colt Single Action Army, officially designated the M1873 and popularly known as the Peacemaker, is a single-action, six-shot revolver introduced in 1873 and widely regarded as 'the gun that won the West.' Designed by Colt engineers William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff Richards, it was adopted by the U.S. Army as the standard service sidearm in 1873 and chambered originally in the powerful .45 Colt cartridge. Its robust solid-frame construction, simple lockwork, and hard-hitting centerfire ammunition made it the definitive frontier handgun, carried by soldiers, lawmen, outlaws, ranchers, and cowhands across the American West for decades. The revolver features a loading gate on the right side of the frame, a spring-loaded ejector rod beneath the barrel, a fluted six-shot cylinder, a color-case-hardened frame, and a blued barrel and cylinder mated to one-piece walnut or hard-rubber grips. Operation is pure single-action: the shooter must manually cock the exposed hammer before each shot, which rotates the cylinder and sets the sear, after which a short, clean trigger press releases the hammer. Three standard barrel lengths defined the original military and civilian catalog - the 7.5-inch 'Cavalry' model, the 5.5-inch 'Artillery' model, and the 4.75-inch 'Civilian' or 'Gunfighter' length - while the 3- and 4-inch 'Sheriff's' and 'Storekeeper' variants omitted the ejector for a slimmer profile. Over its long life the SAA has been offered in more than thirty chamberings, with .45 Colt, .44-40 WCF, .38-40 WCF, .32-20 WCF, .357 Magnum, .44 Special, and .22 Long Rifle among the most enduring. Production spans three generations: First Generation (1873-1941) totaling over 357,000 units, Second Generation (1956-1975), and Third Generation (1976-present), still manufactured by Colt's Custom Shop in Hartford, Connecticut. Though officially replaced in U.S. military service in 1892 by the double-action Colt M1892, the Peacemaker was never truly retired - it remains an icon of Americana, a staple of cowboy action shooting, and a fixture of Western cinema that has outlived nearly every firearm of its era.

General George S. Patton carried an ivory-gripped Single Action Army in .45 Colt - serial number 332088, engraved with his initials - as his personal sidearm from 1916 through World War II, famously using it to kill two Mexican bandits during Pancho Villa's Punitive Expedition. Wyatt Earp reputedly favored a long-barreled 'Buntline Special' given to him by dime-novelist Ned Buntline, while Theodore Roosevelt's engraved, pearl-gripped SAA rode with him up San Juan Hill. The Peacemaker was never truly retired - Colt has continuously cataloged it for over 150 years, making it one of the longest-produced firearms in history.

Colt Single Action Army specifications

The standard U.S. Army contract barrel length was 7.5 inches (190 mm); the 5.5-inch (140 mm) 'Artillery' length became dominant after the 1895 arsenal rework program returned and shortened thousands of Cavalry revolvers. Civilian barrel lengths of 4.75 inches (120 mm) were widely carried on the frontier. Rifling is six grooves, left-hand twist at 1 turn in 16 inches (406 mm) - unusual for Colt but standard on the SAA. The half-cock notch is the only mechanical safety; traditional carry practice is 'load one, skip one, load four' leaving the hammer down on an empty chamber to prevent accidental discharge.