The Colt Single Motion Military revolver might be probably the most recognizable handgun ever, and its silhouette has graced the massive display within the holsters of heroes and villains, each actual and imagined. Colt has been making the SAA on and off since 1873. Over the past a number of a long time, duplicate makers and main producers have spun their very own variations. Whereas that particular define and basic operation has remained the identical, the SAA has undergone many minor adjustments because it was first launched. Cimarron’s US Cavalry Henry Nettleton mannequin represents the Colt Single Motion because it was first adopted by the Military in 1873 with out having to dig up a surviving unique.
Historical past: Henry Nettleton and the Colt 1873
The US Cavalry concluded the 1872 pistol trials by deciding on the Colt Mannequin P, in any other case often called the Colt 1873, to exchange its current shares of cap-and-ball Colt 1860 Military revolvers. This gate-loaded six-shot cartridge revolver was sooner to load than the outdated mannequin and extra sturdy underneath area circumstances in comparison with the Smith & Wesson No. 3 revolvers the Military trialed in 1871. The revolver was additionally made accessible on the business market with frequent barrel lengths together with 4 ¾ inches, 5 ½ inches, and seven ½ inches. The Cavalry adopted the 7 ½ inch mannequin.
Contracts for Colt’s new revolver went out and much got here although the palms of Military inspectors, who then despatched them to the troops. In 1878, Henry Nettleton was only one such inspector. He labored for the US Ordnance Division for under that 12 months and inspected a contract of three,000 revolvers. Ordinarily, Military inspectors gave their stamp of approval to particular person elements on the precise facet of the revolvers, however Nettleton stamped the hammer and triggerguard on the left facet.
This small and insignificant footnote is amplified as a result of these revolvers had the excellence of later turning into refurbished by the New York Militia in 1895-1896. Their barrels had been lower down to five ½-inch fashions, a transfer copied by Springfield Armory in time for these revolvers to see some use in Cuba in the course of the Spanish-American Battle.
Cimarron’s US Cavalry Mannequin
Uberti of Italy and Cimarron Firearms of Fredericksburg, Texas, teamed as much as recreate this uncommon however cussed historic variant. Henry Nettleton’s uncommon placement of his initials is current on all of the exterior elements, however at its coronary heart, it’s a copy of the very first era of Single Motion Military revolvers.
The Henry Nettleton Cavalry Mannequin contains a case-hardened metal body and a blued cylinder, grip body and barrel meeting. The Cavalry mannequin is denoted by its 7 ½-inch barrel and .45 Colt chambering.
The sights encompass a slender v-notch groove within the high strap of the body paired with a rounded blade entrance sight. The revolver wears a pair of lacquer-stained walnut grips in comparable vogue to the originals. Whereas most replicas and lots of surviving Colt SAAs use a spring-loaded détente to retain the cylinder pin, Cimarron’s Henry Nettleton mannequin makes use of a pre-Battle body type that makes use of a retaining screw within the entrance of the cylinder body.
The revolver is a six-shooter, however it’s best follow to load 5 and preserve the hammer over an empty chamber, because the Cimarron dispenses with switch bars in favor of a hard and fast firing pin and the old-style Colt security notch that some replicas omit. You’ll discover while you thumb again the hammer that the primary audible click on is the security notch. This raises the hammer off the stay spherical, however within the nineteenth century, that security notch wasmshallow and untrustworthy. Some replicas omit this characteristic altogether, however Cimarron consists of it and the opposite three clicks that give this mannequin the distinctive sound of a Colt. The second click on being the half-cock to free the cylinder for loading by the loading gate and ejector rod on the right-side of the pistol. The third click on happens when the cylinder cease locks up the cylinder. The fourth is when the hammer is at full cock and you might be able to shoot.
On the Vary
Whereas I’ve dealt with a couple of originals in my time, most of my single-action taking pictures has been accomplished with .22 rimfire and cap-and-ball revolvers. Going as much as centerfire, not to mention all the way in which as much as .45 Colt, was an expertise.
Most of my vary time with the Cimarron Cavalry mannequin consisted of a mixture of Hornady and Winchester 250-grain lead cowboy hundreds that got here out to 200 rounds downrange. I additionally labored in a field of Federal 225-grain jacketed delicate factors and fifty-rounds of black-powder 255-grain handloads.
The Cimarron Cavalry mannequin hundreds like every other Colt or Colt clone. With the hammer drawn again to half-cock, you’ll be able to open the loading gate and drop your rounds into the chambers, rotating the cylinder as you go till the cylinder is full. Though I by no means carried the revolver in any capability, I did keep on with the five-round rule by loading one spherical, skipping a chamber, then loading 4 and dropping the hammer on the empty.
At first, I didn’t know what to anticipate out of this revolver in my palms, given I by no means fired any of its sort earlier than. So, I dove proper in to the enjoyable by squaring as much as a metal silhouette and a set of eight-inch plates at 10 yards and letting fly one-handed.
The sights are small, which may make them exhausting to seek out in a rush. Fortunately, the steadiness of the 7 ½-inch barrel and that pointable Navy-style grip, made it simple to level the revolver like a finger and discovering the sights was not far behind. I dropped the hammer and hit the silhouette precisely the place I used to be aiming. And my hand was nonetheless intact, too. These Hornady and Winchester cowboy hundreds are equal to a couple of .45 ACP energy clever, and the revolver has a attribute muzzle rise that’s pronounced however extra akin to a delicate push within the hand over a pointy slap. I fired my different 4 rounds, poked out the empties with the ejector rod, reloaded and did it once more, backing up all the way in which to 35 yards within the course of. I recall two misses out of 20 rounds. I’ve to thank the small sights for not protecting up my targets, regardless of my preliminary problem in selecting them up. The superb steadiness and a travel-less 3 ½-pound set off pull didn’t damage.
Subsequent, I put the revolver on paper to see what sort of repeatable accuracy I might get. Hitting anyplace in metal counts however you may be referred to as upon to shoot one thing extra animated and it pays to know precisely the place the bullets go. Shifting as much as 10 yards from paper, I grouped the revolver offhand. The Hornady 250-grain cowboy load was probably the most constant when it comes to total accuracy and it was not tough to chew five-rounds by a 2-inch gap. The Winchester rounds carried out on par with the Federal jacketed hundreds, yielding a 3-inch group. I later tried some black-powder handloads consisting of 40 grains of FFFg powder and a 255-grain round-nosed bullet. That is unique to the Military load and it’s stout within the hand however manageable. When it comes to accuracy, these rounds break up the distinction between the Hornady and different smokeless hundreds. When it comes to enjoyable issue, the black-powder rounds are off the chart when it comes to energy and smoke.
The .45 Colt is a really adaptable cartridge that may be loaded as much as .44 Magnum pressures, however these hundreds are solely really protected in an outsized single-action or double-action gun, not with Colts or their replicas. Cimarron’s Colt is metallurgically more durable than any unique Colt, however out of curiosity I did carry alongside some Ruger Solely .45 Colt hundreds from Buffalo Bore for one vary journey. I had no intention of firing them however I did discover that these rounds had been too lengthy to suit into the cylinder and have it flip. These Ruger Solely hundreds are usually not labeled a lot as calling a Ruger notably robust, however their all-cast revolvers have a thicker and longer cylinder that may truly cycle these hundreds.
Whereas a real hotrodder gained’t be happy with the Cimarron, these black-powder hundreds had been heat, operating out throughout my Caldwell Chronograph at near 1,000 ft per second. I obtained by a field of fifty earlier than the motion began to get stiffer to work. Whereas most folk, and even most cowboy motion shooters, don’t shoot black powder, it’s price noting for people who try this the pre-war cylinder pin screw should come out so you’ll be able to spray down the motion in between phases. That may be a ache, particularly when your fellow shooters utilizing post-war type revolvers can have the cylinder out with a push of a detent. However as Cimarron goals, this revolver does greater than provide you with a taking pictures iron, however presents it within the type as what we’d encounter within the days of black powder when extra upkeep was vital however not essentially helpful.
Parting Photographs
Cimarron is responsible of replicating a number of obscure variations of the Colt Single Motion. Regardless of Nettleton’s obscurity and his quick tenure, the revolvers he stamped earned a whole lot of mileage. Cimarron’s US Cavalry Mannequin represents such a revolver on the very begin of its service life. Though it lacks a few of the refinements, a shorter barrel or sheer measurement that fashionable rivals and magnum junkies would favor, this mannequin is an effective way to expertise the Single Motion Military in its unique type with out having to trace one down and is a superb shooter in its personal proper.
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