USFA's Best? Your Opinion...

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Greetings All,
We all seem to recognize the numerous and varied mistakes that USFA made over the years.  Failed projects,  guns that were announced and never produced, ill-conceived guns that were.  So... what about the things that were done right?
If I had to pick one USFA gun that represented the best of the company, I think I would have to go with the Double Eagle.  I think that it shows the best of what could have been done if USFA had only kept on track.  Three features of the DE immediately stand out in my mind;
1:  Elongated trigger guard.  Very well done - larger enough to be more accommodating but not enough to be noticeable.
2:  Redesigned ejector rod housing track to accommodate the shorter barrel and still be effective.
3:  The Bisley style (what USFA referred to as the "bird's head") hammer.  A nice "custom" touch.
As for the "bird's head" grip, I have never really care for them but, for some reason, it seems perfect on the Double Eagle.  I was lucky enough to order a Double Eagle just before USFA stopped their SAA production.  It is not my favorite USFA but it is, in my opinion, one of the more innovative offerings that they came out with. 
CJF

[Pettifogger]

The Rodeo.  Quality at a reasonable price.

[Major 2]

 M4-410 Single-Action Revolvers  

Not my favorite either,  but quirky in a way, and not an original concept .
and almost as rare as the rainbow guns.


I guess the one that floated my boat the most  the Omni Potent snubby

[Advertising]

[Coffinmaker]

Echo ..... Echo .....  The Rodeo.   Quality at a reasonable price.

I had a pair of Double Eagles for a while.  Liked em a lot.  Not enough to keep, but a lot. 

Now those M4-410s are trippy.  Especially the one with virtually no barrel and a tactical flash hider.
too cool for school.  Useless, but way cool.  Elongated trigger guard too.

But .... still .... Echo Pettifogger 

Coffinmaker

[Pangaea]

Major,

Are those guns part of your collection?  I've never seen a picture of the rainbow guns.  Always wondered what exactly they were.

[Major 2]

I believe they made just one or two sets... some extra guns in a color or two may have had more of a run...

No not my collection, the photo was from the short lived promo on the USFA website.

Can't honestly say I have a collection, I have had two USPFA's  one is an Anderson ASM conversion 93 SHOT SHOW show gun
 & the other a  Nickle 3 1/2 Storekeepers.
I still have and shoot the Storekeeper , I had Rodeo as well a short time , just hated the finish and sold it.

So just the one , no box ,no sleeve, no bag , no literature...  just the tool   

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

To the best of my limited knowledge, only one set of the "rainbow" SAA's were ever made.  As I recall, they were aimed (no pun intended) at the SAA hunting crowd.  I think USFA was going for a "camouflage" effect with these guns.  
A few years back I saw them listed on GunBroker, being sold as a set.  Not many bidders, if any, as I recall.   I wonder where they are now?

Major 2:  I, too, liked the looks of the short barreled Omni-Potents.  Tried, in vain, to get one with a 4" barrel.  Longer barrels on the Omni had a tendency to feel very muzzle heavy and, from what I understand, were not all that comfortable to shoot.

Coffinmaker:  I, for one, attribute the demise of USFA to the ill-conceived .410 SAA.  It was the last, futile attempt on USFA's part to bring something new to the market.  Unfortunately it seemed to ring their death knell.  Lack of a closing loading gate made it a pretty much useless firearm and with several other manufacturers (S&W, Taurus, etc.) already making D/A .410's it was the answer to the proverbial question that no one had asked.

[Coffinmaker]

Capt John,
Your probably pretty close.  I doubt they made a lot of money on the Omni either.  I special order a pair of Omni, 4 3/4, 38 Special, checked grips, all the good creature features.  I play CAS shooting Gunfighter.  Try as I might, I could not find a way to get the Omnis out of the holsters, and held in such a way that I could actually shoot them.  They were and embellishers dream.  In the white or straight blue, the ultimate engravers dream.  Just so damn hard to shoot I sold mine as fast as I could.

The M4-410 now.  As I said, Trippy.  Useless but trippy.  What ever possessed him to do that is beyond me.  Just plain too stupid.  I do suppose the thing could have been real fun with All Brass 410 cases and slugs.  But that would have been like a 45-70.  Be almost as much fun as shooting 454 Casaul out of an Airweight.

For the most part, USFA made such nice guns.  As discussed adnausium, a real shame they went away.  Well, almost.  There was, after all
the supremely marvelous "ZIP" gun.    BARF

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Coffinmaker,
Ah, yes… The ZIP.  What in the world possessed them to naming it the ZIP?   The term "zip gun" has always denoted a cheap, homemade, crude firearm and is identified with the criminal element.  Your closing statement, "Barf," seems more applicable to me:
B  barely
A  a
R  real
F  firearm

As for USFA and the ZIP…  Anyone out there have any idea as to how USFA is faring, financially, now that the ZIP is their sole source of income?  I have yet to see a positive review of the ZIP, other than those coming from USFA itself.  Failure to feed seems to be the main issue with just about everyone who has reviewed them on YouTube.com.  Has anyone here had any hands on experience with one of them?  When they first switched production exclusively over to the ZIP, Doug Donnelly assured us (as my often failing memory recalls) that SAA production would resume within two years.  That date is now long out of sight in our rear view mirrors.

PS:  And now we are off-track again and even I am throwing gasoline of the fire!  My original intent of this post was to highlight the positive innovations that USFA brought to the game.  Things that they could have done, SAA's they could have made if they had truly dedicated themselves to SAA production with a true "custom shop."

[Major 2]

 You gotta wonder ...what the hell was he thinking ? 

[GaryG]

My favorites were the standard SA/Pre Wars.  Even though they were Italian in origin, I also really liked the Open Tops.

[Coffinmaker]

Gary, you bring up some an inserting thoughts from an entirely personal point of view.  My primary basis for choosing the Rodeo is the ever important price point, mass appeal, and the same internal fit and finish as the "expensive guns" from USFA.

My "personal" favorites were, as mentioned, the Open Tops and the the First Model 1851 Richards conversions.  I've always felt, from a purely astetic point of view, the sleekest and "sexiest" guns from Colt and USFA were the First Model Richards guns.  The champion of
Sleek and Sexy was ASM's First Model based on the 1861 Navy.  Unfortunately, a "never never" but a really nice looking piece.

From the price point stand, and the mass appeal, the Conversions were not what I would describe as a good business idea from USFA,
BUT they were such really NEAT guns.

Coffinmaker   

[Major 2]

what Gary & Coffin maker said .... I gotta echo that.

Open Tops and the the First Model 1851 Richards conversions.

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Greetings All,
Just spent my evening going though old posts and ran across this one.  I agree, one of USFA's most attractive offerings was their 1851 open top Navy revolver. Not much that you cannot like about Samuel Colt's original 1851 design. 
Very early in their life USFA used Italian (Uberti & ASM) parts to produce "their" firearms. Their 1851 reproductions are (were) classic examples.  Imported "in parts" and fit and finished by USFA they were a step above all of the imports. 
I have one of their 1851, .38 cal. conversion models.  To my understanding there were less than 40 of these handguns ever reproduced by USFA.  I keep mine, never to be shot, in a presentation case that I had made for it.  One of my favorite USFA's!

[Dave T]

Being a traditionalist, my favorite offering by USFA is the US made Pre-War, preferably with the BP frame and in 45 Colt chambering of course. (smile)

Dave

[Tascosa Joe]

I liked the prewar BP framed pistols, I think my favorite is my Henry Nettleton.

[Buckaroo Lou]

I would echo Dave T. I too am traditional so the US made Pre-War with the BP frame and a very close second would be the US made Bisley. I have truly regretted not purchasing a Bisley back when they were still in production.

[markg44]

My  vote would be the Bisley Target model. Got all excited when one came up on GB recently, I bid on it for awhile until the bidding went out of sight. It sold for around $4500

[Galen]

Anyone know of a USFA snub grip frame that could be had?

[LonesomePigeon]

Unfortunately, I got into guns after USFA was already gone. There are probably many models or versions that I have never seen but of the ones I have seen I like the Ainsworth the best. A nearly exact replica of the first SAA's Colt made and they can be shot with black powder or smokeless.
Did USFA ever make a Frontier Six Shooter with the etched panel? If so, that would be just as cool as an Ainsworth.