Period round, but did Colt every chamber the SAA for it ?

[Marshal Deadwood]

Did Colt ever chamber the SAA for the .44 Colt round ?

[Pettifogger]

Colt made the following .44s:

.44 Smoothbore
.44 Rimfire
.44 German
.44 Russian
.44 S&W
.44 S&W Special
.44-40

The .44 Colt in its original heeled bullet loading was actually a .45.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Did Colt ever chamber the SAA for the .44 Colt round ?

Yes, but damn few. I know of at least one and maybe two.

[Advertising]

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Weren't the first couple of SAAs shown to the Army in .44Colt?  It would be a logical move at the time as that was the round for the conversions in service.

However, at about that time heeled bullets were becoming passe, and the Army had decided on a common calibre; - .45

[St. George]

The .44 Colt round is most closely associated with the Open-Top and various Conversions of the Model 1860 Army.

It would work in the Model 1875 Remington, and at the time, it did.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Fox Creek Kid]

Weren't the first couple of SAAs shown to the Army in .44Colt?  It would be a logical move at the time as that was the round for the conversions in service.

However, at about that time heeled bullets were becoming passe, and the Army had decided on a common calibre; - .45

Nope. The very first Colt SAA presented to the Military was in .44 S&W Russian. However, as the military already had approx. 1,000 S&W 1st Model Americans in service they requested that before testing began that the chambering be changed to .44 American & Colt complied, although W.B. Franklin, the president of Colt, was a vociferous supporter of the .44 Russian ctg. and went so far as to submit to the Military test targets shot by the same gun with two different cylinders and the Russian was clearly the better shooter. This was most likely due to the step in the chamber mouth of the Russian cylinder as the .44 Russian used OUTSIDE lubed bullets until the 1880's.

Interestingly, the Military, which had over 1,000 Colt 1st Model Richards in service at the time, did not consider the .44 Colt for the new Model P (SAA). I have theorized on this thinking it may have had to do with the early problems with the Martin primed ctgs. but the same issue plagued the early .44 American ctgs. That is why the Military dropped the Martin primed style ctgs. in March of 1868 for the Benet cup-primed cartridges in rifles/carbines and in .44 Colt in December of 1871

[Tascosa Joe]

I have been reading the Colt SAA and the London Agency.  The book is saying Colt SN: S/1 was chambered for the S&W .44 American.  Pistol S/1 was a sample sent to the London Agency.  Some very interesting data compiled from letters between Franklin and von Oppen.

[The Pathfinder]

Ah, now that is a question. I have seen books where some say they did (but only 1 or 2) and books where they say they didn't and that the listing that was believed to be 44 Colt was actually some other 44 caliber cartridge. I've even seen a book that showed a picture of a SAA that was chambered in 44 Colt, altho the picture was small enough that I don't think you could ever be sure.

But if you were to put a 44 rimfire or possibly a 44 American cylinder into a 45 Colt revolver would you not basicaly have a 44 Colt SAA?

And with the modern incarnation of the 44 Colt (using the inside lubed bullet) isn't every 44 special revolver also a 44 Colt revolver? A '44 Colt and S&W Special' chambering?

God I need a cup of coffee, the mind is drifting.  

[Graveyard Jack]

This was most likely due to the step in the chamber mouth of the Russian cylinder as the .44 Russian used OUTSIDE lubed bullets until the 1880's.

I think you mean the Russian was loaded with INSIDE lubed bullets, which was its whole reason for being.

According to my literature, there were 24 .44S&W's, 1863 .44 rimfire and 154 .44Russians but no mention of .44Colt production figures but it is mentioned in the text. Then in Haven & Belden's "History of the Colt Revolver", the .44Colt centerfire is mentioned as a production chambering.

[Forty Rod]

According to A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver by Graham, Kopec, and Moore, the first SAA made was a .44 Colt / .44 Russian due to a mix up in specs.  Apparently both rounds would function well. 

Much later there was a 16" "Buntline Special" with a skeleton stock produced in .44 Colt...One item only.  I couldn't find any others, but the search was admittedly very brief.

Seems the .44 Colt was primarily a round for conversions.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I think you mean the Russian was loaded with INSIDE lubed bullets, which was its whole reason for being...

Nope, I meant what I said. Ammo cos. did not make an inside lubed .44 Russian rd. until the 1880's at the behest of a champion target shooter due to fouling. This was discussed in an excellent article in 2003 or so in Handloader magazine. Here's some photos if you scroll down on the link:

http://www.oldammo.com/september04.htm