Well ...... kind of silly. Punching bulls eye type targets at 25 yards/meters with a SAA or a reproduction there of is an exercise in futility. SAA type guns simply aren't built for it. They were designed for "minute of man" up close and personal.
The action is too imprecise, the sights are rough and .... and ..... Real world is more like minute of pie plate regardless of enhancements to vision. A course sight picture is a course sight picture.
So ..... The accuracy shown on the above targets is actually about average. To get better, prepare to throw money. Lots of it.
Coffinmaker
well, dear COFFINMAKER,
that means 2 things, according to what you say:
-that the best target shooters, in the old times, compiting, for instance, in BISLEY, England and defeating the best british shooters with their Webleys, were just silly.....by the way, the COLT BISLEY, with offers no advantage at all, but the trigger, rounded, over the standard SAA, was designed mainly to compete in those matches..in 1897..
-that here today, in EUROPE, we are silly, as we compete in the most serious bulls eye matches at 25 meters with Colt Frontiers, and italian reproductions... among other metallic cartridge guns of the western period...getting, sometimes, very good results in terms of accuracy.
maybe what it is really silly is to shoot the gun only at 10 yards, when the gun has potential for more......
by the way, in MLAIC they shoot Remingtons 1858 cap and balls, as well as COLT ARMYS, and Roger Spencers, at 25 meters in Mariette type matches...and at 50 meters in Donald Manson modalities......getting quite atonishing results too.
let me share with you the following articles, written by the WORLD champion Jose Ramon Galans Talens...in several international disciplines involving metallic cartridge historical revolver (pre 1890 designed), cap and ball revolver and pistol, and Black powder rifle:
(I recommend using a translator not to miss the good info contained in)
this one is about the 44/40 and his use in bulls eye matches in 25 meters shooting, modality called PIÑAL here, in honour of a famous gun designer here.
http://www.avancarga.com/8_articulos/cartucheria/44-40_wcf/44-40wcf_6.htmwe are holding nacional championships every year here in my Region, city of OVIEDO, and the most widely use gun is , by the way, the UBERTI CATTLEMAN, in 44/40 or 45 colt, of course, at 25 meters in the international standard pistol target (ISSF)
This one is about cap and ball revolver shooting at 25 meters, for the most serious competitor...Mariette modality according to MLAIC rules...
http://www.avancarga.com/8_articulos/25/1_revolver/temas/3_mariette/3_mariette.htmthis one is about MUZZLELOADING revolver shooting, at 50 meters...DONALD MANSON according to MLAIC
http://avancarga.com/4_interesante/donald_malson/donald_malson.htmI dont think that these guys are stupids......by the way, and you may learn with them, in 1 hour, far more about revovler shooting than reading 10 years Guns of the Old west....
let me add, that accoding to me military trends of the day, the original guns were not designed to be shot at close distances, as at that time the sword and spear were still used, but they were designed to be used at large distances, either to kill the horse or the raider, be it a LANZERO MEXICANO or an INDIAN....that why the longer barrels and normally diminute sights.
the design and configurarion, specially his SA action, of the COLT SAA make it ideal for target shooting, as it has a great combination of balance and short frame size, along with a very comfortable grip, inherited from the COLT NAVY. Just the trigger is too thin, a problem solved in the COLT BISLEY, but they spoiled the gun with another and uncomfortable grip design, probably conceived for shooting with gloves, as it was the trend in the day.
a Colt SAA was probably the most advanceD target shooting pistol of the day because of the reasons explained above, far better than the British double action revolver, Webley typ, bigger, and with less balance. Not in vane the gun defeated this british revolvers several times, in the hands of the greater shooters of the day, both american or british, as the gun sold well in the UK, at that time, the most advanced nation in target shooting, holding legendary competitions in BISLEY.
today, the COLT SAA, and the Remington 1875/90, remain great shooting tools,, but, unfortunately, the italian manufacturers have focused more in dynamic shooting modalities than in bulls eye models.
all the best