How common were 4 and 5 inch Colt SAA .44 or .45s?

[Doug.38PR]

Movies imply over and over, that pretty much everybody in the old west carried a Colt .45 Long Colt Single Action Army in 4 or 5 inch barrel.   A few exceptional people like Matt Dillon, Max Sand, Jack Paladin, Shane etc. along with the Cavalry carried the 7 inch.  Everything else was Colt 4 and 5 inch.   John Wayne, Montgomery Cliff, John Ireland, Clint Eastwood, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Richard Widmark, Robert Taylor, Erroll Flynn, etc. etc. carried Colt 4 or 5 inch Colt SAA. (even in movies and tv that take place prior to 1873.  My favorite is The Comancheros with John Wayne that takes place in 1847, LOL!!!)

Well, obviously this wasn't entirely the case.  A lot of men carried converted 1851s Navys, 1860 Army's, 1858 Remingtons as well as new 1873 Colts, Schofields, 1875 Remingtons, etc in .38 LC, .38 SC, 41 LC, .44-40, .45 LC, .45 Schofield etc. etc. 

I understand a lot  of men, like the Texas Rangers, prefered the Colt 1873 SAA (don't know what barrel) in .44-40 because it matched their Winchester lever actions.

Sooo......were Colt SAAs really that common?

[Shotgun Franklin]

Well the closer it got to 1900 the more short barrels there were. To start with they were all 7 1/2". The 4 3/4" came next and was popular with civilians. The 5 1/2 came later.
BTW, in the early days of the .44-40, the ammo tended to back out of the chamber. Texas Rangers had problems with their revolvers freezing up, the cylinder wouldn't turn. They abandoned the .44-40 in handguns. There after Texans carried .45 Colt revolvers. They did like the '73 in .44-40 so had to carry two types of ammo but it didn't seem to cause'm much trouble.

[Doug.38PR]

How did the ammo back out of the .44-40???  Once the gate is shut there's no where for it to go....except the bullet moving forward into the force cone. 

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[Galloway]

They would lock the headspace and freeze the gun up. The saa was a carry gun and like today shorter barrels meant easier to manage hence more popular, so yeah I can believe they were more common than the 7.5 versions.

[St. George]

There's a vast difference between the 'reel Old West' and the 'real Old West'.

Using the 'John Ford Reference Library' for anything other than entertainment purposes won't give an accurate picture of anything - but libraries will.

Look at the vast number of pictures in reference books, and you'll begin to get an idea of what was actually being carried and used.

Scouts Out!

[Shotgun Franklin]

A whole lot of revolvers weren't carried either. They stayed in a saddlebag or were tucked into the chuck wagon or set in a drawer until maybe they were needed. I'm betting that very many guns were bought because that was what they found at the store, you bought what was in stock. Texans were noted for carrying long barreled Colt's. When Ranger John Armstrong with a 7 1/2" Colt in his hand approached Wes Hardin, Hardin yelled out 'Texas', he knew that gun.
The problem with the .44-40 was with the ammo. The factory just didn't quite get the neck on the case right. They quickly fixed the problem but had soured Texas against the round. Texans stuck to the .45. Even now lots of Texas Peace Officers prefer the .45, including me.

[griswold]

to add to the history, McNellys rangers carried whatever they had for handguns, but their rifles were first converted Sharps then later they received 73 Winchesters in 44-40.

I've been to the Texas Cattlemen Museum in Ft. Worth and they have several displays of the Colts the cattle range detectives carried (range detectives were special Texas Rangers who assisted Regular Rangers when they need lots of guns, but were not paid by the state, their badge was a solid shield with a longhorn on the star, vs the silver open star and circle the regular rangers wore). All I saw were 4 and 5.5 inch barreled guns. Most in 38-40.
The displays said the detectives preferred the 38-40 over the .45 for the reduced recoil and it hit hard!

However, the Rangers were famous for the 7.5 inch .45 as was pointed out in this string........even in Mexico they called the Rangers' guns...Pistole Tejas.

Another note: Bat Masterson ordered and carried two 4 7/8" .45 Colts with Gutta Percha grips. He carried concealed as was the custom.

I found one of those dresser drawer .45 7.5" barreled Colts I am saving my penny's for......1889.

[Doug.38PR]

Texans stuck to the .45. Even now lots of Texas Peace Officers prefer the .45, including me.

You're a Texas peace officer?

Being from Texas, I notice a lot of Houston Police, Harris County Sheriff's Dept and other small town police in East Texas seem to have a high preference (when they are able) for the 1911 .45 automatic.

[Shotgun Franklin]

@ Doug.38PR, I'm retired now. For a lot of my career I carried a 1911. I finished my career in San Antonio and had to carry a Glock.
Now I still have my retirement commission and very often carry a SAA .45 .

[Doug.38PR]

a SAA .45 says you?     In what kind of concealed rig?  (I take it it is concealed since open carry is not allowed in Texas)

[Shotgun Franklin]

For nearly 35 years I just stuck my carry gun on my left side butt forward between my shirt and undershirt. I'm a really big guy. 6'8" and about 320 now. I've never had a hard time carrying any gun. Of course I find that most folks are oblivious to their surroundings which helps a lot. I've started wearing a vest now and just stick my gun between my shirt and vest. Not much difference.

[Tascosa Joe]

Colt shipped 5 1/2 inch barreled Colts to the London Agency fairly early.  I am not home so I cannot get my book.  I think 1876 was the first shipment.  The London Agency wanted 4 3/4 but Colt was reluctant to shorten the barrels and eventually settled on the 5 1/2 for shipment.  You see very few Colts shipped/sold in the US with short barrels prior to 1881.