Repro Double Action Revolvers?

[Icebox Bob]

Are there any modern reproductions of 19th century double-action revolvers?

Curious
Icebox Bob

[River City John]

The Starr is one that comes to mind.

[Forty Rod]

The Starr Army is the only one I can think of.  Used to be a Starr Navy, as well, but I haven't seen any recently.

I can't imagine there being a lot of call for them.

[Advertising]

[Four-Eyed Buck]

I think that about covers it. A repro of the 1877 Colt DA would be difficult, they were hard to keep going new.....................Buck

[Tommy tornado]

How about its big brother the 1878?  Is the internals as fragile as the lighting?

[Marshal Will Wingam]

If anyone made a rep of an 1878 DA, I'd get one. I had a real 1877 DA and you could almost feel the internals flexing when you pulled the trigger. It would take some mighty strong steel to overcome that issue.

[Deadeye Don]

Count me in for a colt DA made in modern steel,  perhaps by USFA??   I know,  I am dreaming.

[Major 2]

Count me in for a colt DA made in modern steel,  perhaps by USFA??   I know,  I am dreaming.

I seem to recall USFA considered the concept, but shelved the idea....

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings, All!

   Repro Colt 1878's? Hell, I LOVE my 1902 Alaskan! As soon as I wear off some of the $10 Buffing-Wheel Re-Blue, I'll be retiring it.
   I can't understand the bias against those beautiful 1878 Colts! They're No Where Near as fragile as an 1877; I've got a fairly nice one in .41, but I can't bring myself to even cycle it!
   The 1902 has happily gobbled up about 100 rds of BP .45C, and did so accurately in single action.
   If some manufactory has the brassos to bring out a fairly priced 1878, I'd buy two! Gents, the feel, balance, and performance is there!

   Who Will Step Up to the Plate?

   Be Well!

             M.T.Marfield:.
                7-24-07

[Deadeye Don]

I think the only current company that could pull it off would be USFA, but they have their hands full bringing the Remingtons to production at this point.  Safe shooting. Deadeye.

[St. George]

Besides a C&WAS shooter - and an NCOWS member, since they allow double actions at their shoots - who else would buy one?

That's the quandary a manufacturer finds himself in when considering a product line.

C&WAS represents a very, very small percentage of the gun-buying public - and they're notoriously cheap - wanting everything and willing to pay nothing.

In order for a manufacturer to bring out something - he has to know that it'll sell - and at a reasonable profit.

In order for that to happen - quality has got to be high, and there has to be secondary and even tertiary markets in order for the manufacturer to recoup R&D, tooling and marketing costs.

This results in a high-dollar firearm - moreso if American-made.

The Colt Model 1878 (and the Merwin, Hulbert, and others) doesn't exactly lend itself to sparking a lot of 'non-C&WAS' interest...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   I have no numbers to post, but I'd be really suprised if there were
no Colt Collectors out there that wouldn't be delighted to have a
quality repro in their lineup, until a real Colt surfaced. That's a fairly
common practice.
   Personally, I'd love to have one to shoot & pack, let alone a revolver
for that CAS group that I have yet to join... In modern steels, it would
be a wonderful revolver; and as I've posted before, my "non-collector"
Colt 1902 balances well, and is as accurate as my other .45C's in SA.
   Maybe I'm nuts{?}, but I don't see this as a "hard sell": just TELL the
Shooting Societies that THEY WILL o.k. the Frontier Era Colt, S&W, Remington,
{and whoever else} DA revolvers to placate those concerned shooters.
If you want one, BUY ONE! DAMMIT folks... They're making SPENCERS!!!
The 1878 was new technology, and probably didn't benefit from the poor
reputation of the little 1877. They WERE packed back then, and can be now.
But that's up to US.

   BE Well!

               M.T.Marfield:.
                   7-26-07

[Deadeye Don]

We could run a poll here, but as with other polls on this site there simply arent enough numbers to get an accurate idea of interest among the CAS people including SASS members.   It is too bad they dont have polls on the SASS Wire as that would be a better place to do it.  I for one would buy a well made colt double action.  Safe  shooting.  Deadeye.

[Forty Rod]

And I, for one, wouldn't.  I have no interest in them.

If you really want one you need to find out if you have a base that will buy them that is big enough for a manufacturer to put them out.  Then you need to find out if that base will pay enough at the price the maker will need to justify them being made

[Grapeshot]

I owned an original 1878 for a few months.  It was a mechanicaly sound piece, functioned well and locked up bank vault tight.  It din't shoot very well though.  It shot 18 inches high and 2 feet to the left at 35 feet.  Whatever was wrong with it I couldn't fathom and sold it to a Colt collector at the Antique Arms Dealers show in Towson. MD.  Got back what I'd put into it so I wasn't out any, but I'd get a reproduction of one if they were ever offered.

[Dr. Bob]

It would seem that a double action repro would not have much of a market.  The BIG CAS group is SASS, which is SINGLE ACTION Shooter Society and they don't allow any DA revolvers.  DA revolvers are allowed in NCOWS but not many shoot them.  I don't know about W3G or CSMA rules.  Without SASS, the potential buying public would seem pretty small.

[Tubac]

I'll side with Forty rod. I wouldn't buy one.

Tubac

[Abilene]

A few years ago Mike Harvey mentioned an interest in having Uberti build a small double action (a copy of exactly what model, I'm not sure) for SASS pocket-pistol sidematches.  Pretty much the only guns available for those sidematches, with the exception of some of the small percussion guns, are antiques.

However, there are currently no plans in progress for this.  Put it into the "someday" bag, along with the Thuer, Merwin-Hulbert, etc.)

[Icebox Bob]

This is why I am asking and if I could afford an original, I would get one:

"Colt Model 1878 Revolver
This was Canada's official military-issue handgun at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. A rather curious quantity of 1001 of these pistols had been hastily purchased in early 1885 to arm the military forces mobilized to deal with the North West Rebellion. No other pistol having been acquired by the Department of Militia and Defence since that date, this model was also the first handgun to go to war with Canadian Troops in the new century. It was issued to appropriate members of the First Contingent of the Canadian Special Service Force dispatched to South Africa in late 1899 for service during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).

Configuration of Canadian-issue arms: Double-action revolver; nickel-plated finish; cast black grips; 7.5" barrel; chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge; 6 round capacity; fixed cylinder, with loading and extraction through a "gate" in the recoil shield on right side. In service 1885-1902. "  Quote from http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/weapons/pistols.htm

Regards
Icebox Bob

[Forty Rod]

I'm not putting down anyone who wants one...I wouldn't buy one of those transition Henrys or a LeMat, either...but you may end up spending less for a nice original than you would for a repro.

Good luck and keep us posted.