Rodeo ? and barrel a couple questions.

[Marshal Deadwood]

The Rodeo I like...prob a great buy for the money. Two questions...or rather an observation and a question. I wonder why USFA does not make the Rodeo in the 7 1/2 barrel,,that is the fav of LOTS of CAS shooters.

Question..WHY does USFA charge more for the blackpowder frame ? Cimarron and Taylors do not on their model P's and Cattlemen,,and I one of them,,,I 'think' Cimarron,,even charges less for the old style frame. This puzzles me.

From a historic slant, the pb frame looks,,well,,moreh historic,,,so let me ask this,,would a bullseye ejector tab look totally 'freaked' on a non-bp frame ? The cross pin really don't bother me one way or the other, but I do like the bullseye ejector tab better.

Hope this isnt an imposition and I hope it is not taken as being negetive. I really would like a USFA SAA at some point. The 'Singleaction' in old model frame I think would be the one I'd perfer,,,but maybe a Rodeo 'shortie' is waiting for me.

MD

add on:

Checked to vertify,,and yes,,Cimarron's model P's are cheaper WITH the blackpowder frame. Go figure.

[Doc Sunrise]

I believe since the majority of Rodeos demanded were ones with the shorter barrel versions, and limiting different versions with lower demand helps to create a lower standard price.  You can order a 7 1/2" for the Rodeo, but at an additional cost.  As far as the Blackpowder frame, on the Rodeo I am not sure what the additional cost may be, but on the Premium model my understanding is that when frames are sent for Case Hardening, they are sent in batches.  When a BP frame is requested, it is sent as a non-batch item for case hardening and incurrs a higher cost.  Ultimately, calling Gary Granger is the only way to find out what kind of sixgun is available to you and the total cost.  If it really doesn't matter, just see if you can get a hold of a bulls-eye ejector head. 

[Pettifogger]

Unfortunately, not that many people like 7 1/2" barrels.  Sure, there's some die hard cowboy shooters (I have several), but the actual number of 7 1/2" barreled guns even at cowboy matches is small.  Ruger doesn't offer one on the .357 New Vaquero and I can tell you from experience that the 7 1/2" .45s are slow movers.

[Marshal Deadwood]

Doc,,thanks for the info sir.
Pettifogger,,,I shoot a 4 3/4 and a cross draw 7 1/2. I just can not for the life of me give up my 7 1/2 saa at matches...I've TRIED ! I'm not gonna win the blue ribbon anways,,,all a days fun for me..so it's kinda moot point personally. Who knows, I might go with a top shelf 4 3/4 one day instead of the 7 1/2.

In any event,thanks guys.

MD

[August]

I think the whole point of the Rodeo is to get a low cost, high quality gun in the hands of people who want to shoot cowboy action.  To do that requires economy of scale -- i.e. sell a bunch and pass fixed costs onto bigger customer base.  To do that, USFA has limited the number of variations and calibers to the most popular.  If you start to change anything on the Rodeo (which USFA will do), then you are demanding a custom gun.  Any change quickly gets the gun up into the price range of an SA.  So, if you want 7 1/2 inch barrels or a black powder frame or a 44 W.C.F. you're better off getting an SA to begin with.

BP frames look cool until you loose the base pin screw at the unloading table or ding up the base pin from over-tightening the screw.  Not much demand for this extra care and potential hassle among shooters who want to focus on their game.

But, if you want a gun a certain way, USFA is obliging.