Pietta Dark Canyon SAA

[Cheyenne Logan]

Been a while since I posted anything, but thought this might be interesting to some.........

Yesterday I picked up a new Pietta SAA, the "Dark Canyon" PSA 5421, it's a Davidson's exclusive and you can find them online at very attractive prices.....I paid 397.00 + tax with free shipping from Tombstone Tactical.....today I noticed they were priced at 507.00, but GrabAGun has them for around 450.00.....At sub 500.00, I figured I'd give one a try. I am a Total Uberti fan boy, but have an early 2000's GWII that I'd put up against any out there, it's that nice.

So, let's look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of this shooter......granted, some of these overlap......being bad and ugly!

The Good.....

Price, hard to beat the price you can find on this particular model.......Hammer treatment/knurling-I was pleasently surprized that the hammer had attractive, authentic type hammer knurling....Pietta has used hammers with simple horizontal lines on the hammer spur, which are, to me, unattractive and not right....I've seen this type hammer in "Engraved" models from both Cimarron and Taylor's, and for the price premium, you'd think they'd have the nicely knurled hammers....so, the hammer knurling was a pleasant surprise, even through, for the price, I would have been OK with the other.

The timing is great and lock up is as tight as I've seen on any SAA. Fit/finish is good. The walnut-ish grips are attractive and two piece, which you'd think was a cost cutting measure from one piece grips, but it appears they were one piece grips, then split and the grip screw and escuticions added.....not sure where they saved cost, but it is nice not to have to dismount the backstrap completely to remove the grips.....I say that because you have to loosen up the screws to be able to get the grip panels off.....

The frame has a firing pin bushing, which is good!

The Bad-The cylinder bushing doesn't appear to be removeable, if it is, it's swaged in there tight!  The color case looks, to my eye, rather bad....too dark.....not a real problem as I don't see it staying on very long!

The Bad/Ugly-The ejector rod housing. It is not a housing, but a hollow tube screwed to the side of the barrel. This is the only thing that really screams cheap on this shooter.  The transfer shop  had a Pietta, brass grip frame, plastic grip, unfluted cylinder, and it also had the ejector tube....so maybe that's what Pietta is using on these "low cost" alternatives...   It really screws up the looks of the shooter.....but it a cosmetic flaw, not a functional one.

I haven't shot it yet, but see nothing to make me believe it won't keep up with my other shooters!

Except for the Ejector housing, this seems to be on par with models costing much more, sometime twice as much! I haven't seen it in any caliber other than 45 Colt, but that's my preferred chambering anyway.

[Cheyenne Logan]

 

[Galloway]

Looks good to me have you tried another ejector housing or is the frame different too? Is it still a 4 click?

[Black_Talon]

Is it still a 4 click?

Pietta's web page states that it's a "four-position hammer" in 2 separate spots.

https://piettafirearms.com/Dark-Canyon/

[DeaconKC]

As you said, for the price it's really good. I like the hammer a lot, thanks for the excellent pics of that. Sad about the ejector tube, that degrades the aesthetics of an otherwise handsome gun. Overall, I like it, thanks for the post.

[Cheyenne Logan]

Looks good to me have you tried another ejector housing or is the frame different too? Is it still a 4 click?

Yes, it is a four club ck, traditional action...... I'm going to try another ejector housing.... that's the only beef I really have with this piece

[Coffinmaker]

   Cheyenne

First up, it appears to be the usual Pietta "two position" cylinder base pin.  You will want to either 3/32 off the frame end and dress it, or simply replace the whole thing with a Uberti "Non Safety Single Groove" base pin.  The Pietta base pin with those silly little notches is abysmal.

Next:  Look closely at the Cylinder and Base Pin Bushing.  At the back of the cylinder in the star, if you see an "insert" it is suppose to be a removable bushing, the other tell-tale is if the bushing at the from of the cylinder is solid without a Colt style groove.  If you see the insert and the groove, the bushing should be driven out from the rear and the "tight spot" dressed with a file and polished so it turns freely (It is suppose to turn freely).

I personally don't find the Ejector Housing to be objectionable (Personal Opine).  I have long felt the Pietta GW II based SAs to be the best value for dollar out there, bar none.  Burma Shave

[Cheyenne Logan]

Yup, already replaced the base pin with a Uberti one.....yeah it appears that the base pin is "removable", but it is in TIGHT! Uberti used to do this also, and somewhere, I have a tool designed to drive it out, now to find it.

[Cheyenne Logan]

  That's Better!

[Abilene]

For sure!

[Galloway]

Shame on you for rolling the dice like that lol       

[Cheyenne Logan]

  Refinish grips, a little metal work, and toned down the "color case"......Grips were nice walnut covered by a reddish goo.....stripped easy though.

[Black_Talon]

toned down the "color case"

How did you tone it down?

[Cheyenne Logan]

  grey scotch bright pad and a little elbow grease..... actually it almost rubbed right off.

[Black_Talon]

grey scotch bright pad

This?

https://toolstoday.com/3m-7448-ultra-fine-hand-pads-pack-of-2.html?glCountry=US&glCurrency=USD

[Cheyenne Logan]

Yes

[Coffinmaker]

   Well 

Were it I, I'd been want to strip it back to bare and rubbed in a generous application of Mat Clear Spar Varnish.  I like the warm tones varnish gives to bare wood.

[Cheyenne Logan]

   When you get them cheap, you don't mind tinkering on them!