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Hi guys

First of all, apologies if this is entirely inappropriate. This isn't an area I have any experience, so I came to what looked like the most active community to get some advice.

My Dad has his 70th birthday coming up in about a month. After much prodding and prying, it turns out he's got a childhood longing for a 'cowboy gun'.

From the research I've done, the 'classic' appears to be the Colt SAA or Peacemaker.

Looking around at pricing, a genuine deactivated antique is out of our price range. Looking at replicas it appears (and I could be woefully mistaken) Uberti seem to make the most solid, lifelike replicas. Cheaper replicas appear to have too much of the toy about them, being made of zinc or whatnot from various references and reviews I've seen.

So I guess I'm asking - Am I on the right track here? Uberti replicas close to the SAA seem to be in the £300 - £600 range which is acceptable if he can childishly handle it like a real gun (I suppose they actually are real seeing as they can fire before deactivation I believe).

If this is the right way to go, can anyone recommend a reputable seller? There are various available through Google, but I'll take a recommendation over a random search result any day.

Any advice, warning, cautions or outright mockery accepted gratefully (well mostly!)

Thanks in advance.

Hi welcome to the forum.

Most of the Italian companies, Uberti Piettea etc. to blank firing replicas which are pretty good copies the only thing is they are chambered for .380 blank cartridges so you couldn't use dummy 45 LC for loading drills.

The Ubertis are usually well made and robust, Henry krank usually has selection in and they have a web site.

De-acts could also be an option but they can be pricey. If going the deact route make sure they have current certificate with them.

Best wishes to your father on his birthday, nothing wrong in fondling firearms.

Nice S/H Uberti for £250.

http://www.mcbri.com/revolvers/uberti_colt_saa.html

What about an NRA open day? He'll get to actually fire one then.............

H/man

Colt Single Action Army/Peacemaker?

I doubt it, section 5.

dromia wrote:Colt Single Action Army/Peacemaker?

I doubt it, section 5.

They do the 18" barrel buntline version on S1...

...and Pietta and Uberti do versions with a muzzle loading cylinder.

Unfortunately, can't do LBRs either - not in the Home Office Approval scheme. Ours are Ruger Old Army MLPs, plus a couple of Remington copies.

Iain

IainWR wrote:Unfortunately, can't do LBRs either - not in the Home Office Approval scheme. Ours are Ruger Old Army MLPs, plus a couple of Remington copies.

Iain

Bugger - I should have realized that - I just posted pretty much the same thing on the thread about S1 shotguns.

Extreme thanks to Dromia and ulaughingatmymule, and the rest for chipping in.

Hauptman, can you give me some more information generally? It might be something we can arrange for him later on. Not the same gun, but if he really is showing an interest it sounds like a great place to start with the 'real thing'.

And I didn't mean to offend Dromia. Absolutely nothing wrong with a little firearm fondling. I didn't mean to come off as snobbish or dismissive just because I personally don't get it.

I'm now going to ask another really stupid question, but hopefully prudent at least I hope. Is there any good reading material on restrictions, safety, cleaning and maintaining even the replicas? I understand the incautious use of blank firers can still be highly dangerous if handled poorly. I suppose its unreasonable to have a blank firer and not expect someone to at least fire it once? I don't want to give the impression of recklessness, but because I'm personally not familiar with the subject matter, I just like to be prepared and research the holes in my knowledge. And I'd always rather go to people than google for a subject I'm unsure about. I just don't have the expertise to judge the quality of information.

There's no safety issues with de-acts, but I have no idea about blank-firers, so can't advise you.

How far does your dad want to take it?...He could, within a year, become a member of a club and fire the 'real thing' if he wants...