The Colt Single Action Army is a traditional single-action .45 Colt built for cowboy action competition and collecting. Colt still lists it, at an MSRP of $2,299, and this is the factory gun that the Italian copies and Ruger's single actions were drawn from. The frame is color case hardened, the barrel and cylinder are blued, and the cylinder holds 6 rounds.

The hammer's half-cock notch is the whole safety arrangement. There is no transfer bar, so with the hammer down the firing pin sits against the primer of a loaded chamber, and the revolver is loaded with five and the hammer dropped on the empty one. The top strap has no optic provision. The grips are black composite with the Colt eagle, so walnut or imitation ivory panels are a separate purchase.

If you're cross-shopping, the Uberti 1873 Cattleman El Patron copies the same pattern in Italy at an MSRP of $679, weighs 36.8 oz on a 4.75-inch barrel, and arrives hand-tuned with larger sights. The Ruger New Vaquero has an MSRP of $1,099, weighs 40 oz, and its transfer bar lets all six chambers be loaded. Neither one carries Colt's rollmark, and the secondhand market prices that difference.