 There might be no handgun more gorgeous than the Colt 1873 SAA and the quality clones produced over the decades. In that light, Pietta is a leading contender with a range of iterations on the theme and - in my opinion - excelling with the 1873 Gunfighter 357MAG/38SPL pictured above. (It also comes in 45LC for those who prefer that caliber.) Based in Gussago, Italy, Pietta has been a family-owned and operated company for more than 50 years. Italy's interest in firearms of the wild west was spawned by Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood, and the company made replicas for that franchise and the subsequent years of spagetti westerns spawning the genre. They are revered for producing the finest in western replica pistols, shotguns and single-action rifles, a variety of black powder firearms, and now modern-day firearms. With it's 4" barrel, glistening blued finish and black rubber checked grips (better than wood), the Pietta 1873 Gunfighter is one handsome iron. Pietta's rate among the favorites for those in the Cowboy shooting sports because of their proximity to the original yet with the added safety of a transfer bar which allows you to load a full cylinder and prevents fatalities if you drop your revolver. A local man here died a few years back after dropping his Colt SAA clone: the revolver fell on it's hammer and he was shot in the head, killing him instantly. This could not happen with the Pietta clones thanks to that transfer bar safety which is in my opinion the only worthy update of this outstanding design by Sam Colt. If you haven't browsed the Pietta website, or didn't know they had a USA based facility, they are well worth looking at. The MSRP for this pistol is $540 but you can find them on Gunbroker for as low as $465 - that is a fraction of what an original Colt would cost and less than half the cost of Ruger's Vaquero which is not an 1873 clone at all. Drool over the WEBSITE here.
 Ruger Vaqueros are truly beautiful revolvers and this new Talo exclusive is no exception with it's understated color case hardened frame and ivory-esque birdshead grips. But holy smokes what's happened to the MSRP on Vequeros over the past couple of years?! My last purchase of a birdshead model was in the $550 range but they are now almost double them dollars, putting them out of reach for most newbies looking to getting back into the old school irons. It's a shame. These are the types of pistols that won the West and shaped our country but it's now cheaper to buy the polymer and AR platform rifles that are becoming so antisocial. Firearm manufacturers should be encouraging new shooters to learn the ropes on the safer lever action rifles and single action revolvers before picking up firearms that require buckets of scarce ammo, increased practice and earned expertise. (But don't worry, you can still get a new-in-box Pietta Gunfighter for around half the price and they are more or as highly rated as their Ruger counterparts.) Check out this new Ruger here on their WEBSITE.
 For fans of the cowboy shooting arts, Pyramid Air now has a customization tool that allows you to match your Colt SAA (or clone of) with a BB version. At last you can practice in your basement or backyard with a doppelganger of your favorite iron without bothering the neighbors! The customization tool doesn't allow for every color possibility but you get three useful barrel lengths (3.5", 5.5" and 7.5") and two hammer styles for standard-cocking or fanning (pictured above). For those who aren't familiar with these BB revolvers, they utilize a brass cartridge with a pre-loaded BB so the look and feel is very authentic. These Colt-licensed SAA BB revolvers have been highly rated for several years now, and this customization tool really increases their viability as a practice piece by allowing for hours upon hours of hands-on shooting experience for a just couple of pennies a shot if you do the math on a CO2 cartridge - with ammo prices being what they are, we can always use a little financial help in pursuing our beloved shooting sports. Go HERE to build your own.
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the afd blog
Previews and reviews on newly available items are written-up by our team as quickly as we can find them. Please let us know if we've missed something debuting on the market. As a firearm enthusiast or an AFD listed company you are welcome to submit a blog entry about a new product. You may also submit a firearm related commentary, idea or nostalgic musing: we like things celebratory of American ingenuity and manufacturing. All entries are subject to editing and/or fact-checking. Archives
April 2023
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