The other Old West sixguns some were colts, some weren't

Guns Magazine, May, 2008 by Mike "Duke" Venturino

If you gain your historical insight from watching movies and television, you're definitely going to have a skewed idea of what actually happened. And to pick just one factor out of all that to detail, if you got your firearms knowledge of the old West from watching such stuff while growing up, then you're going to think the Colt SAA (aka peacemaker) was the only handgun carried back then.

And if you indeed did grow up thinking that, then you are no different than me. In my youth, I had the mindset of "Colt as King" at least in regards to the American West. And it was (and remains today) a graceful, powerful, accurate, and reliable sixgun. That said, it is just fact the Colt SAA was King SixShooter only in myth, despite the fact it actually was the US Cavalry's official sidearm from 1873 until 1892 and did see use by a considerable number of notable Old West figures on both sides of the law.

But the truth is there were several other brands of revolvers sold in the late 1800s, and they found favor with many thousands of buyers "out West." Not only were all the Peacemaker's competitors other brands, Colt themselves sold other holster revolvers during that time frame.

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The Other Colts

Let's look at those other Colts first. After the Peacemaker next came the Model 1877 DA, more commonly known as either the Lightning, in .38 caliber or the Thunderer in .41 caliber. These little sixguns showed their Colt heritage in that they loaded and unloaded exactly as did the big SAA--through a loading gate on the frame's right side. They also came in two basic versions with and without ejector rod housings. Their cartridges today are known as .38 Long Colt and .41 Long Colt, but the guns themselves were marked sans the word "Long." Their main differences from the SAA is they had a double action trigger mechanism, and were also prone to breakage due to their small parts and were a gunsmith's nightmare to repair.

The SAAs other Colt competitor was the Model 1878 DA, which was the same size as the SAA, even to the point the same barrels could be used in either model and it was chambered for the same array of cartridges as its single action brother. Although also having a double action trigger mechanism, the Model 1878 DA does not have the reputation for being fragile as does the little Model 1877 DA, most likely because it's internal parts are larger, hence stronger.

Gun manufacturers, then as now, don't like to waste parts, and when the production of Colt's cap & ball revolvers ended in the early 1870s, they were left with thousands of such parts. Did they ditch them? No way! They put them together as "conversions" to fire metallic cartridges instead of percussion ignition of loose powder and ball. They made large frame ones based on the Model 1860.44, medium frame ones on Model 1851 and 1861 .36 calibers, and small frame ones based on the Model 1862 5-shot .36s. There were two basic versions of Colt factory conversion: the Richards and Richards/Mason. The differences are too lengthy to go into here, but the main point is these conversions were chambered in .44 Colt caliber for the big frame, and .38 Colt caliber (both rimfire and center-fire versions) for the others. The US Army even bought 1,200 of the .44s for issue to cavalry units throughout the West between 1871 and 1873 and the Navy bought or had Colt convert its 1851 Navy .36.

Rarest of the Peacemaker's competitors is the Merwin & Hulbert six-shooter. It was a fascinating design years in advance of its time and crafted to an exquisite level of quality. Among its advantages were the facts it was also offered in a two-barrel length sets. They could be switched in about 10 seconds. I know that for a tact for I have done it. Secondly in about the same time it could be broken down into three basic parts for cleaning. In the black powder era where cleaning after shooting was a mandatory chore, that was a big bonus.

Merwin & Hulberts came in several versions, all of the same basic design. There was a Frontier model, and a Pocket Army and both double and single action versions and open top and top strap versions. The Frontier model's butt was flat, whereas the Pocket Army's butt came to a point called the "skull crusher." Calibers for all were .44s: .44 WCF/.44-40, .44 S&W Russian and, rarest of all, a .44 Merwin & Hulbert.

Remington

A step up in popularity was the Remington Model 1875. In fact, I consider it one of the most distinctive appearing revolvers ever made, what with that huge web extending from the frame to near the muzzle. Many have asked its purpose, and other than as a sort of trademark my only guess is that it made the handgun a better club.

In many ways Remington's big single action is a definite knock-off of the Colt SAA. It likewise was offered to the US Army with a 7-1/2" barrel, and its mode of operation, loading, and unloading was exactly the same as the Colt. Where it differed fl'om the Colt was in that its ejector rod was exposed to the elements. That was a detriment. Also its cylinder's base pin was long and thin extending all the way to the end of the web. Hence it was a bit delicate. That was another detriment.