These guns truly are the sorts of thing that you either buy, or have done personally, to pass on for generations. This all really comes down to personal taste, and here is where I have to say, that as a guy that usually doesn’t get excited about embellishments of any kind, some of these works of art were hard to ignore. Obviously, there are almost endless levels of embellishment that can be done to these revolvers, whether it’s just a set of nice hardwood grips all the way up to 100% coverage master engraving and a set of mammoth ivory grips. But I am here to tell you that I have held some truly amazing pieces of art in my hands over the past few weeks, and not all of them were created at the Colt factory. And yes, of course I understand that Helfricht is one of Colt’s legendary engravers, often in consideration right up there with Nimschke whose style became that of the American West, but what would you say if I told you, that I have had second and third generation Colt Single Action Army’s in my hands over the past couple of weeks by contemporary engravers, or even unsigned, that are just as beautiful or even more so than a Helfricht? Yes, there will always be those collectors that are only interested in engraving if it was done at the factory. This gap in market value between the generations grows even wider when we start looking at embellished revolvers, say a Cuno Helfricht engraved first generation versus a third generation with class “D” engraving. However, if that is the only reason, then why are the prices of even non-antique first generations on the rise? Could it be that the quality of the first generation is just better than their younger counterparts? There are certainly rumors along these lines, but as far as fit and finish go, after having hundreds of SAA’s in my hands, I can’t say that I notice much of a difference, if any. Why is this? Some might say it is more an interest in collecting antique firearms which would certainly include part of the first generation. They weren’t the first generation classics.įor most “serious” collectors of Colt Single Action Army Revolvers, their interest stops in 1941 with the end of the first generation.

Even though I myself am not a serious collector of SAA’s, my position at RIAC gives me excellent access to all three generations of these classic revolvers, and recently I’ve experienced some beauties in preparing for our December Premiere Auction. Before I lose too many of you by not even mentioning the ever-desirable first generation, hear me out. See what I did there? That’s right, we’re going to be talking about Second and Third Generation Colt Single Action Army Revolvers. Colt Single Action Army Revolvers You Should Give a Second… or Maybe Third Look

Colt saa grips 3rd generation