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New Single Action


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The other thread got closed but here is a video showing the new Standard SAA. The part about the single action starts at about the 45 second mark. Very nice looking gun but it's target price is the same as a new Colt. Hope it succeeds but at that price point it is apt to go down the same path as the STI attempt to make single actions a couple of years ago.

 

P.S. The firing pin looks odd because the tip has been cut off. Guns shown at the Shot Show have to have their firing pins removed.

 

Edited by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933
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...

 

Thanks for posting that, Larsen, and for explaining the firing pin. I was wondering what was going on there. Is it just me, or does the hammer appear to be wider than a colt? It could just be the angle. And yeah I seriously have a problem paying colt prices for a clone. Even if it's a really great clone. I still do not have any USFA's either.

Edited by Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217
Deleted quoted, hidden snarky post.
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Well Larsen, they may have some success as it is nearly impossible to get new SAAs out of Colts. They indicated they are affiliated with CT Shotgun, very high quality shotguns made in CT.

 

I wish them success, the pricing is right in line with the MSRP from Colt on there SAA's if you could find one to buy! :blink:

 

TB

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Nice looking gun for sure, but I have to agree with Redwood Kid on this one, I can't see myself paying that price for a clone. I know Colt's are tough to come by, but you could probably come by a Colt for the same price, at that point it comes down to brand preference, and I would imagine that if you have a Colt available (however it is available to you) and that, most folks in this game would take the Colt. I'm intrigued to see what happens though.

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Thanks for posting that Larsen, interesting gun! Love to see one and fondle it, hope it comes in .44-40 but that may be asking way too much! :lol:

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Howdy

 

I had to listen to the video a bunch of times to hear where he said they were located. Finally I got it, New Britain, which isn't far from Hartford where the Colt factory is.

 

A couple of things. He keeps repeating it is a Single Action Army. If he insists on calling it that, Colt will sue him because that is a registered trademark of the Colt company. He said the gun he was holding had a 4 3/4" barrel, but it sure looked like a 5 1/2" barrel to me. Making the gun in the USA I'm not surprised at the price, you can't build something of equal quality in the USA with Italian labor rates.

 

And yes Chuck, I doubt it will be available here in MASS. You and me will have to keep haunting the back alleys for Colts.

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Howdy

 

I had to listen to the video a bunch of times to hear where he said they were located. Finally I got it, New Britain, which isn't far from Hartford where the Colt factory is.

 

A couple of things. He keeps repeating it is a Single Action Army. If he insists on calling it that, Colt will sue him because that is a registered trademark of the Colt company. He said the gun he was holding had a 4 3/4" barrel, but it sure looked like a 5 1/2" barrel to me. Making the gun in the USA I'm not surprised at the price, you can't build something of equal quality in the USA with Italian labor rates.

 

And yes Chuck, I doubt it will be available here in MASS. You and me will have to keep haunting the back alleys for Colts.

Thanks for the post. I couldn't catch where they were located either. And yeah he did call it a 4 3/4 when it was obviously a 5.5". I did have a question about the SAA trademark. Maybe one of the lawyer types will be able to answer, but how is it every gun company in the world can use 1911, but single action army is protected? Is it a case of numbers versus letter? I know absolutely nothing about trademark law.

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Howdy

 

I had to listen to the video a bunch of times to hear where he said they were located. Finally I got it, New Britain, which isn't far from Hartford where the Colt factory is.

 

A couple of things. He keeps repeating it is a Single Action Army. If he insists on calling it that, Colt will sue him because that is a registered trademark of the Colt company. He said the gun he was holding had a 4 3/4" barrel, but it sure looked like a 5 1/2" barrel to me. Making the gun in the USA I'm not surprised at the price, you can't build something of equal quality in the USA with Italian labor rates.

 

And yes Chuck, I doubt it will be available here in MASS. You and me will have to keep haunting the back alleys for Colts.

Driftwood, good observation I guess I wasn't listening very carefully but you're right that is a 5 1/2" and he DID say 4 3/4"!! :lol:

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It is the very definition of optimism to manufacture a copy of an original and offer it at a price similar to the original when the original is still available and the manufacturer of the original can barely sell enough of them.

 

I support the effort in spirit but I don't know if there's a compelling reason to buy a pair, just because they're new.

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New Britain is the home of Connecticut Shotgun, Stag Arms, and World headquarters for Stanley Tools, owners of Dewalt, Back & Decker & recent acquisition Craftsman.

TB

Edited by Turquoise Bill, SASS #39118
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I did have a question about the SAA trademark. Maybe one of the lawyer types will be able to answer, but how is it every gun company in the world can use 1911, but single action army is protected? Is it a case of numbers versus letter? I know absolutely nothing about trademark law.

Howdy

 

The name '1911' is just a model designation given to a particular firearm by the US Army. Other than that it means nothing. The name '1911' is not trademarked. The patents for the 1911 expired long ago, so anybody can make one without infringing on anybody's intellectual property.

 

Trademarks are different.

 

The letter R inside a circle is the symbol for a registered trademark. A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Many things can be trademarked. Symbols or names associated with a particular brand can be trademarked. Trademarks can be renewed indefinitely, so practically speaking they can last forever as long as the company that owns them holds up its end of the bargain. Probably the most recognizable trademark in the world is the flowing Coca Cola script that is written on every bottle and can of Coca Cola. The Coca Cola company is well known as being vigilant about protecting its trademarks. That is because if a company does not actively defend its trademark, the trademark can be rescinded. If a trademark starts out as the intellectual property of a company, but lapses into common usage, the trademark can lapse and the company can loose its ownership of the trademark. Which translates into loosing money. The name Kleenex is a registered trademark of the Kimberley-Clark company. When is the last time you asked for a Kleenex instead of a tissue? That is the sort of thing that drives companies mad, the public generalizing a trademarked name so it eventually looses its status as a trademark.

 

If you go to the Colt web page you will see the Registered Trademark symbol next to the stylized script of the Colt name. If you go to Single Action Army page, you will see the registered trademark symbol next to the names Single Action Army as well as Peacemaker. That means that those names are registered trademarks of the Colt company, and Colt will sue the pants off of anybody who has the gall to stamp the name Single Action Army on their products. They are protecting their trademarks from becoming generalized. American Western Arms made the mistake of stamping Single Action Army on some or their revolvers and Colt took them to the cleaners.

 

If Standard Manufacturing stamps the name Single Action Army on their revolvers, or prints it in any of their literature, Colt will jump on them like a ton of bricks.

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Driftwood, way up the thread I said Colt would hit them with a cease and desist order if they continued to use SAA just as Colt did with AWA.

 

This is the same company that makes those high dollar copies of the best ever US shotguns including the Winchester 21 and Parkers and others I do believe...

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Somehow Magnum Research can make a pretty decent quality, low volume revolver, the BFR, that comes in major rifle chamberings (.30-30, .444 Marlin and .45-70) and stays in business by selling for a much lower price point. I see these revolvers NIB at shops for $875 all of the time. They are all stainless steel which requires slower runtimes on machines. The machining is very clean, with few mill marks, and great fit up to mating parts. These pistols come with adjustable sights. The only cost compromise that I see is the neoprene grips, though they are likely appreciated when shooting these monsters.

 

First rule of starting a new product: know your market. I wish Standard good fortune.

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Thanks Driftwood. That explains a lot. It also explains why uberti, cimarron and Taylor's, all have various names like cattleman, model p, etc instead of single action army or peacemaker.

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Howdy Again

 

While I'm still on the subject, if I recall the dates correctly, back in the 1920s and 1930s Smith and Wesson obtained a trademark for the way they color case hardened the hammers and triggers on their revolvers. This was an attempt to keep cheap imitations from being imported from Europe. They stamped REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. on the hammers and backsides of the triggers. This was a trademark, not a patent. Eventually the courts ruled against them and they stopped marking their hammers and triggers that way.

 

 

 

MPRoundButtHammer-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Back on Topic

 

If they play their cards right, I suspect Standard Manufacturing will be able to sell all the single action revolvers they can make at that price. Colt has a very limited capacity to make the SAA, there are only a couple of employees assembling them, yet they sell every one that they make. I'll bet the owner of Standard Manufacturing did a good job studying the market before he decided to make these revolvers, and if the quality is there I suspect he will sell all he can make.

Edited by Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283
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I handled the prototype revolvers at the SHOT show last week. They were VERY pretty but were NOT smooth to cock. trigger pull was very nice but tough to cock. Maybe they were just over-sprung. The Owner used to work for Colt so I am sure he knows about their trademarks. He said at the show that they would be available by late Summer. Will have to wait and see. (incidentally the company has done the CCH work for Colt for many years so they are certainly legitimate)

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WHOA! Did I see where Sears sold the "Craftsman" name to Stanley? That has to be one of three nails in their coffin! The other two being DieHard and Kenmore. I always thought iot was stupid of Sears to put their tools in Kmart and Ace, losing traffic into their stores just for the tools. Wow.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I saw them at SHOT as well. Nice looking gun. Didn't get a lot of info, but the guy I talked with said they were made out of bar stock, so no cast frame. He also indicated a lower price than Colt but he may not have know for sure.

I hope they can produce a good product at a decent price. Always looking for an excuse to buy more guns. I would like to see Capt Baylor do a review of this and the rolling block that Tippman has out.

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WHOA! Did I see where Sears sold the "Craftsman" name to Stanley? That has to be one of three nails in their coffin! The other two being DieHard and Kenmore. I always thought iot was stupid of Sears to put their tools in Kmart and Ace, losing traffic into their stores just for the tools. Wow.

Stanley owns Black & Decker too!

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Stanley owns Black & Decker too!

 

Welcome to the musical chairs version of American Manufacturing.

 

Sears is almost an empty shell, but it has been for years. Sears Craftsman's large power tools used to be made (and made well) primarily by Emerson Electric; Emerson dropped them years ago in a disagreement over pricing, and Sears distributed the production among several offshore manufacturers; you may have noticed the "value engineering" that appeared in these products, such as stamped steel tables replacing castings, chintzy hardware items, etc. (I still have my father's power woodworking tools, circa 1950 - lathe, band saw, table saw and drill press. They were all made by industrial tool manufacturers under the Craftsman name. Solid as rocks. Repairable. Many parts still available. And actively pursued by serious woodworkers.)

 

Black & Decker was one of the grand daddies of American manufacturing. Their reputation for solid products went back to 1910. Unfortunately, they too went the route of looking for cheaper ways to produce products, and by the 1990s, most of their household products and many of their tools were being made offshore. Quality suffered. Only thing that mattered to the folks in charge was the balance sheet and their bonuses.

 

When they were acquired by Stanley in 2010, my hopes for American tool manufacturing were revived. The jury is still out.

 

I don't mind the Craftsman tool distribution deal with Ace; Sears stores are dying like flies, so it makes sense to license the brand to a living distribution chain. My only concern is when I see some 2nd rate junk mixed in with quality hand tools. I will not buy Chinese tools; not a nationalistic prejudice - just a preference for quality over repeatedly confirmed crap.

 

LL

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