Original Great Western Revolver Issues

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Anyone out there also own an original Great Western SAA clone in .44 Magnum?   They are really nice guns, and I got one in 2020 for a few hundred bucks.  If I remember correctly these are the original clone of the SAA to hit the US market back in the mid 50's, the first commercial gun chambered for .44 Magnum, and John Wayne even used one in, I think, The Shootist.

Anyway, all of that made me feel that owning one in my collection was worth the effort.

Now, if you have one of these things, you know that a lot of the internal parts are made of copper, not steel.  My own revolver was a bit out of time, and I took it to my local gunsmith.  Well, it seems that most if the copper parts were so worn out that this was why the pistol's timing so poor.   He wound up recreating all of the internals with steel and it is now quite properly timed.    I don't know how "collectable" these guns are.  Mine's in pretty good shape, but I am more concerned about it being a proper shooter than anything else.

If you have one of these guns, have you experienced similar problems with the copper internals wearing out?

 

[DukeSoprano]

There is a current gun magazine out with 2 of them on the cover

https://fmgpubs.com/product/guns-magazine-january-2025-pdf/

Edited December 27, 2024 by DukeSoprano

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Yep, those look exactly like mine.    I may have to pick up a copy of that issue. 

[Cholla]

You may want to reach out to Sack Peterson with your questions. Copper is quite soft, so I can't imagine it being original to the revolver.

https://greatwesternarmsco.com/

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

If the internal Lock Works of your gun were "Copper," those parts were NOT original to the gun.  Regardless of price, you were "Flim Flam'd"

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Well, the copper trigger and hand were replaced with steel ones that my gunsmith made himself.   The gun is now perfectly timed, and the "clicks" are much more crisp sounding than they were.

Yeah, it was an expensive "repair" but I feel it was worth it.  It's nice having one of these in my collection.   The 'smith did recommend using lighter loads, but I do that anyway.   Heck, I have never ever run "full power factory" .44 Magnum in my SW 629....

In any event, I long ago came to the conclusion that one of the "issues" that comes with collecting and shooting older guns, legal antiques, Cowboy guns, Milsurp, or just things that are old enough to be C&R in general, is that from time to time they are gonna need to be worked on, and no matter how careful you are, you are gonna occasionally obtain something that needs to go to the gunsmith the make it usable.   You try to avoid that, but sometimes, it happens.   The "best" way for it to happen is when you initially got the gun for a really good bargain price, and the repair work just jacks the cost back up to about what you usually see these guns going for.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

On 12/27/2024 at 11:49 AM, Cholla said:

You may want to reach out to Sack Peterson with your questions. Copper is quite soft, so I can't imagine it being original to the revolver.

https://greatwesternarmsco.com/

Great website!   I cam across it a while ago when I was researching and documenting my entire collection as much as I could.   Among other things, this site was able to help me narrow down when my pistol was made.

[Irish Pat]

I have an old Great Western.22 looks just like full size Colts and shoots great. a little heavy

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

31 minutes ago, Irish Pat said:

I have an old Great Western.22 looks just like full size Colts and shoots great. a little heavy

There's a LGS near me that has one of the .22's .   I keep pondering if I should buy it. 

But, I have 2 Colts, so I don't really need another .22.   (Not that this has ever stopped me before.)

[Irish Pat]

I have had frontier scouts and 22 peacemakers but the Great western.22 feels more like a Colt SAA. Everyone needs just one more!! 

[Cholla]

You may want to save your pennies for the new Pietta Premier. It is supposed to be made in the USA with genuine color case hardening. The rep keeps telling me they are supposed to be out by the Shot Show, but that is only four weeks away.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

4 hours ago, Cholla said:

You may want to save your pennies for the new Pietta Premier. It is supposed to be made in the USA with genuine color case hardening. The rep keeps telling me they are supposed to be out by the Shot Show, but that is only four weeks away.

Not Mass Compliant...

[watab kid]

ill ask my friends at SHOT to tell me what they think , ive got a lot of them at this point ill see if i feel the need for one ,more 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Copper?? 

 

Never heard of that before.

 

I picked up a GWA .357 Atomic very reasonably about four years ago. It was missing the firing pin bushing, nut, firing pin, and spring, and the trigger/bolt spring was broken, but there wasn't anything in there resembling copper.