My old 44

[GOPHER SLAYER]

The holster was made in South Africa and looks like it could last for ever. I converted the Colt SA from 32-20 to 44 SPL many years ago, a decision I deeply regret. The ivory grips were made for me by a fellow club member around 1968.

[c1skout]

Nice, why the regret?

[Hickok]

Nice. The .44 Special was a good choice, just my opinion.

[Char-Gar]

In 1968 Skeeter was writing about the virtue of converting Colt SA to 44 and Elmer was pounding out his stuff as well. Colts were not cheap, but had value, even in 1968 dollars, nowhere like they do now. The birth of Cowboy Action shooting and the flood of Italian clones was still a generation away. 44 SAs were unavailable and if you wanted one, well you did what you had to do.

It is only in hindsight that we regret what we did to some fine firearms back in the day.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

CHAR-GAR, you nailed it. That is exactly what happened. After all I only paid 90 bucks for the 32-20 and I couldn't find a 44spl for love nor money. What the public wanted at that time was a Colt SA with a 4-5/8 inch barrel in 44spl or 45 Colt. What you saw in the gun shops were 7-i/2 inch .357s. I paid 19 dollars for the 44 barrel and 25 dollars for the cylinder. The barrel was 7-1/2 inch when I got it so I had the gunsmith cut it to what you see now. I don't recall what the labor costs were but they weren't much. I have thought of sending it to Turnbull for a restoration job but then I think about the cost and decide it isn't worth it.

[bouncer50]

Back in the 1950s guy were going to Mexico and buying old Colt single action to rebuild. Most common was the 45 LC to rebuild new barrels cylinders. One reason because of cowboy movies. Their was a profit to be made. I thing a company called King was making replacement parts for Colts. The old Colt you have might not be it same caliber you think it was. A letter from Colt will tell you the finish and caliber in was made in and went it was made and shipped to.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

The Colt I have was a 32-20 made in the early 1930s. The 44 barrel and cylinder I bought to convert the pistol were also made by Colt and are so marked.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I have converted 2 Colt's and don't regret either decision. First one was back in the early '80's and got a .44 Special the only way you could get a .44 Special, by converting it. Bought the Colt .44 Special barrel and cylinder new. The guys at work cajoled me for spending the outlandish price $575.00 for a pistol but I was single with no kids and didn't mind eating beans out of cans for a month to buy it.

The next conversion was a .357 I bought at a gunshow because the seller desperately needed cash. I had the hammer color case hardened which ruined the firing pin rivet. After getting clicks instead of bangs a couple of times I had to send the gun into Colt for a new hammer. While there they re calibrated it for me.

All my guns are 3rd Generations so I'm not ruining history or any collector's value on anything.

If I had a .32-20 I'd probably end up re calibrating it too after a while.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

This Colt SA is the second one I have owned in 32-20. The other one was in excellent condition and this one is not. The thing that I most dislike about the caliber is the awful crack the pistol makes when you fire it. You absolutely must wear good ear protection and not just ear plugs. I expect the newer 32 mags would be just as unpleasant reading noise. What I dislike about this one since I converted it is the fact that it shoots high despite the fact that it has a tall front sight. I haven't fired it in years. But as I said , it is pretty.

[sixshot]

I'm guessing you've tried shooting some lighter weight slugs in it to bring the groups down?

Dick

[johnson1942]

the biggest regret i have was passing up a nickle plated 44 special SSA colt with real mother of pearl grips in the early 60/s .i kick my self to day for that mistake. it was brand new. however to day ordered a 1871 nickle plated open top urberti in .38 special and i plan on putting real buffalo horn black grips on it made by me. feel like a little kid getting a new toy. it will be fun,fun, fun.