Colt's Single Action Army Revolver

Rating:
Summary: Valuable, enthusiasts' book: needed an editor and designer
Review: A slim (160-page) coffee table book that will please, but...... O'Meara's setting of the Colt SAA in its historical background is clear, simplified and useful for anyone who has difficulty quite fathoming the sometimes intricate development of and differences between the various Colt pistols -- from the Patterson, Pocket, Walker, Dragoon, Navy, and Army models up to the SAA. The rest of the book covers a broad range of SAA topics -- replicas, rivals, fine-tuning, conversions and variants, cartridges, engraving, cowboy shooting, etc -- all in somewhat simple style and language. I get the impression no new ground is broken with this book. I imagine it is tough to publish such a limited-audience book and have it emerge just as one would wish it to be, however a professional editor (i.e. someone other than the author) could have done much to improve the readability and attractiveness of it. The pokey little b&w photos that litter the text are better than nothing but don't convey the power of thse guns or their historic significance. Any firearms catalogue offers better. And the color photos, which are bigger and better than the b&ws are too amateurish (or badly printed by today's standards) to enthuse any but the already enthused. I don't want to be negative as this book is obviously a labor of love by O'Meara. But I was disappointed that more had not been made of the opportunity to show off this key part of (monument to?) grass roots American history. ( ). That's a bit steep for a book with these limitations IMHO.

Rating:
Summary: Everything but . . .
Review: An exceedingly strange production: it is really not about Colt's Single Action Army Revolver, but instead associated but irrelevant phenomenon, i.e., Italian clones (who cares?), Rugers (who cares?), forgotten celebrities who were once photographed carrying Colts (who really cares?) It's all there except for, er, you know, the SUBJECT OF THE BOOK, on which, alas, there's very little. It's as if the compositor lost a set of six or eight chapters somewhere and the publishers hoped nobody would notice. When I finished paging through it, I thought, Yes, but where's the stuff on the famed sixgun?

Rating:
Summary: Lousy Book
Review: Colt Single Action Army revolver... repeats some useful information regarding the evolution of the arm and also provides some useful information regarding dating by serial number. The book would be moderately interesting if the above data were not already widely available from such authorities as Robert Wilson and legions of collectors of the Colt variations.

This volume will probably be seconded to the bargain section of your neighborhood bookstore in short order. A substantial reduction in price would be worth the wait.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Thin for the Price.
Review: Colt Single Action Army revolver... repeats some useful information regarding the evolution of the arm and also provides some useful information regarding dating by serial number. The book would be moderately interesting if the above data were not already widely available from such authorities as Robert Wilson and legions of collectors of the Colt variations.

This volume will probably be seconded to the bargain section of your neighborhood bookstore in short order. A substantial reduction in price would be worth the wait.

Rating:
Summary: Lousy Book
Review: I bought this, looking for something about Colt Single Action Revolvers. This book covers mostly copies of Colts, info on quickdraw, Bisleys, Rugers, etc. Much of the book repeats the same info in each chapter. Save your money and get something else. I rated it one star because there was nothing lower. There is a list of Colt SAA serial numbers which was the best part of the book. I wouldn't ever buy a Doc O'Meara book again.

Rating:
Summary: Not a book on Colt SAAs
Review: This was one of,if not the worst, book on Colt SAAs I have ever bought. It appears as a compilation of articles from monthly publications. It has very little info on older, original SAAs. There is lots of stuff on shooting modern replicas and there is not much depth there either. I was very disappointed.