In the 1870s, Colt needed a double-action revolver design to compete with many of the emerging double-action revolvers on the market, particularly a number of competitors in Great Britain.

44 S&W. This, then, became the Single Action Army, a gun that would signal the end of the Open Top. Within months, the .45 Colt SAA was readied and re-submitted to the Army for testing.

The Colt Single Action Army revolver, introduced in 1873, became a symbol of power and American expansion, used by both outlaws and lawmen on the frontier. Witkoff says US ‘finally’ got answer ...