Taylor’s & Co. of Winchester, Virginia
has been importing high-quality firearms for almost three
decades now, concentrating mostly on nineteenth century
firearms, with an emphasis on quality and customer service. The
sixgun featured here is a Single Action Army replica, with
features that make it a bit more user-friendly, such as a tuned
action and a wider rear sight notch in the top of the frame. The
Smoke Wagon can be purchased with either the standard action,
or, as featured here, Taylor’s Tuned Action, with includes
hand-polishing and custom springs, resulting in one of the
slickest-shooting sixguns on the market.
Patterned after the famous Colt Single Action
Army revolver of 1873, the Smoke Wagon retains the traditional
Colt-style lockwork, but has Uberti’s two-step base pin for
safety. It is a safety which can be used to prevent the firing
pin from contacting the primer, or ignored if desired. I prefer
to carry the Smoke Wagon in the traditional method of leaving an
empty chamber under the hammer.
The Smoke Wagon is fitted and finished very
well, wearing a blued barrel, cylinder, trigger guard, ejector
rod, and backstrap, with a case-hardened frame, loading gate,
and hammer. The trigger and other small parts are also blued.
The perfectly-fitted one-piece walnut stocks are thinned and
checkered, and feel great in my hand. The front of the cylinder
is lightly chamfered, and the barrel/cylinder gap is an even
twenty-five ten-thousandths (.0025) of an inch. Perfect. The
wood-to-metal and metal-to-metal fit is as good or better than
any I have seen in a long time on a Single Action Army revolver.
The chamber throats measured a consistent .4525 inch, which is
ideal for .452 diameter bullets.
Specifications
for the Taylor’s Smoke Wagon are listed in the chart below.
Weight is listed in ounces. Trigger pull is listed as pounds of
resistance. Linear measurements are listed in inches. The
cylinder length does not include the ratchet nor the cylinder
bushing. For comparison, listed is also the specs for the Colt
Single Action Army revolver.
|
Colt
|
Smoke Wagon
|
Chambering |
45 Colt |
45 Colt |
Overall Length |
10.875 inches |
10.875 inches |
Overall Height |
5.2 inches |
5.1 inches |
Weight, Unloaded |
38 ounces |
36.6 ounces |
Barrel Length |
5.5 inches |
5.5 inches |
Cylinder Length |
1.609 inches |
1.614 inches |
Cylinder Diameter |
1.652 inches |
1.665 inches |
Chamber Throats |
0.4521 inch |
0.4525 inch |
Barrel / Cylinder Gap |
0.004 inch |
0.0025 inch |
Trigger Pull |
2 pounds, 13 ounces |
2 pounds |
Capacity |
6 rounds |
6 rounds |
MSRP as of September 2017 |
$1,799.00 US |
$565.00 Standard Action
/ $711.00 Tuned Action |
The action on the Smoke Wagon is
butter-smooth, and the trigger pull light and crisp.
Taylor’s specs the tuned action trigger pull at three
pounds, but the revolver I received measured two pounds of
resistance on both my Lyman digital gauge and my Brownell’s
mechanical gauge. At first, sometimes the hammer would hang up a
bit if cocked quickly, but that problem went away after just a
few shots, and with all subsequent firing, the revolver
performed flawlessly.
I particularly like the feel of the thinned
walnut stocks on the Smoke Wagon. They have enough texture for a
secure grip, but they are not abrasive to the hand. The
excellent trigger pull and highly-visible sights contribute
greatly to the practical accuracy of the sixgun. The mechanical
accuracy of the revolver was tested with two of my favorite
factory ammunition types. Both loads use a 255 grain Keith
bullet, which is a cast lead semi-wadcutter. The Double Tap load
pushes this bullet to an average of 870 feet-per-second (fps)
from the five and one-half inch barrel of the Smoke Wagon, with
the velocity clocked twelve feet from the muzzle. The Buffalo
Bore load averages 99 fps faster. These are standard-pressure
loads from Buffalo Bore and Double Tap, but have plenty of power
for whitetail deer and for social work. They are not the sissy
“Cowboy Action” type loads. These two loads put out the
level of 45 Colt power as the cartridge was originally intended.
Accuracy was outstanding from the review gun.
I rested the sixgun atop a Target
Shooting, Inc. Handgun Rest, firing five-shot groups on
paper at a distance of twenty-five yards. The excellent trigger
action and highly-visible sights made it very predictable when
the revolver would fire, and where the bullet was going to land,
so when everything looked just right, I pressed the trigger. The
Double Tap load grouped very well, and the Buffalo Bore load
grouped even better. The pictures shown are representative of
the revolver’s accuracy. Using a six-o’clock hold, both
loads shot to the point-of-aim for elevation, with the Buffalo
Bore load shooting slightly to the right for me. The Double Tap
255 grain load would consistently group under two inches for
five shots at twenty-five yards, with the Buffalo Bore load
shooting under one inch. Both loads exhibited match-grade
accuracy, out of a sixgun that was designed just seven years
after the American War Between the States. The consistent and
tight barrel/cylinder gap, tuned action, and well-fitted parts
contribute the overall feel of a quality sixgun. Uberti did an
outstanding job building this revolver for Taylor’s & Co.,
and it is a credit to both companies for holding high quality
standards for their firearms.
The well-crafted leather rig shown here was
built by Mike “Doc” Barranti of Barranti Leather Company.
Mike has been building top-quality rigs for over three decades
now, and the lined holster and belt rig shown here is a perfect
example of what a quality holster rig for a fine sixgun should
be.
The Tuned Smoke Wagon has a hand-tuned action
and springs, done in-house by the Taylor’s gunsmiths in
Winchester, Virginia. The result is a very smooth, light action,
but reliability with the test gun was one-hundred percent. Every
cartridge fired positively and ejected smoothly. The beautiful
case-colors of the frame contrast nicely with the blued-steel
parts, and the checkered walnut stocks are classically
beautiful, and feel perfect in my hand. The Smoke Wagon is a
well-crafted replica of the famous 1873 Colt, at a fraction of
the price.
Check out this and other quality rifles,
shotguns, and handguns, as well as accessories and services,
online at www.taylorsfirearms.com.
To order high-quality 45 Colt ammunition, go
to www.buffalobore.con,
www.doubletapammo.net,
www.midsouthshooterssupply.com,
and www.luckygunner.com.
To
order fine-quality holsters, belts, and other leather goods, go
to www.barrantileather.com.
Jeff
Quinn
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