Colt Single Action Army
Colt's Manufacturing Company1873–presentMetallic cartridge
Also known as Peacemaker, Model P, Colt .45
Image credit
- Title
- File:1956prime2.jpg
- Author
- Mike Cumpston
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1956prime2.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
no sourced velocity for this pairing
Not calculated: muzzle velocity has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Not calculated: v_recoil has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity6verifiedsourceCylinder.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Revolver
- Action
- Revolver action
- Fire modes
- Single shot
- Operating system
- Manually operated
- Feed
- Roles
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1873
- Production
- 1873–present
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
- 1.048 kg2.310 lbsource
Published as 2.31 lb; 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg exactly. With the 7.5-inch barrel.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
- 330.2 mm13.00 insource
Published as 13 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. With the 7.5-inch barrel; 11 in with the 5.5-inch and 10.25 in with the 4.75-inch.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
- 190.5 mm7.500 insource
Published as 7.5 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. The cavalry length; artillery (5.5 in) and civilian (4.75 in) barrels were also standard.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- 457,000source
The cited article gives "457,000+", so this is a floor rather than a count.
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- .45 Coltprimary6 rounds
- .44-40 Winchester6 rounds
- .38 Special6 rounds
- .357 Magnum6 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Colt Single Action Army330.2 mm13.00 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Colt Single Action Army records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Detail
A single-action revolver has to be cocked by hand for every shot, which by 1873 was already the older way of doing things — double-action revolvers existed. What Colt’s design had instead was strength, simplicity and a cartridge. The frame is a solid forging with the barrel screwed into it, there is no top strap hinge or crane to loosen, and the .45 Colt round it was built around was the most powerful handgun cartridge in general issue.
Loading and unloading are done one chamber at a time through a gate on the right, with an ejector rod under the barrel. That is slow, and it is the reason the Army briefly bought Smith & Wesson’s break-open Schofield alongside it, and the reason nobody designs a revolver this way now.
Production has stopped and restarted four times since 1941. What keeps bringing it back is not military demand but the fact that it is the shape most people picture when they hear the word revolver.
The article publishes no width, height or sight radius, and gives three barrel lengths without saying which is standard; the cavalry length is recorded here and the others are named in the notes.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Colt Single Action Army · Wikipedia · 1368913051 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated