By Mike Schoby
Every red-blooded American should own a single-action revolver. Not only is it part of our American heritage and Western spirit, they are just fun to carry and shoot. Nothing beats the fit, feel, and attention to detail of an early model Colt Single Action Army. That said, with prices of original Colts going through the roof, and the fact they are not safe to carry with a round under the hammer (making your six shooter effectively a five shooter), good alternatives are needed.
Lots of companies have manufactured Colt SAA clones over the years; domestically, Ruger is at the top of the list; internationally, David Pedersoli, Uberti, and a whole host of other spaghetti western players of various quality have made versions. Recently Taurus entered the market with the Deputy line. After spending several months with it, it is easy to say it is a darn solid single action clone—maybe one of the best I have tested.
Taurus kept the Deputy offering simple and straightforward. It is only available in two configurations—either a 4 ¾- or 5 ½-inch barrel in .357 magnum or .45 Colt (don’t be a douche and call it Long Colt; it’s just Colt) blued with synthetic grips. The bluing is actually really nice. The metal is obviously polished out well, and no machine marks or scuffs show in the deep rich blue finish. The finish is as good as any clone I have seen and a far sight better than many. It’s not an original Colt with its ultra-labor-intensive hand polishing, but it is close.
The cylinder lockup to frame is impressively tight with very little movement either laterally or rotationally. Is it as good as a multi-thousand-dollar Freedom Arms, Bowen, or BFR custom single action? No, but for a production gun it is impressive, and way better than many other revolvers I have tested.
The trigger is equally impressive. No glitches, creep or steps, it is just clean and crisp, mine tipped the scales a little over five pounds, but it feels lighter. Keep in mind this is with no work, a modest amount of shooting and factory springs. Shoot it or dry fire it a thousand times, and most single-action triggers tend to come down in weight as parts wear in.
Unlike the original Colt SAA, the Deputy features a transfer bar trigger/hammer mechanism, which means it is safe to carry with a full cylinder. A nice touch if you plan on carrying the gun afield and want to maximize its firepower.
The sights are a traditional fixed front blade and rear notch inlet into the top strap of the frame, which work just fine for most. If you’re super picky and have a specific load in mind, you may have to file down the front sight to perfectly match your particular load or quit being a bitch and just hold accordingly. Luckily, mine proved to be pretty much dead on at 25 yards with a wide selection of factory loads including Black Hills 250-grain lead flat nose, the Fiocchi 255-grain Range Dynamics. The Hornady 185-grain Critical Defense load grouped the best but did shoot a bit lower than the others, which makes sense going roughly 175 fps faster than the heavier bullets of the other manufacturers.
All in all the Taurus Deputy is a damn fine gun and a solid entry into the single action market. And at a street price of around $500 bucks, you won’t find a better deal on a quality single action revolver.
Pros: Well made, great trigger and nicely finished.
Cons: I don’t love the factory grips. However, many aftermarket grips such as Hogue designed for Colt SAA will fit.
