SAA Work Holding Question
- Thread starter happy
- Start date
never used one. if mikeydu used it, aand grs sells it----you'd likely be happy with it. jmho
tdelewis
Elite Cafe Member
I made my own by having a friend turn two brass cones with a hole in the center. I place a brass through the hole to hold the barrel. Steel rods were drilled to accept the brass rod they fit in the vice. The same idea is used for the frame except there is a flat brass piece that fits in the hammer recess.
Donny
Elite Cafe Member
In speaking with them (GRS) on the phone they do not feel this would work for non SAA weapons. The hammer fixture strikes me as a sticking point. I cant see a Python hammer fitting in there. The Barrel fixture would probably be pretty universal depending on barrel length...I called to ask for myself some time back..but it was for using it with some of the SAA clones...
I purchased the SAA holding fixture set from Ray Viramontez many years ago I'm sure I'm not the only one. J.J.
Is this the same one GRS is selling?
So will this work for holding a Ruger Vaquero or will I have to modify it?
I could mill out holding parts as I need them but why reinvent the wheel if this works
Happy the SSA set I have from Ray works for Colts and Ruger Vaquero's. J.J.
Is this the same one that GRS is selling SKU 003 - 726
Happy no the fixtures are different I see if I can put up some picture. J.J.
Happy here are fixtures I have. J.J.
JJ, are those the fixtures from NgravR (Ray Phillips) that Ken Hurst had at one of our East Coast Engrave-Ins?
Bill,I'm sure I purchased the fixtures from Ray Viramontez it's been forty plus year's I know what I purchased from Ray Phillips,did Ken say where he got his set of fixtures? J.J.
Mike Dubber
Elite Cafe Member
I worked directly with GRS to design the set of Colt SAA Fixtures that they manufacture and market. These are a result of many years of experimentation with the available fixtures starting in about 1975 - some of which are show in this thread. There were several individuals making and/or selling the same kind of fixtures that were used in the Colt Custom Shop, secifically a gent named Carrol Rowles who made most of them for Colt. The parts shown by J.J. earler are Carrol Rowles holders - or direct copies of the Rowles holders whether they came directly from Ray Viramontez, Ray Phillips, or others who made their own fixtures following Carrol's patterns.
The GRS Mike Dubber set will hold the parts for all Colt Single Action Army Revolvers, as well as all other SAA Clones. These are hybrids of the many holding fixtures I had collected over the years. Moreover, they are significantly improved and streamlined versions of those originals. Many of the individual holding devices in the set can be used on other various firearms parts - the Barrel Fixture, for instance, will hold virtually any barrel with a hole in either end, up to 7".
With it's tensioning adjustemment, it is much more than a simple device that depends on tightening the vise jaws to tension the barrel between centers. This holder will hold the barrel tighly, or it can be set at various levels of spring tension so that the barrel can be rotated with dependable control while engraving. Those are the kinds of improvement GRS Tooling Engineers built into the set.
The GRS Mike Dubber set will hold the parts for all Colt Single Action Army Revolvers, as well as all other SAA Clones. These are hybrids of the many holding fixtures I had collected over the years. Moreover, they are significantly improved and streamlined versions of those originals. Many of the individual holding devices in the set can be used on other various firearms parts - the Barrel Fixture, for instance, will hold virtually any barrel with a hole in either end, up to 7".
With it's tensioning adjustemment, it is much more than a simple device that depends on tightening the vise jaws to tension the barrel between centers. This holder will hold the barrel tighly, or it can be set at various levels of spring tension so that the barrel can be rotated with dependable control while engraving. Those are the kinds of improvement GRS Tooling Engineers built into the set.
Mike Dubber
Elite Cafe Member
These fixtures will work for some of the Vacquero parts: the frames, the barrel, the ejector tube, the hammer and the screws. They will not hold the Vacquero trigger guard and backstrap. The issue is that the Colt is built with separate trigger guards and backstraps - the Vacquero is a one piece backstrap and trigger guard. I have a wooden fixture I built to hold the Vaquero trigger guard and backstrap - other than that, I use the GRS set for both....and for all other Colt SAA Clones.
Note - I really don't engrave Vacquero hammers, exctept for a border line or two...just too hard to mess with and I don't do high-level engraving on them. Watch out for those Vac loading gates as well - not as bad as the hammers, but HARD.
Note - I really don't engrave Vacquero hammers, exctept for a border line or two...just too hard to mess with and I don't do high-level engraving on them. Watch out for those Vac loading gates as well - not as bad as the hammers, but HARD.
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AllenClapp
Elite Cafe Member
Mike, does your comment about the hardness of Vacquero parts apply to the stainless models as well as blue/case hardened versions?
Mike Dubber
Elite Cafe Member
Yes, although there are some differences in the hardness for the stainless and blued steel models, the loading gates and hammers are really hard to work on either.
I use Otto Carter's "Bulldozer" sharpening jig for all these hard parts - it helps a lot!
I use Otto Carter's "Bulldozer" sharpening jig for all these hard parts - it helps a lot!
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tdelewis
Elite Cafe Member
What is the bulldozer? Why is it so slick?
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