SAA Work Holding Question

happy

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
23
Does anyone have any experience with the SAA holding fixture set
SKU 003 - 726 that Mike Dubber sells threw GRS
I would like to use this for some Ruger guns and maybe others or is this
made for Colt SAA only
Thanks
 

Donny

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
719
Location
Girard, OH
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...
 

JJ Roberts

:::Pledge Member:::
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
3,457
Location
Manassas, VA
I purchased the SAA holding fixture set from Ray Viramontez many years ago I'm sure I'm not the only one. J.J.
 

happy

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
23
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
 

JJ Roberts

:::Pledge Member:::
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
3,457
Location
Manassas, VA
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
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
424
Location
Evansville, IN
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.
 

happy

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
23
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.

Will this work for holding a Ruger Vaquero
thanks
 

Mike Dubber

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
424
Location
Evansville, IN
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.
 

Attachments

  • Vaquero_04.JPG
    Vaquero_04.JPG
    157 KB · Views: 61
  • Vaquero_03.JPG
    Vaquero_03.JPG
    96.4 KB · Views: 61
  • Vaquero_02.JPG
    Vaquero_02.JPG
    79.2 KB · Views: 62
Last edited:

AllenClapp

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Messages
377
Location
Raleigh, NC
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.
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
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
424
Location
Evansville, IN
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!
 
Last edited:

papart1

:::Pledge Member:::
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
May 23, 2015
Messages
1,308
Location
Michigan
The bulldozer is pretty slick..........I agree with Mr. Mike
 

Sponsors

Top