Thanks for the information I took Old Fuff's suggestion and compared my Uberti cylinder with the Colt. I see what the removable bushing is. Is there a big advantage to the removable bushing? I guess you can replace it if you wear the interior (?) of the cylinder out from a lot of shooting and a little cleaning. But it seems it would add another opportunity for a slight shift in the axis or alignment of the cylinder to barrel? I guess I must shoot both of them a lot to see what happens. Thanks, Bill.

There were two good reasons the original Colt 1873 Single Action Army had a removeable full-length base pin bushing: If black powder fouling caused the base pin to stick inside the bushing the cylinder could still rotate until the bushing itself started sticking. The SAA would keep shooting when others without this feature stopped working. If the cylinder developed end-shake (back & forth movement) a new bushing could be installed and all would be well again. This was much cheaper then replacing the whole cylinder. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER Although The High Road has attempted to provide accurate information on the forum, The High Road assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information.

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Before continuing, let's get this matter of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Generation SAA's out of the way. It's a simple matter of serial numbers. The 1st Generation ran from 1873 until 1941 with serial numbers going from 1 to 357,859. (Sources may vary on the exact total.) There were no letters in the serial numbers—none. Treedbnotes Serial Key. How can the answer be improved? Apr 25, 2011 Data I have on Colt SAA 3rd Generation serial numbers indicate this Colt was made in approximately 1998. For reference, year 2000 Colt SAA production started at serial number S26700A and the removable cylinder bushing was reinstated in late 2002 at approximately serial number S34000A.