The representatives of frontier law were many: frontiersmen with long and heroic careers, not so many, not all were Bill Tilghman, Bat Masterson or Wyatt Earp. But one small advantage that some loyalists benefited from was the short-barreled revolver because of the ease of carrying it, particularly in cities where deadly clashes were occasional at close range. They were also practical when the threat was not expected but arrived on time with the noon train, and a sheriff and his deputy had the opportunity to formulate a plan.
This usually included at least a double-barreled rifle, but when things got too tight and personal then the Peacemaker model Sheriff was hard to beat. Colt introduced the first Sheriff model with a 1-2/2-inch barrel without an extractor in 1882. It was a single weapon, and further Sheriff models were not made until 1888, again without an extractor.
E.M.F weapons
Remarkably, excluding Colt’s Sheriff model design revolvers, any Peacemaker could be ordered (on purpose) with a shorter barrel, so 2-1/2-inch, 3-1/4-inch, 3-1/2-inch and 4-inch barrels were optional before 1888, after which Colt considered the 3-inch Peacemaker to be the Sheriff model. Pietta’s Sheriff’s models “The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” offered two versions of the Single Action both based on the 1892-style castles with the transverse drum block (which would later be known as the infume powder castle).
Both models had 3-1/2-inch barrels, “The Sheriff” without a cartridge extractor, and “The Patrol” with a full-length extractor. Both had opalescent castles and drums, banded reeds, and burnished metal underguard. Italian gun manufacturers generally use a chemical process to achieve the opalescent effect, and they are rarely bright or diverse in color as with traditional bone and charcoal colors.
Pietta does a pretty solid job, and his colors show a nice mix of smoky gray areas with blue mottling and reddish brown, and of course, as with traditional opalescent colors, no two were alike. The colors on the Sheriff (Sheriff) and Posse (Patrol) model are very strong reaching all the way to the top of the castle with even more intense shades. The colors were also well blended on the dogs, while the triggers were burnished. Colors actually appear much more intensely in the photo studio (and in photos) than they do to the naked eye, but they are bright and intense.
Depending on the individual’s preference, “The Sheriff” has the more classic lines of the original Peacemaker models without the 1888 extractor (which had infume powder castles). Pietta introduced the design for Sheriff models without the 3-1/2-inch extractor in 2011, available with an opalescent or burnished castle, and in nickel for the 3-1/2-inch with the extractor housing (also known as the shopkeeper).
“The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” are the newest versions of Pietta designs with standard size Navy-style hardwood stocks, and both with the Great Western II branding branded on the top of the barrels. However, the castles have Colt’s patent dates on the left side on two lines. The GWII Pietta E.M.F. models are authentic Single Action designs with a movable firing pin in the hammer and without the telltale modern transfer bar, although Pietta does make Single Action for some of its dealers with a transfer bar (as with the Bill Tilghman model sold by Traditions), but the E.M.F. branded models remain true to the original.
The actions
Over 15 years for most of the time Pietta Single Action were made with factory-adjusted actions, and of course, there are differences between the guns, but they all have smoother dogs and lighter triggers, extraordinary compared to most Single Action reproductions, and actually lighter and smoother than some Colt Single Action. Part of this comes from the care and precision in factory adjustment. Rarely does a Single Action model leave [la fabbrica di] Pietta without being made to deliver impressive action (and two-time winner of the SASS Weapon of the Year award).
Of course, my expectations of “The Sheriff” and “The Patrol” were about very smooth handling. I have several single-action Pietta factory-adjusted action models to use as a starting point for making comparisons (one in particular that has one of the smoothest actions of any Peacemaker copy I’ve ever owned and rivals a couple of my original factory-adjusted action Colts) and that sets the bar pretty high.
The hammer draw on the 7-1/2-inch Pietta model is quite fast and smooth, somewhat remarkably for 3 pounds, 4.3 ounces with four sharp clicks the moment it comes back. The trigger needs only 2 pounds, 14 ounces. In comparison, “The Sheriff” has a heavier hammer draw of 4 pounds, 3.8 ounces, which is not bad, and a trigger pull of 3 pounds, 6.7 ounces, which is slightly slimy in the short trigger take-up, but presents a clean break. “The Patrol” required a hammer draw of 4 pounds, 3.9 ounces, almost the same as for “The Sheriff” but with a lighter, smoother trigger of 2 pounds, 15 ounces, almost the same as for the 7-1/2-inch model.
None of the 3-1/2-inch guns are as light and smooth as the old 7-1/2-inch Pietta, but they are still pretty good for extraordinary six-shooters, especially considering that these new examples use some lost-wax cast parts, including the trigger, which has a flat finish and a circular casting mark. (The trigger on my old 7-1/2-inch model is a machine-made piece with a polished, burnished finish.)
