357 MAG .357 MAG

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New GREAT WESTERN II boasts brass triggerguard and
steel backstrap of Colt 1860 Army!
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THE VARIOUS MODEL
percussion sidearms produced by
Colt during the mid-1800s, two of the most popular and
prodigious were the 1851 Navy and 1860 Army. Only the
Model 1849 Pocket revolver manufactured from 1850
through 1873 saw greater production. Although the 1851
and 1860 were similar-sized pistols, among their differences were the shape of their grips, with the Navy’s being,
among other things, shorter in length by roughly one-third
of an inch. When Colt produced its first revolver designed
from the ground up to fire the then-relatively new selfcontained metallic cartridge, the Model 1871/72 Open Top,
it was offered with both the grip profile of the 1851 Navy
as well as that of the 1860 Army because, apparently, both
had their followings. Curiously, Colt chose the smaller grip
shape of the 1851 Navy for use on what would become its
most famous pistol, the Model 1873 Single Action Army,
and the rest, they say, is history. To my knowledge, Colt has
never offered the SAA fitted with a grip having the longer,
more svelte dimensions of the 1860 Army.
When Ruger brought out his Single Six revolver in 1953,
followed shortly thereafter by the Blackhawk in 1955, he
wisely chose to put handles on them that mirrored the
contour of the revered 1873. What the shooting public was
beginning to discover, however, was that the Navy’s 1851 grip
profile worked great until recoil reached a certain level, and
then things got a little tight behind the triggerguard and that
pinky finger curled up below the bottom of the grip strap got
rapped a little harder than one expected. It was the abuse that
the Colt-shaped alloy grip frame on the original 1957-released
.44 Mag Blackhawk dealt out to new would-be “Magnumites”
that eventually led Ruger to alter the grip shape on his revolvers to better accommodate this new level of recoil. Although
this new grip style was admittedly more comfortable to shoot
with hotter loads, most single-action aficionados lamented the
passing of the Colt-shaped grip frame from the Ruger revolver
line. So much so, in fact, that Ruger brought it back for us in
2004 in the form of their very Colt-like New Vaquero and subsequent reintroduction of their flat-topped .357 and .44 Mags,
all sporting that original, coveted, Navy/SAA grip.
Still, even though the Colt has a cult-like following, there
are those who, if given a choice between an 1851 Navy and
1860 Army, would choose the Army just because it felt better
in the hand. Admittedly, Cowboy Action shooters today don’t
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Lowell Martinson photo
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By Todd Lofgren
GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
57
E M F A L C H I M I S TA . 3 5 7 M A G
told a 7.5-inch model is
have to deal with a great
Specifications
also available. Although
amount of recoil, but
I’m partial to the shorter
there are those who,
4.75-inch barreled Colt,
because of their large paws
this 5.5-incher balanced
or maybe just personal
very well in the hand with
preference, would like
its 0.75 of an inch longer
to have a longer gripped
tube. With my aging eyes
Colt or Colt clone. I’ve
Caliber: .357 Mag, .44-40, .45 Colt
I’m also learning to apprerun across more than one
Barrel: 5.5 inches, 7.5 inches
ciate the slightly longer
single-action whose grip
OA Length: 11 inches, 13 inches
sighting radius that this
straps have been swapped
Weight: 41 ounces (empty)
barrel length affords. This
out with those cannibalGrips: Walnut • Sights: Fixed • Action: SA
pistol wears one of the
ized from an 1860 Army.
Finish: Blued and case colored • Capacity: 6-shot • Price: $590
finest front sights I’ve ever
Well, such drastic modiencountered on either a
fications are no longer
genuine Colt or clone. It’s
necessary, thanks to EMF.
Several years ago EMF, in collaboration ening. This model comes wearing smooth one- properly profiled and has nice, parallel sides
with F. LLI Pietta of Italy, set about to produce piece walnut grips. The Californian is offered (no taper), and measures 0.097 of an inch
a “true-to-the-original” 1873 Colt clone. With in all three barrel lengths and chamberings. wide. This provides an easy-to-see post-like
blade that pairs up beautifully with the 0.105
attention to cosmetics and original contours,
of an inch extra-wide, .080 of an inch extraPietta produced a clone that not only looked Gun Details
like an original 1st and/or 2nd Generation
New, the “Alchimista” is a California-grade deep notch that serves as this pistol’s rear
Colt, but whose parts would interchange with finished Great Western II revolver wearing the
one as well. They called it the Great Western brass triggerguard and blued steel back strap
II. Custom models of the Great Western IIs of a Colt 1860 Army. This model is based on a
can be had in three barrel lengths (4.75, 5.5 gun designed and currently used by Alessandro
and 7.5 inches), and three calibers (.45 LC, Pietta, a son in the family-owned Pietta Firearms
.357 Mag and .44-40), and finished in either business, who is an active SASS shooter in Italy.
deep blue with genuine bone case hardening Alessandro designed this pistol for its balance
or in deluxe nickel, both wearing one-piece and to accommodate his rather large hands
Ultra Ivory grips. An all-stainless steel model and, from his personal guns this model was
fitted with ultra ivory grips is also available. born. “Alchimista” is, by the way, Alessandro’s
A more moderately priced version called SASS alias, hence the name for this pistol.
the “Californian” can also be had, having all the
Since I regularly shoot .38 Specials in SASS
mechanical integrity of the custom guns but competition, I requested an Alchimista in this
The front sight was properly profiled, albeit
having a lesser grade of bluing and casehard- chambering to evaluate. Guns chambered in
a bit too tall. Note proper beveling on the
.44-40 and .45 Colt are also availfront edge of the ejector housing.
able. Although I’ve examined a
e
EMF Great Western II Alchimista
number of Colt clones over the
years, this is the first Great Western
II I’ve reviewed. My initial impressions when first handling this
revolver were very positive.
Barrel length on this particular pistol is 5.5 inches and I’m
(Above) Although not genuine color casehardening, the chemically applied finish on the
Alchimista’s frame and hammer was nonetheless attractive. (Right) Like early editions of
the Colt Model 1873, this EMF clone had a
case-colored hammer to match its frame.
58 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
bit, leaving a little extra
Screw holes are perfectly
room for one’s trigger
round and not dished
finger. Hammer and trigout from poor polishger have been mated to
ing, like those found on
provide a release that’s
certain clones of Colts.
relatively crisp with just a
The loading gate is
hint of creep present that
blended perfectly with
averaged three pounds
the frame, and opens and
for six releases. Lighter
closes with just the right
springs have obviously
amount of resistance.
been employed to give
The cylinder of the
Alchimista sports a heav- The European one-piece walnut grips this pistol’s action a light,
smooth, but positive feel.
ily beveled front edge
that came on the Alchimista were
that’s not only attractive attractive, well checkered and fit to the
Moving on down to
but should prove easy on straps of this revolver extremely well. what makes this pisholsters. This well-protol special, we find the
nounced bevel is reminiscent of that found brass triggerguard and steel backstrap of
on early 1st Generation Colts.
an 1860 Army Colt. Fit to the frame is
All six chambers were well polished, and almost perfect with just the right rear of
cylinder throats measured a uniform .357, the backstrap protruding a little too high.
which should be perfect for cast bullets sized This grip assembly really does give this 1873
.358. A feeler gauge measured the Alchimista’s a different feel, and that longer grip easily
barrel/cylinder gap to be a tight 0.005 of an accommodates my big paw, eliminating the
inch, just in the range I like, not too tight to need to curl my little finger up under its
cause cylinder drag due to fouling, but tight grip. Its profile toward the top is narrower
than that found on a standard Colt, and its
enough to prevent excessive blow-by.
The Alchimista’s hammer is of the high- frontstrap gives it a slight “Bisley” feel, but
profile type with an adequately checkered not overly so. There’s even a shoulder stock
spur and, like its frame, is also case-colored. notch in the bottom strap. The oil-finished
The trigger on the Alchimista is 0.320 of an European walnut grips on the Alchimista
inch wide, smooth-faced, and unlike a true are nicely figured and fit the straps of this
Colt’s is centered within the triggerguard. It pistol exceptionally well. Rubbing my finalso appears to be set back within the guard a gers all around failed to detect any overhang
P E R F O R M A NC E
EMF Great Western II Alchimista
Loads
sight. These are good sights for accurate, quick
shooting. This front sight measures 0.344 of
an inch in height and is probably taller than
need be, but this is a good thing and will allow
for later dialing in with one’s selected load. It’s
always easier to file down a too-tall front sight
than to somehow make a shorter one taller.
Bluing on the barrel, as well as the rest
of this pistol, is nicely done and only a little
more polishing prior to application could
have made it better.
The ejector housing fit perfectly up against
the barrel and its front end is radiused (like an
early Colt) to lessen leather abrasion during
holstering. The ejector rod button is crescent
shaped, as is correct for this vintage gun.
The frame also shows attention to detail,
as all corners are sharp and all seams are tight.
B/W AD
Velocity
Accuracy
.38 Special
Black Hills 158 CNL
641
1.59
CCI TrailBlazer 158 LFN
652
2.26
Winchester 125 JSP
807
2.05
Hornady Custom 158 JHP/XTP
699
1.78
140 Oregon Trail FP 3.5 Red Dot
795
2.36
.357 Mag
Black Hills 158 CNL
789
2.03
Hornady Custom 158 JHP/XTP
1200
2.06
Winchester 145 Silvertip
1382
1.79
Bullet weight and load measured in grains, velocity in feet per
second (fps) by PACT Chronograph, and accuracy measured in
inches for best 5-shot groups from sandbagged rest at 20 yards.
GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
59
E M F A L C H I M I S TA . 3 5 7 M A G
frame, allowing more clearance between its
hammer spur and the web of my hand, when
cocked. This has always been a problem
for me with my Colts in that even when I
managed a perfect grip their hammer spurs
lightly touched the web of my hand. A poor
grip often resulted in a missed cock, requiring a second go at the hammer and more
seconds on the clock. After years of shooting Colts, I recently switched to a pair of
anywhere. These are of one-piece design
and outstandingly well checkered.
This was an extremely well-tuned revolver
that locked up tightly on all six chambers.
The bolt dropped properly hitting in each
bolt-stop approach, as appropriate, and there
was just a tad of fore-and-aft cylinder movement present. When I first unboxed this
gun, I loaded it up with snap caps and dryfired it considerably over the past few days.
Surprisingly, with all that cycling there is still
no hint of a cylinder dragline present.
Shooting Impressions
I put together a selection of .38 caliber
ammo assembled in both .38 Special and .357
Mag cases representing power levels from mild
lead-bulleted Cowboy loadings to some pretty
serious jacketed magnum offerings. One might
wonder why ammo companies would bother
producing sedate lead-bulleted loads in .357
Mag cases, and the answer to that is many .357
Mag chambered lever guns won’t function reliably with loads put together in the shorter .38
Special cases. I found this to be true with my
.357-chambered Browning 92s, which required
that I put up all my reloads, for both my rifle
and two nickeled Colts, in the magnum case so
I could use the same ammo in all three guns.
Anyway, an afternoon at the range with the
Alchimista showed it to be a worthy Cowboy
competition pistol. With my targets set out at
20 yards, this EMF “Special” produced groups
averaging from a small of 1.59 inches to a large
of 2.36 inches. Its preference in a commercial
Cowboy load proved to be the 158-grain CNLprofiled load from Black Hills that was put up
in .38 Special cases. Out of the Alchimista’s
5.5-inch barrel, velocities ran a mild 641 feet
60 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
(Above) When compared
with this 2nd Generation
Colt, top, the longer grip
assembly of the Alchimista
is obvious.
(Right) The Alchimista,
bottom, is shown here next
to a “Dakota,” an earlier
1873 clone previously
imported and sold by EMF.
per second (fps). It also showed a preference
for the 158-grain, lead-bulleted flat point produced by PMC for the Cowboy market. Put
together in .357 Mag length cases, groups with
this round averaged 1.69 inches with velocities
hovering in the 790 fps range.
My hunch that the Alchimista’s front sight
was too tall proved true with all groups impacting about 5 inches below my point-of-aim
from the 20-yard mark. For comparison, I
measured the front sight on one of my nickeled
Colts in .357 Mag that shoots to point-of-aim
at 20 yards and found it a full 0.090 of an inch
shorter than the one on the EMF gun. Solution:
Pick your favorite load and spend an afternoon
at the range with a file until the Alchimista
shoots where you point it.
All groups also formed from between
an inch or two to the left of my hold and,
were this my gun, I’d turn the barrel a tad
until groups centered up. The Alchimista
performed flawlessly throughout its range session and all fired cases, regardless of intensity,
extracted easily from its cylinder.
Final Notes
A bonus to the Alchimista’s longer and
more angled grip frame was that it positioned
my oversize hand a little lower on the grip
50th Anniversary Flat-topped Rugers, both
modified extensively to shorten their hammer
travel to avoid this problem.
A call to SASS confirmed that the Alchimista
is perfectly legal for main match competition
and was, in fact, the gun named “Best New
Product of the Year for 2008” at SASS’s year-end
convention held last December in Las Vegas.
With a current price of $590 the Alchimista
just might be the “gold” you’re looking for.
Check out all the other guns EMF offers. ✪
i
FOR MORE j
INFORMATION
CONTACT:
EMF
1900 E Warner Ave, Ste 1-D
Dept CAS, Santa Ana, CA 92705
949-261-6611
www.emf-company.com
El Paso Saddlery
2025 E Yandell, Dept CAS
El Paso, TX 79903; 915-544-2233
www.epsaddlery.com