Also, different brands of ammunition and bullet weights will affect where the gun prints on a target. Lighter bullets usually shoot higher at practical sixgun ranges of 15 to 25 yards. You'll have to experiment to find out which bullets your gun prefers, not just for point of impact but for group size. You may be surprised at the clover-leaf accuracy some of these single actions are capable of producing. I have a third-generation .45-caliber Colt SAA that prints 1 1/2-inch groups with 225-grain Winchester silvertips; needless to say, those are the only cartridges I use in that gun.

(Left) Colt and the Italian clones load by bringing the hammer to half-cock and opening the loading gate. (Right) New Model Rugers are loaded by opening the loading gate, which allows the cylinder to rotate clockwise. There is no half-cock on the hammer.

However, more finite adjustments can be made. Simply having a qualified gunsmith crank the barrel a quarter of a degree right or left (depending on where you want the gun to hit) can make a dramatic difference in the striking point of a bullet. The rule for windage adjustment on a fixed-sight SA is, if your gun is shooting to the left, turn the barrel to the left, which leans the front-sight blade slightly in that direction and consequently redirects the bullet strike to the right.

Once you have the windage adjusted, it is a simple matter to learn just how much front sight you should allow to peek over the topstrap to compensate for elevation. However, if you don't mind changing the contour of the front-sight blade (as many 19th century shootists did, much to the chagrin of today's collectors), elevation can be raised by carefully filing down the front-sight blade. But just take off a little steel at a time. It is far easier to remove metal than replace it.

But if your single action is shooting high rather than low, you will either have to use heavier bullets, employ Kentucky windage or invest in the more costly option of having a gunsmith build up the front blade (a higher blade will lower your shots). In this case, you might want the blade made slightly higher than necessary, then fine-tune it by careful filing it at the range.

The author's stainless Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt was outfitted with Eagle Gunfighter grips and then completely customized by Bill Oglesby of Oglesby & Oglesby (888/800-6440). The gun now shoots one-inch ragged holes at 25 yards.

Another trick of single-action shooting is to thin the front-sight blade so it can be more easily centered within the grooved topstrap. You may also want to consider serrating the blade so that it doesn't reflect light. And remember to always do your sighting-in adjustments using ammo that produces the best groups.

While fast draw remains a viable sport, today Cowboy Action shooting, hunting, collectability and nostalgia have widened the single action's legendary appeal. But at the very core of its ongoing attraction is the undeniable fact that the single-action revolver is one of the safest, most ergonomic handguns ever designed. And knowing how to shoot it--and shoot it well--will ensure its immortality well beyond the memory of buckboards and bootlaces and perhaps right up there with bicycles and baited hooks.