F. I. E. Tex SAA Revolver

The F. I. E. stood for Firearms Import Export and, according to the barrel stamping, was based in Miami, Florida. Their Tex 22 Single Action Army (SAA) replica was available for a brief time, from the 1970s until the firm went bankrupt in 1990. From what I have read, the F. I. E. SAA revolvers were made by the Herbert Schmidt Company in Germany. It was never meant to be more than an inexpensive revolver for plinking or to carry in a backpack in the days when you could still do that.

I picked up the specimen shown here at a pawn shop for $85. I wanted a basic 22LR SAA revolver to introduce young Scouts to this type of firearm and the discipline of Cowboy Action shooting. At the time, Colts and Rugers were out of my price range and the low cost of this revolver made it a good choice for teaching novices the fundamentals of revolver shooting. I did not have to worry about damage from being dropped.

The revolver showed signs of being stored in a leather holster, which in an all-steel firearm would be bad. In this case, except for the steel barrel and cylinder, most of the rest of the revolver frame components are an alloy painted black so the tannic acid in the leather had less impact on the finish. The sights are the basic quarter round front blade and notch in the frame topstrap; not what you want for great accuracy but good enough.

The action is the old-style three click action, with a hammer safety, half-cock, and fullcock which I am very fond of. This revolver shows an interesting safety feature in having a I. E. Tex 22 Long Rifle Single Action Army revolver. manual hammer block safety with a portion of the left-hand blast shield cut away to incorporate a toggle that controls a bar that rotates in and out of the hammer’s path. With the toggle up, the hammer cannot press on the firing pin.

Rotated down, the offset bar moves flush with the frame, allowing the hammer to strike the firing pin. Theoretically, this mechanism should keep the revolver from firing if there is around in the chamber. It is a neat idea that you will also find on the later Heritage Arms SAA revolvers. While the device functions well as a hammer stop, I would not trust it as a true safety. Let’s look at the problems I found. First, the so-called safety failure.

When the hammer falls from full cock, it forces the bar to rotate, forcing the toggle to rotate down, allowing the hammer to strike the firing pin. A close examination of the bar shows that it has been hammered so many times that the edge has rounded, facilitating the movement. It might be easy to replace parts and get it to function as a safety, but as I am continually trying to teach Scouts that safeties can fail, this is an excellent demonstrator.

The device still functions as a means to lift the hammer from resting against the firing pin. My solution is to always keep an empty chamber under the hammer. Just like a classic Colt or the original Ruger Single Six. Next issue, cylinder shake. With the hammer all the way back, the cylinder should be locked in alignment with the barrel forcing cone. In this example, there was play in the cylinder, making alignment an inconstant occurrence.

Occasionally, slivers of lead would appear near the forcing cone, suggesting that the bullet was being damaged as it left the cylinder. This had a definite negative impact on accuracy. As the range for shooting for the Scouts was only about 50 feet, the revolver would group into a six-inch circle, which made it okay for plinking steel disks but not for any serious target shooting. Finally, the action locking up. The most serious problem occurred when reloading the revolver. Worse yet, it was intermittent.

On occasion, when moving the hammer to half-cock to free the cylinder, something internal would slip, the cylinder stop would re-engage the cylinder, and neither the hammer or trigger would move. The only remedy was to remove the cylinder pin, extract the cylinder from the frame, then cycle the action through full cock, to hammer down, and back to half cock. Then you could return the cylinder to the frame and complete the load-

I. E. SAA manual hammer block safety. ing process. This is not an activity you wish to have occur frequently when on the range with students. As I said, the problem was intermittent, but I could sometimes get the failure to repeat if I shifted the hammer slightly when in the half-cock position. The failure presented itself as an action timing problem. Service Plan I was my own customer on this project. My goal was to return the revolver to service as a reliable plinker.

I wanted a revolver I could use to demonstrate the basics of shooting single action revolvers without worrying that the revolver would have to be disassembled every time I wanted to reload it. Given the rudimentary sights, I would not try to turn it into a precision firearm.

Given Cycling the action with the cylinder removed verifies proper function and timing with cylinder stop. these constraints I decided on five fixes: strip the upper and lower frames of all action parts; reduce cylinder shake; determine cause of lock up and remedy; verify trigger pull after repair to ensure compliance with Boy Scouts of America guidelines; and recrown the barrel to eliminate surface corrosion from extensive storage in a holster.

As an additional step, I photographed the revolver and parts for reference using a background of standard 8.5×11 ruled paper to provide a reference as to part sizes. I began by stripping the revolver. Since the Tex 22 is a Colt Single Action Army clone, I won’t spend a lot of space on the ejector rod and housing as these are pretty standard. To disassemble the action for cleaning, the first step is to make certain the revolver is unloaded. The next step is to remove the cylinder.

Again, it is like the classic early Colt. Press the base pin catch and remove the base pin; the base pin easily comes free of the frame. With the loading gate open, the cylinder slips out. Next step to field strip the frame is to remove the walnut stocks. A single screw holds them in place. With the grip frame removed, the hammer mainspring is exposed. In more modern revolvers, this will be a coil spring. In the Tex 22 it is a single leaf spring firmly mounted to the grip frame.

Visual inspection of the spring showed no signs of deterioration or kinking, which would have required replacement, I elected to leave the spring in the frame. In later steps, the grip frame holds the spring firmly in place and does not complicate further disassembly or subsequent reassembly. While the revolver is stripped down at this point, it is a good time to check the function of the hand and cylinder latch. You can also check the function of the freefloating firing pin.

With the cylinder removed examine the blast shield for proper hand movement and check the firing pin as well. With the safety off and the hammer down the firing pin protrudes a proper amount for ignition. Retracting the hammer shows the firing pin recessing into the frame. As you cycle the hammer from rest to full-cock, the hand displays proper timing. At the same time, check the action of the cylinder stop in the lower portion of the revolver frame.

When in the "up" position it would lock the cylinder in proper alignment. On to removing the grip frame in order to gain access to the action components. It is a one-piece unit held by five screws. After disassembling and reassembling a few of these types of frames, I suggest there is an order to removing the screws. I remove the two rear frame screws; my revolver had one frame screw missing but there is little to no frame shift with the remaining three holding the grip frame in place. Sadly, the remaining four

screws show prior removal using an incorrectly sized screwdriver and a rough finish on the hammer. This is an inexpensively finished revolver imported to meet a specific price point and really should not be compared to quality versions like the aforementioned Colt or Ruger. Turning the revolver upside down reveals the three frame screws located in front of and behind the trigger guard, one to the front, two to the rear. From practical experience, remove the front screw first.

As you remove the last two, you will feel tension from the hammer mainspring and the loading gate spring held in place by the grip frame. Keeping the revolver inverted, separate the grip frame and main frame. The hammer mainspring is captured by a boss on the grip frame as you separate the two. Lifting the grip frame and trigger guard away releases the tension on the loading gate spring. Do not leave the screw in front of the trigger guard until last.

The grip frame extension through which it fits is not very strong and the front Remove the screw in front of the trigger guard first to avoid bending the soft metal. Far screw is easily stripped. This is an area recommending caution. On to the revolver mainframe assembly. Note the loading gate spring, trigger, and bolt spring. The trigger and bolt spring is a twoprong spring often found in older SAA revolvers. Now is a good time to remove both springs.

Be cautious as you remove the gate spring as there is a small plunger on the other end. Once you remove the gate spring, the gate pulls straight out of the frame. The trigger and bolt spring must be removed to expose the trigger and bolt or cylinder stop. You can see the single screw holding the trigger and bolt spring in place. Remove it and the spring comes out easily. Once removed you can see the trigger and bolt or cylinder stop.

Next up is dropping the hammer and trigger assemblies as we’re ready to remove the trigger and hammer assemblies from the revolver main frame. Note the hammer and trigger screws. It is easiest to remove the trigger screw first. Both the trigger and the bolt or cylinder latch will drop free. With the way clear, removing the hammer screw allows you to remove the Far The cylinder stop should be fully retracted when hammer is in the half-cock position. It would occasionally slip and re-engage, jamming the action.

There was one missing from my revolver and the Brownells replacement did not fit. hammer and hand assembly. Due to the way the frame is inlet, move the hammer straight down to allow the hand to pass through a cutout on the inside of the frame. There are a couple of interesting things to note about the trigger and cylinder catch assembly. This trigger is a very rough part. It is stamped and there was no attempt to clean up the face of the trigger.

Besides being very narrow, you can see and feel the rough edge of the cut on the face of the trigger. If you thought the revolver were worth the effort, this would be a good place to start to smooth the action and feel of the trigger. The sear surface of the trigger has the same imperfections as the face and back of the trigger. The bolt or cylinder latch is another interesting part. Instead of being a solid piece like most SAA revolvers, this is apiece of steel stamped out and folded.

All of the edges are very rough. As a result, the actual stop inserted into the cylinder is two pieces, and the rear spur that engages the hammer

is also two pieces. Both parts had accumulated particles and caked lubricant. I scrubbed both thoroughly and set aside to dry. The cylinder latch concerned me. The way the two pieces engaging the cylinder were pinched together, they did not firmly nor fully engage the cylinder notch. I began to suspect this wear was the major source of the cylinder shake. Also, the uneven wear on the two ears that engaged the hammer in its various positions became suspect in the problem with the action locking up.

I decided to order a replacement cylinder stop from Brownells along with anew frame screw. As I said before, the hammer, hand, and hand spring drop out of the bottom as an assembly. In cleaning these parts, I found a sizeable accumulation of debris between the hand and the hand spring. It was not hard to soak the parts and blow out the debris using compressed air. Examining the cleaned parts, you can see the rough surfaces on the hammer.

There are definite wear marks where the hand rotates and the whole assembly would benefit from a careful polishing. While waiting for the parts from Brownells, I took the opportunity to recrown the muzzle. While never destined to be a precision firearm, I saw no reason not to make it as accurate as possible. Setting the barrel in a vise, I used my 11-degree target crowning tool to create a recessed crown. This is a very simple process and a real value-add for many customers.

After completing the cut, I moved over to my buffer and put a high polish on the crown. Granted, it does not look much like a western revolver but I like a nice sharp crown on any firearm—and this time, I was the customer. If I didn’t like it, I could only complain to myself. The new cylinder stop, when it arrived from Brownells did not match the existing stop and needed to be fitted. The new cylinder stop was broader across the base and the sides are not pinched together.

I had Far suspected the folded metal part was not all that reliable and I had wondered how much wear actually existed on the original part. The new part revealed the flattening of the cylinder engagement surfaces and how one of the ears that engaged the hammer was more worn than the other. I had no clear guidance on whether I should pinch the sides together or leave them separated.

Since one of my considerations was the "shake" in the cylinder, I took the time to examine the engagement of the two stops with the cylinder. The cylinder cuts for the stop are very generous. Given how little wear shows, this is not a function of age. The wide stops cut into the cylinder illustrate how poorly the original stop engages the cylinder. This could contribute to a timing problem resulting in the revolver locking up.

The improved engagement of the cylinder stop and cylinder cuts convinced me that I should narrow the part as little as possible. Subsequently, when the part proved to be too wide to install in the frame, I used a pair of pliers to close the sides only enough to fit. Reassembly What is shown here is about all the disassembly anyone should ever need to do on one of these revolvers. Reassembly is simply the reverse of how it came apart. Far

The only part that might be considered difficult is rejoining the two frames. Pay attention to the relationships of the upper and lower springs. Fastening them together requires the compression of the loading gate spring and the hammer mainspring. I strongly advise compressing the two together (I was able to do it with simple hand pressure) and first installing the two screws behind the trigger guard.

As these two are tightened, it will automatically align the two screw holes on each side of the hammer to the main frame and place little tension on the leading-edge tang of the grip frame and trigger guard. As you complete assembly of this revolver, I should explain one additional unadvertised feature. As you place the cylinder in the frame and insert the base pin, it is possible to press it in too far.

When you do this, the pin protrudes through the rear of the frame into the hammer channel where it will actually block the fall of the hammer. As you assemble the revolver, make sure the base pin catch returns to its "rest" position capturing the base pin at its correct depth. The reassembled revolver displayed a decrease in cylinder shake. When the hammer was moved to half-cock, the cylinder spun freely and no amount of rocking the hammer resulted in the action locking up.

It appears the wear on the cylinder stop was the true cause of the problem. About the trigger pull. My Bullseye target pistol has a trigger pull of just over two pounds and it is as light as Precision Pistol rules allow. Cowboy Action revolvers receive somewhat rougher treatment and should have a heavier trigger pull. Interestingly, Scouting BSA specifies trigger pulls for rifles to be not less than three pounds but they have no similar specification for shotguns, revolvers, or pistols.

Still, I reasoned that a trigger pull for a single action revolver should be between 3-4 pounds. The new, wider cylinder stop and its tighter fit in the frame contributed to a stiffer trigger pull Far Comparing the two parts shows the wear and unevenness of the original part. as the stop and trigger are side by side on the same pivot screw. Using my Lyman trigger pull gauge, the trigger pull on the repaired FIE came out to 3 lbs. 14 ozs.

It seemed to me that this was a comfortable measure and that I would check periodically to see if it lightened much as parts wear in. Final Thoughts The FIE Tex is a serviceable revolver for casual shooting. It is the forerunner to and shares many features with the American Heritage revolvers. It is not a revolver you would consider suitable for competition target shooting as the sights are rudimentary and the frame not strong enough for long sessions of heavy usage.

The quirks I encountered cause me to question that its reliability is sufficient for potential defensive purposes. The Tex 22 was an inexpensive import for very casual shooting and a great many entered the country before FIE went bankrupt. You can still find them today for around $100 and I found several parts guns for much less than that. Although you can see several areas where the revolver can be refined, it is reasonable to question whether it would be worth the time.

On the other hand, if you were anew gunsmith looking for an inexpensive revolver to learn and practice on, this might be ideal. AG