We present a detailed experimental study of femtosecond tuning with Cr:LiSAF and Cr:LiCAF gain media using ${\mathrm{Al}}_{0.95}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.05}\mathrm{As}/{\mathrm{Al}}_{0.17}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.83}\mathrm{As}$ -based saturable Bragg reflectors. In the experiments with Cr:LiSAF gain media, femtosecond tuning ranges of $803–831\mathrm{nm}$ ( $28\mathrm{nm}$ ), $828–873\mathrm{nm}$ ( $45\mathrm{nm}$ ) and $890–923\mathrm{nm}$ ( $33\mathrm{nm}$ ) were demonstrated using three different saturable Bragg reflectors with reflectivity bands centered at around 800, 850, and $910\mathrm{nm}$ , respectively. With Cr:LiCAF gain medium, a femtosecond tuning range of $767–817\mathrm{nm}$ ( $50\mathrm{nm}$ ) was demonstrated using the $800\mathrm{nm}$ saturable Bragg reflector. Pulses as short as $26\mathrm{fs}$ with Cr:LiSAF and $39\mathrm{fs}$ with Cr:LiCAF have been obtained, which we believe are the shortest pulses reported from Cr:colquiriite laser systems mode locked with saturable Bragg reflectors. This study further illustrates the benefits and limitations of ${\mathrm{Al}}_{0.95}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.05}\mathrm{As}/{\mathrm{Al}}_{0.17}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.83}\mathrm{As}$ -based saturable Bragg reflectors for use in Cr:colquiriites.