Centennial Arms Other Imported Replicas

On the other hand, they had only one exclusive cap and ball revolver in their assortment, namely the New Model Army Centaure of Colt 1860 pattern. But they were already allowing a glimpse of their future product line in the lower right corner of that flyer, an Italian made Colt 1851 Navy pattern pistol with a brass frame.

A couple of months later their revolver program from Belgium was already extended to three models of their Centaure line, namely the Regular New Model Army, the Civilian New Model Army and the Cavalry New Model Army. They had also added the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Model Dragoon from an Italian maker, if we are to believe the above ad. The caveat here is this though: they sold the 3 Centaure Models and more variants of the Belgian Colt Army in the years to come. But at this point we do not know if the above Dragoons ever really existed in numbers for sale. And if they were available for sale we do not know for sure who made them. This is simply because none have been found to date that we are aware of!



According to Dr. Davis, at that time the only maker of replicas of Dragoons, Walkers, Baby Dragoons and Pocket percussion revolvers of Colt pattern was Armi San Marco (ASM). But their US distributor back then was Replica Arms from El Paso. We do not know if Replica Arms had an exclusive deal with ASM and if they did, for how many years.

We also do not know if FAUL had made prototypes of these Dragoons like they had done of a Colt Navy pattern Leech & Rigdon for Centennial Arms. So, this could just as well have been pictures of FAUL Dragoon prototypes on that flyer.

During the early 1960s Navy Arms sold the Uberti 1851 Navy with steel & brass frame plus the Remington Army and Navy in various configurations in the U.S. as their prime offerings. But they were working hard with their Italian partner Aldo Uberti to extending that line, with their version of the Colt Army 1860 replica to be added in April 1963. Turner Kirkland’s Dixie Gun Works had focused on Civil War and American Revolution rifles back then.

So, to take further advantage of the market’s momentum and their strong market position, to advance to become the major player they eventually were, Centennial Arms visionaries Bill Edwards and Sig Shore elected to extend their line of percussion revolvers. They were looking for makers of unique and exclusive percussion revolver models that could not be had from their competitors. But they realized that successful competition required mainstream pistols like the venerable 1851 Navies and/or the Remington family of percussion revolvers. As has been mentioned before, we know that FAUL produced at least one prototype of the CSA Leech & Rigdon revolver for Centennial Arms which is in the Shore Collection as far as we know today. This Belgian Navy pattern pistol was never launched for sale to the best of our knowledge. Bearing that in mind, we cannot rule out that FAUL made prototypes of other percussion revolver models like Dragoons or Remingtons as well but none have surfaced that we are aware of.

It stands to reason that Centennial Arms charged FAUL during the early 1960s with the task of extending the “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY” line. But Williams and Shore eventually looked elsewhere for other Civil War revolver replicas, namely the manufacturers in Italy

In looking at percussion revolvers with the “CENTENNIAL” mark as part of their marking what follows is what we have assembled:

Above is an Armi san Paolo 1851 Navy from the Dr. Davis collection with steel frame and cylinder with the correct Ormsby naval engagement scene. The marking on top of the barrel from the breech to the muzzle reads CENTENNIAL ARMS, CHICAGO ILL. Serial number is #33288, MADE IN ITALY and Army san Paolo logo are stamped under the barrel. According to the proof mark the pistol is from 1971.

Centennial Arms referred to these pistols as “brass frame Colt 1851 Navy”. This terminology was of their own making and is not historically correct. The correct terminology for brass frame, octagon barrel, plain cylinder percussion revolvers would be a Schneider & Glassick.

Above is an Investarms Schneider & Glassick Sheriff model from the Dr. Jim Davis Collection. The marking on the left side of the barrel lug reads CENTENNIAL TRADE MARK in two lines. Serial number is #13643. According to the Italian proof mark XX7 it was made 1971.

Above is a Schneider & Glassick Model with regular 7,5” barrel, from the Dennis M. Norton Collection. This pistol does not have any manufacturer marks anywhere on the revolver. The marking on top of the barrel from the muzzle to the breech reads CENTENNIAL ARMS, CHICAGO ILL. The proof mark again is XX7, i. e. and is also from 1971.  This revolver came from the Dr. Davis Collection and could possibly be a prototype.

Above is Page 185 of the 1974 Lyman Muzzleloader’s handbook (courtesy Dr. Jim Davis) lists a number of Centennial Arms revolver kits. The current research indicates that these kits are from one or more Italian makers but not from FAUL in Belgium.

Conclusions:

Our beloved Centaure aka “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY”, definitely has “half brothers” running around the US. These Italian pistols made from the 1970s are marked “CENTENNIAL” in one way or the other but NOT MADE IN BELGIUM.

From the pre-1970 period none of the Italian percussion revolvers marketed by Centennial Arms Corp. are available for inspection. Therefore, we cannot be sure if they were marked “CENTENNIAL” in any way. We should bear in mind, however, that from 1962 Centennial Arms Corp. ordered their Centaures in Belgium with a barrel marking including “CENTENNIAL” to further establish the company name as a trade mark in the US market.

It would probably be a fair to assume that they had their Italian replica suppliers follow suit. Here is what we know:

1. Centennial Arms marketed brass framed & octagon barrel Colt Navy 1851 pattern pistols with 7,5” and 5” barrels MADE IN ITALY from 1961. The manufacturer is currently unknown.

2. Centennial Arms advertised Colt Dragoon pattern pistols MADE IN ITALY from 1961. The manufacturer is assumed to be Armi san Marco because that was the only maker of Dragoon type pistols during the 1960s.

3. Centennial marked Colt Navy 1851 pattern pistols with 7,5” and 5” barrels MADE IN ITALY are confirmed from the early 1970s. Makers were Armi san Paolo (steel frame) and Investarms (brass frame).

4. Centennial marketed steel frame Colt Navy 1851 pattern pistols with 7,5” and 5” barrels, half fluted cylinders and lanyard ring MADE IN ITALY are confirmed from the 1970s. The 7,5” barrel variant was dubbed “Police”, the 5” barrel version “Sheriff”. The manufacturer was Armi San Paolo.

5. Centennial marketed Remington Army and Navy pattern pistols incl. the Army Target variant MADE IN ITALY are confirmed from the 1970s. The manufacturer is assumed to be Armi San Paolo.

6. Centennial marketed C&B revolver kits during the 1970s of brass and steel frame Navy 1851 pattern, Remington Army pattern, Colt Army 1860 pattern, made by unknown Italian makers.

No completely finished Italian made Centennial Arms marketed Colt Army of 1860 pattern has been brought to our attention. Based on the evidence it is unlikely that they ever attempted to compete with their own flagship Centaure except in the kits’ department.

To add another perspective to this subject please note the recollections of Leslie Field, one of the principals of Mars/Centennial, from June of 2011: “We have made a diligent search of the Mars/Centennial records at Shore Galleries and very little documentation remains. As one of the principals involved in Mars/Centennial, my experience at that time leads me to seriously doubt that many of the items ever existed in any quantity. The one replica which I know existed and was sold in some quantity was the Harpers Ferry Flintlock single-shot pistol, which the Belgians considered to be the best thing we ever did.”

If you let Les’s statements sink in, Italian percussion revolvers marked CENTENNIAL, one way or the other, seem to be a rare find in the USA and nearly impossible to find in Europe. Which would make them interesting collector’s pieces in their own right.

ENDNOTES:

……compiled from the notes of Dr. James H. Davis as recounted to Wolf Niederastroth at FROCS and used with permission from Wolf Niederastroth.