Makers and Importers of Replica Revolvers
Who Made and Who Imported My Replica Revolver?
When buying used revolvers........it is always a good idea to KNOW the manufacturer of any used revolver. Not only is quality of manufacture important, but obtaining parts is probably an even bigger factor. Action parts do wear out from time to time and it is important to know who made the revolver in order to secure the proper parts. Pietta and Uberti are usually no problem when it comes to obtaining parts, but revolvers that were made in the 50's through the 90's, and even into the 2,000’s, can be very difficult to get parts for IF the manufacturer is no longer around. Some older manufacturers were purchased by other manufacturers, and some parts can still be available, while others just dissolved away.
One such case in point is a manufacturer such as COM. Known as COM GARDONE VT., COM was Contrini Officine Meccaniche di Contrini Giovanni, operated by Contrini Giovanni and assembled guns whose parts came from an association of Italian manufacturers. They jointly produced parts for revolvers assembled for the European and International market in the 70's and 80's when the demand for replica revolvers was great enough to require a large production of products. These products were called products of low game, that is, low priced products of fair quality. This approach allowed many revolvers to be manufactured very quickly in different, smaller workshops with the parts of each weapon assembled under a single brand, which was the shop of Contrini Giovanni. This did not identify the original manufacturers of the parts so as not to damage their reputation.
Securing replacement parts for these revolvers is near impossible due to the fact that it is not known which shop produced which revolver or even the parts. The quality may have been decent, but not being able to get parts creates an issue that is difficult to overcome....unless one is skilled enough to modify current available parts to work in the revolver.
There are still many COM revolvers out there today, as I come across them from time to time in the groups on Facebook, on GunBroker and other auction sites. Many times, in Facebook Groups, it is due to someone looking for parts! COM revolvers can be identified by the maker's mark, in the photo above, typically on the barrel underneath the loading lever.
COM is only one example of the dozens of different gun makers from Italy, Spain and Germany that are no longer in business. And several that are still in business no longer produce reproduction black powder revolvers and have not for some time. Here is a list of previous manufacturers of reproduction revolvers that are no longer in business or no longer produce reproduction revolvers. It is by no means all inclusive, but does include those manufacturers that one needs to think twice about before purchasing one of their marked revolvers due to the lack of replacement parts. For assistance in identifying the various manufacturer stamps on your revolver(s), refer to the photo gallery of maker marks, importer marks and distributor marks at this link:
MANUFACTURERS/MAKERS:
AMR - A. Marcos Relea
Armi San Marco
Armi San Paolo - GDG
Armi Sport (now Chiappa)
Bondini (Paolo Bondini)
Centaure-FAUL
Colt Mfg.
Colt Blackpowder Arms
COM
Domilelli and Grassi
Dominelli Grassi and Gazzola
Euroarms
FAGS - Fabrica Armi Gradoga Successore
FARA
GAMI - (Pietta contracted with GAMI for parts prior to Pietta going to CNC machining in 1985.
GLB
Gregorelli and Uberti
Hege-Uberti
High Standard (Imported Uberti parts and assembled revolvers in the United States.)
L.A. Jensen
Mavi
MOFRA
PR
Palmetto
Pedersoli
Pietta
Rigarmi
Santa Barbara
Ubertii
Witloe
Most of these previous manufacturers are now out of business and procuring parts is near impossible. Often times parts from Pietta or Uberti may be modified to fit and Lodgewood Mfg. in Janesville, WI can make certain parts for some of these, especially the Centaure. S & S Firearms may carry a few of these parts and Peter Dyson and Son Ltd of Huddersfield, England has a fairly extensive collection of Euroarms Rogers & Spenser parts as does Saguaro-Arms in Poland.
Beyond the scope of the manufacturers of replica revolvers, there were and are almost as many importers and/or distributors of the replica revolvers. These importers/distributors did not manufacture any revolvers, but their company stamp/logo may appear on the revolvers as a point of law. It is necessary to decifer the various importer/distributor stamps on the revolvers along with the maker stamps.
Here is a list of previous and some current importers/distributors of reproduction revolvers that are or may no longer be in business or no longer import reproduction revolvers. It is by no means all inclusive, but does include those that may assist in identifying who imported or made a replica revolver.
IMPORTERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Allen F.A.
Centennial Arms
CVA (Connecticut Valley Arms)
EIG
EMF (Early Modern Firearms)
Excam
FIE (Firearms Import & Export)
Hawes Firearms Co.
High Standard (Imported and assembled)
Hy-Score Arms Corp.
Iver Johnson Arms
Liberty Arms
Lyman
Navy Arms
RG-Pioneer Arms
Replica Arms
Richland Arms
Sile Distributors
SMLS (Southwest Muzzleloaders)
Taylor's & Co.
Traditions
Western Arms
Westerner's Arms
There are several of these manufacturers and importers whose revolvers are highly collectable and those will be revolvers that one may only want to collect and never shoot, so parts may not be an issue if you find any of these rare revolvers. Those would include:
L.A. Jensen
Witloe
High Standard
Gregorelli & Uberti
Euroarms Rogers & Spenser
Santa Barbara
Western Arms Tucker & Sherrard
SWML Dance Brothers Commemorative
For assistance in identifying the various manufacturer/importer/distributor stamps on your revolver(s), refer to the photo gallery of maker marks, importer marks and distributor marks at this link: Makers and Importers.
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