Do You Have a Sleeper in Your Gun Cabinet?
Lately, there has been growing interest in a line of Belgian-made cap and ball revolvers that many collectors consider direct-line descendents of original Civil War era Colts—even more authentic than 2nd and 3rd generation Colts made in the States. The story goes that in 1853 Samuel Colt traveled overseas and licensed Belgian gun manufacturers to produce his famous line of revolvers. Then, one hundred years later, some of these companies regrouped and again began to churn out cap and ball six shooters. But this time modern steels were used; the new pistols were marketed as “1960” New Model Armies”; and, most notably, they were stamped “Made in Belgium.”
The upcoming centennial of the American Civil War, 1861 to 1865, the scarcity of originals, the absence of 1860 New Army reproductions for reenactors, and a burgeoning market for blackpowder firearms all pointed to an obvious need. And there to answer that need were two important ingredients: original Colt equipment waiting silently in Belgium for nearly a century and a young man by the name of William B. Edwards.
Edwards was a gun historian-consultant and one of the principals of Centennial Arms Corp., in Chicago. He had already proven himself in the late 1950s in negotiations between Val Forgett of Navy Arms and Vittorio Gregorelli (a subcontractor for Beretta who would later team up with Aldo Uberti) in connection with the manufacture of the first Colt Navy 1851 Italian replicas. Edwards realized there was a ready market just waiting for a reproduction of the venerable Colt Army. At that time only steel and brass-framed replicas of the Colt Navy and 1858 Remington were available. Edwards entrusted Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liège in Belgium with the production of the New Army. Under Edwards, Centennial Arms soon became the main U.S. dealer for the new guns and the number 2 replica retailer during the 1960s, after Navy Arms. (Continued)
