5th or Pocket Army Model

5^th or POCKET ARMY MODEL: 4” barrel, no loading lever, uses heavy duty loading rod made of brass Regular blued & case color finish, 3 screw frame.

These Centaures were available on special order only in the USA.

Many 1860 Armies carried during the Civil War and more often thereafter were modified by their owners or smiths on the frontier with the loading lever removed and barrels cut off to a comfortable length between 2” and 4” to carry as a back-up pistol. Usually the slot in the barrel lug that previously accommodated the

loading lever was not plugged. A few of these pistols had dovetailed front sights fitted, others just a blade, a bead or post mounted on the barrel and quite a few no front sight at all. No matter the sights or barrel length of these .44 cal. Army pocket guns they made impressive & functional Avenging Angel or Natchez Special type revolvers.

This Centaure Pocket Army has been haunting me since April 2008 when an US FROCS presented a 1964 ad from Centennial Arms Corp. of Chicago mentioning this pistol for the first time. A Centaure snubby with full size Army frame, grip and cylinder was offered as special

Nickel plated Avanging Angel from the 1860s

order gun. It was further explained to be modelled after the rare Colt M 1862 Police in what some call “Trapper” or “Avenging Angel” design. In place of the regular loading lever this Belgian came with a separate brass plunger.

By February 2010 further ads have surfaced, more information became available. This included the announcement of the Belgian Pocket Army with 4” barrel “on regular or Civilian frame”. Another ad dubbed the Pocket Army Sheriff’s Model.

I suggest, however, to stick to the name 5^th Model or Pocket Army.

Please, don’t get caught away by the prices of below 1962 ad. My heart is bleeding, too and I am chiming in with you “If I could turn back time” (quote from Cher).

On February 27, 2010 I was privileged to have a close look at the outstanding Shore Collection of early production Centaures…which included 3 of these rare Pocket Armies:

Centaure Pocket Army, no visible serial numbers

The 4” barrels are specially made without slot for the loading lever, the barrel-lug is contoured with a drastic, no-nonsense 90° angle from the bore line. That is the way a gunsmith on the frontier would have chosen it back then. Because it makes for a belly gun with a very distinctive almost brutal look, in contrast to the pocket sized 3^rd. gen. Colt Police and the Italian short barrelled Armies without loading lever pictured down below. They were launched decades after the Centaure made it to the market.

Note simple post front sight & fluted cylinder

The $$$$ question: why introduced Centennial Arms Corporation the Pocket Army during the early 1960s in the first place? What do you think of this theory? Quick draw competitions with short barrelled Single Action Armies loaded with wax bullets or blanks were a hot game in town during the late 1950s and well into the 1960s. Celebrities like Clint Eastwood, Sammy Davis Jr. and a few others were into quick draw action stuff back in the 1960s. According to another old ad in 1961 Centennial Arms Corporation had a genuine Colt SAA with 3” barrel, without loading lever dubbed Sheriff’s Model .45 as an exclusive from Colt’s. Mitch Shore of Shore Galleries advises that this was actually the first Commorative Single Action Army made by Colt! But that is another story…

3rd gen Colt Police Trapper S/N59509

Italian made Pocket Army: note loading rod & marginally recontoured barrel lug

Custom made Pocket Army with fluted cylinder: note unplugged slot in barrel lug

Being the only company in the USA with a re-issue of the venerable 1860 Army at that time a line extension into this booming sport of cowboy quick draw with a Centaure model in belly gun configuration might have looked like a good idea…particularly because they were able to attract both the cartridge as well as a C&B revolver aficionados…with taylor-made exclusives from Hartford/USA and Liège/Belgium. What do you think? Makes sense?

Based on currently available information here is what little is known today about this model. We have to assume FAUL made the Pocket Army in 3 variations with the barrel marking “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY”.

5.1 – 1^st variation: the Civilian frame was used, i. e. full recoil shields. Steel back-strap and brass trigger-guard are silver plated like you find in the Civilian. It is believed that this 1^st variation Pocket Army features the cylinder with the Centaure proprietary naval scene engraving without the legend ENGAGED 16 MAY 1843.

5.2 – 2^nd variation: this version came with the same Civilian frame of the 1^st variation but sports a fully fluted cylinder. The 3 specimens in the collection are of this variant.

2nd variation Pocket Army: Civilian frame, silver plated TG & BS, fluted cylinder, no visible serial numbers, heavy duty brass loading rod

1 pistol was stamped with the *U, 2 with *R inspector marks All carried the typical early production rampant centaur logo on the forward left side of the frame. The one piece wooden grips were varnished. There was no toe on the butt but the MADE IN BELGIUM mark, see below pictures.

5.3 – 3^rd variation: the regular RNMA frame was used, i. e. this variant came with recoil shield and butt cut for shoulder stock and has probably the rebated, plain cylinder.

Since I did not disassemble the 3 Pocket Armies I cannot comment if and where serial numbers were stamped. However, the Liège Proof house would not have applied their acceptance mark without positive identification by serial numbers somewhere on the guns. At this point I assume that these Pocket Armies are numbered in the same system as the RNMAs and the Marshals without prefix. Total production of all three variations combined was probably below 100, possibly closer to 50.

So, watch out for a mean, ugly & all business looking Army 1860 type hideaway gun with early Liège proof and acceptance marks, logo of rampant centaur kind, MADE IN BELGIUM on the grip…and holler out loud!

Pricing: between 1962 and 1964 Centennial Arms offered these Pocket Armies at $ 89,95.

FAQ: “Clint Eastwood as Outlaw Josey Wales carried heavy hardware. Given the choice wouldn’t he be better off with a couple of Centaure Pocket Armies instead?”

IMHO we are touching a sensitive, politically very uncorrect subject here. Admittedly I am a dye-hard Eastwood fan AND like my Centaures. Deeply biased this is nonetheless a challenging proposition when it comes to tactical edges considering Wales’s gunplay. Fact is many of the bad guys in the movie toted Belgian Colt Armies. So, we can assume that Centaures of the Pocket Army type could have been available through the prop master early 1970s. Fact is also that Clint carried an armament of two heavy .44 cal. Walkers, one midsize .36 cal. 1861 Navy and this 5 shot .31 cal. pea shooter under the armpit. However, considering his gun fighter needs as portrayed in the movie I feel Josey Wales would have had more edges over his many adversaries when armed with 4 Pocket Armies instead. My reckoning might be too straight and firing 2 Walkers looks impressive, but here are my thoughts:

# simplified logistics because just one type of ball or conical bullets is needed instead of 3

# think of the poor horse which had to carry all that steel to Texas (the animal rights people will be with us now)

# faster on the draw certainly compared to the Walkers and the Navy tucked into his belt

# more fire power by one ball (4 Centaures 24, JW current armament 23 only)

# at least as effective in the power department for his close range work, and finally (watch this killer argument)

# much more fashionable.

What do you say?

5.4 – 4^th variation or FROCS Special: this is Paden’s and my pet project for some time now. To commemorate the global Centaure research project. A shooting, very special Belgian of limited availability only. For those who helped with the task. To have a gun that always reminds them of their contributions to the FROCS course. And since nobody is giving us such a FROCS Special we have to make her a present to ourselves. Therefore, the FROCS Special can be available to all interested FROCS (pending modifications are legal in the target country). It will be a re-issue of the original Pocket Army, made today by a few experienced and ambitious gunsmiths only, on both sides of the big pond. These smiths have to agree beforehand to execute the modifications in the high quality within the frame of the guidelines required.

Base gun for a FROCS Special can be any Belgian 1960 Army in your arsenal. However, I wish to emphasize that it is not suggested to destroy a valuable shooter or collector’s gun. I propose to select this old junker of yours, worn out & maltreated Centaure from yesteryear that you were planning to retire as a wall-hanger, paperweight or even throw on the junk pile anyhow. The plan is to have her rejuvenated, revitalized…following the contour of the original Pocket Army from the 1960s, according to a list of mandatory modifications. These modifications relate to the barrel only. The list is available as a download from this website in both English and German.

Ain’t FROCS Special #FS11477 a cool looking belly gun?

Master Nedbal stamped the “FS” over the serial on the barrel lug

After the modification your FROCS Special shall either have the barrel marking “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY” or no barrel marking at all!

If “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY” shall be engraved into an unmarked barrel like when a Marshal is chosen as the base gun care must be taken that the engraver is using the proper fonts.

Over the serial number on the barrel lug the prefix FS has to be stamped for FROCS Special.

For the prototype of a FROCS Special I selected 1^st variation, 2^nd sub-variation RNMA #11477 from 1972. She had seen some hard times as an exhibition gun. The outside of barrel and cylinder looked pretty molested but bore and lockwork were clean. Sent her to Karl Nedbal in Austria in Fall 2009 for the FROCS Special modifications and some restoration work to bring her back into shape. The final touch was to be his rust blue on barrel, cylinder and back-strap.

Eventually the missus got involved when she was searching for a X-mas present. So here are a couple of pictures of what I found under the tree December 24, 2009 together with the frog (which the war dept. now suggests to use as a FROCS mascot…pending approval of FROCS #1 Panhandle Paden!).

Note “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY” barrel marking

FS for FROCS Special stamped over #11477 on the barrel lug

#11477 left the factory with the barrel marking CENTENNIAL TRADE MARK “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY”. When Nedbal was done with her only “1960 NEW MODEL ARMY” remained. He mounted the original front sight on the shortened barrel.

Barrel cut to 4“, original front sight mounted near crowned muzzle

The Nedbal lathed the brass loading rod from 2 parts & stamped FS over #11477 on barrel lug

Two more pictures of mandatory and optional modifications. Despite these mods, polishing and refinishing jobs the original proof marks were maintained on the left side of the barrel lug.

Mandatory 90° cut of barrel lug, muzzle crowned

Holes under barrel for loading lever were closed, slot for loading lever is plugged (optional mods

Look at the comparative sizes of the FROCS Special and the 3^rd gen Colt Police Trapper. The FS sure is a handful.

Big is beautiful: muzzle view of FROCS Special (left) & 3^rd gen Colt Police Trapper (right)

Centaure FROCS Special (top) loading rod (center), 3^rd gen Colt Police Trapper (bottom)

Paden or myself will issue a letter of authentication on the FROCS letterhead once the modifications of your the individual pistols are completed AND we have seen pictorial proof that the mandatory modifications have been executed in line with the guidelines.

Regarding names and addresses of cooperating smiths for this FROCS Special project for the USA check with Panhandle Paden paden@1960nma.org, for Europe with me wolf@1960nma.org. We might be able to provide suggestions. Feel free, however, to check with your smith of choice first if he or she is prepared to execute the modifications within the guidelines set and in the quality demanded, that you deserve as a FROCS.

WDN/March 11, 2009

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