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Wolf on Conversions Reflections
on Centaure Conversions & the 1871-72 Open Top or the Rambling of an Old
Cowpuncher # What the Heck is a Conversion? # Part 1 - Pistols that Tamed the West & Added
Spice to Modern Western Movies
# Part 2 Thoughts about Ammo for Colt Army
Conversions, the 1871-72 Open Top & their Modern Clones
# Part 4 Centaure Open Top Project - Yes we can
but do we want?
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What
the Heck is a Conversion? I frankly confess that my
interest in guns of the American frontier stems from watching Cowboy and Indian
movies during the 1960s. It took a couple of years before I realized that the
good old Colt Single Action Army Model of 1873 was not the only kid on the
block in the revolver department to tame the West. Like when Spaghetti Western
hit the market in earnest during the early 1970s Terence Hill carried a Colt
1851 percussion Navy in NOBODY but Clint Eastwood cleaned and loaded a 1851
Navy with cartridges in the 1960s blockbuster THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY?
So, some of my heroes preferred percussion revolvers over
SAAs but others took C&B pistol look-alikes fed with cartridges from the
breech side to the final show-down?!
Somewhat puzzled I invested in books like THE BOOK ON
COLT FIREARMS by Sutherland and Wilson, to learn more about the evolution of
these front stuffers to breech loaders. Having finally
seen the light today I am pleased that quite a few of the newer cowboy movies
pay close attention to the historical correctness of equipment but also the guns
toted by the actors.
New life was instilled into this scheme during the
late 1990s when Italian replica makers Armi san Marco and Uberti launched their
perceptions of Colt Richards, Richards-Masons, Open Tops and even Thuer
conversions. At first I handled my then new ASM 1851 and 1860 Richards or
Uberti OT and RM at the turn of the century pretty enthused. But this has
changed gradually to a more pragmatic attitude once I had the chance to compare
these clones side by side to originals and finally decided to have some of my
Centaures custom converted by the great conversion artist Karl Nedbal of
Vösendorf, Austria.
You will have noted elsewhere that this is a subject
close to my heart. However and in some fairness, I will address it from
different angles. But one caveat is in order here: This is going to be a
personal and very subjective page with a few drops of semi-scientific
window-dressing. So shake well before swallowing. And it will eventually lead
to the Belgian Centaure C&B pistols and their conversions.
WDN/November 9, 2011
© 2007 Wolf D. Niederastroth