This study was supported by gun and CAS magazines, CAS websites, auction houses and gun dealers in Europe and the USA. However, it is you, the pards and pardettes from both sides of the Atlantic, namely Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S.A who responded to the call, reported data of their prized Centaure pistols. This led to some surprising and fascinating discoveries. Thanks a lot.
Ms. Nadine Hanquet of Liege, the last of the owner family of Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liége (FAUL) kindly added important facts that helped to bring the Belgian Colt story into historical perspective. They were amended by some supportive technical information from Director Jean-Luc Stassen of the Liege Proof House but particularly from the Club Littlegun, a Belgian gun collectors and study group (especially Alan Trigger). This research could not be substantiated without their help.
Without W.T., Steel Horse Bailey and Buffalo Chip this website would be an academic paper with lots of facts for collectors but too dry to read by any red-blooded cowboy and shooter. But they edited the wealth of information collected into an easily flowing, digestible language. Thanks, pards. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Jim Davis for his advice regarding the structuring of the questionnaire, providing original literature and adding specifics of a number of very rare 1960 NEW MODEL ARMIES from the collection of the Replica Percussion Revolver Collectors Association.
I am indebted to my trusted friend Hartmut “Mullie” Wienands who has a knack for languages. He accepted to communicate for me in French with Ms. Nadine Hanquet and also translated Flemish texts. Jean-Francois Pancé made sure that I fully appreciated the history of the Hanquet family by translating their original French family story. But without the computer wizard Panhandle Paden and all the energy he instilled into the research program there would be no www.1960NMA.org. Thank you, my friend.
Technically our knowledge about the strengths but also the shortfalls of the Belgian Colt would lack solid gunsmith know how and backing without the advice of one US smith who goes by the alias Rifle. Together with Austrian master Karl Nedbal they provided important facts including comparisons of the Centaure to 1st generation Colts and Colt clones. And Herr Nedbal did not stop there, see the chapters in this site for all of his contributions.