Project

IAR – company overview

IAR, acronym for International Antique Reproductions.  This was a California firm that in the 80’s and 90’s had a small catalog of replica offerings sourced from Italy.  They imported a Sharps rifle replica and several configurations of 1873 revolver clones.  Revolvers came from both Uberti and Armi San Marco.  IAR had a close business relationship with EMF, who was the actual importer of record for IAR.

Herter’s – company overview

Herter’s was the mail order sportsman’s catalog of George Herter, located in Waseca, MN.  Prior to the 1968 Gun Control Act the Herter’s catalog offered western style revolvers in centerfire and .22.  All models were imported from Germany.

The centerfires were made by JP Sauer & Sohn.  These are merely the Hawes and Hy Hunter revolvers by another name.

Calibers:

• .357 Magnum
• .401 Powermag
• .44 Magnum
• .45 Colt

 

American Western Arms – company overview

AWA was a Miami based company.  In the late 1990’s it contracted to import a premium grade 1873 replica from Armi San Marco.  The hope was this replica would be obvious as best in class, and thus capture most of the cowboy action market for clone revolvers.

AWA called this revolver the ‘Peacekeeper’ .   Good as they often were, this enterprise was beset by continual legal and manufacturing difficulties.  Colt litigated a ‘trade-dress’ complaint against AWA, noting the Peacekeeper’s name and black grips were essentially free-riding on name and visual characteristics protected by Colt owned trademarks.  The lawsuit, operational problems at Armi San Marco, and a botched rollout of a Lightning rifle replica put AWA out of business in 2004.

The AWA trademark was revived soon after by another LLC in Florida.  They imported Pietta build replica revolvers for a few years.

Import years: 1998 – 2009 (?)

Models:

• Peacekeeper – Armi San Marco
• Longhorn – Armi San Marco
• 1873 – Pietta
• Ultimate – Pietta

Cabela’s – company overview

In its stores, Cabelas has offered its own branded replica single actions.  In the 1990’s and 2000’s, this was typically a matte black, bottom dollar version of the Uberti Cattleman.  In recent years, they have offered Pietta’s single action.

Allen Firearms – company overview

In the 1980’s Allen Firearms operated in Sante Fe, New Mexico and was briefly an importer of Italian replica firearms.  It did not thrive, and its assets were bought out by Mike Harvey.   He used those inventories to start his company Cimarron Firearms, which has since been a very successful importer.

USFA – manufacturer overview

USFA was a Hartford, CT based company that sold best grade replicas of the Colt 1873 over 1993-2013.  Through the 1990’s USFA’s guns were built from imported Uberti revolvers that would get either completed or detailed with artisanal exterior finishes.   By the 2000’s USFA had acquired machines and tooling to make their entire revolver in house, and did so for the next several years.

By 2013 USFA was not optimistic for the future of the replica firearms business, and the company radically changed its product orientation.  It dropped it’s 1873 replica entirely and began manufacture of a unique, recreational use .22 semi-automatic.

While in production standard USFA revolver MSRP’s were somewhat lower than for a new Colt SAA.  Since USFA production ceased, prices have spiked and are volatile.

Armi San Marco – manufacturer overview

Armi San Marco was a family owned gun maker in Brescia, Italy.  They supplied American retailers with replica firearms over the 1960’s thru 1990’s.

Armi San Marco first started making a Colt 1873 replica in the middle 1980’s.  In terms of authenticity, Armi San Marco’s clone was noted as a great improvement over Uberti and Jager single actions.  Armi San Marco’s revolvers were of Colt dimensions, and its best ones were all steel with premium finishes.

Over the years Armi San Marco acquired a nagging reputation for soft mechanical parts and other defects however.   When last in business, ASM was a subsidiary of American Western Arms, but insurmountable operational problems put a cease to manufacturing in 2004.

Retailers / Models

• EMF Hartford / New Dakota
• Cimarron Model P
• AWA Peacekeeper / Longhorn
• KBI / Kassnar Liberty Limited
• Navy Arms 1873
• Traditions 1873

Import years: 1985 – 2004

Serial ranges: General range is SA1 to about SA30000.  AWA has ranges for Peacekeeper and Longhorn models.

Armi Jager – manufacturer overview

Armi Jager built the first Italian clone of the Colt 1873.  Starting in 1962, this revolver was imported by InterContinental Arms of Burbank, CA.  In the 70’s the major importer switched to EMF, also of southern California.  Both those companies used the ‘Dakota’ trade label for this revolver.

The Jager Dakota is generally known as a robust, durable gun, though it is sometimes panned for inauthenticity. Screw dimensions are metric and it usually has a brass grip assembly. Intuitive single action gunsmiths can get Colt parts to function on the Jager, but this work requires advanced insight.

Jager idled production of all their models in the early 90’s, and then ceased business altogether with the retirement of key employees.  Very late, the company was known as Adler.

Retailers / Models

• InterContinental Arms Dakota
• EMF Dakota
• HEGE Dakota
• KBI / Kassnar 1873 Frontier
• Navy Arms 1873 Frontier
• Mitchell Arms 1873 Frontier
• Liberty Arms Kansas

Import years: 1962 – 1993

Serial ranges: 1 to 100000 or so

Uberti – Manufacturer Overview

Uberti was started by Aldo Uberti in Gardone, Italy in 1959.  His first orders were to Navy Arms for Colt percussion replicas.  In the late 1960’s he started offering cartridge revolvers, and supplied numerous American retailers over the next decades.  In 2004 the business was sold to Beretta.  Most production is now directed through Stoeger’s US distribution, though there are some exceptions.

Uberti’s 1873 replica is the Cattleman, and it has been built since 1970.  Over years its design has evolved from one of metric measurements to one that is now by and large of Colt SAA dimensions.  Retailers and various trade names are as follows:

Retailers / Models

• IGI Italguns American Pioneer, Nevada
• Iver Johnson Cattleman
• Mitchell Arms Cattleman
• Western Arms Cattleman
• Navy Arms Cattleman
• American Arms Regulator
• EMF New Dakota, Frontier Marshal, and Hartford
• Cimarron Model P, Evil Roy
• Taylors Smokewagon
• Cabela’s Cattleman

Import years: 1970 – Present

Serial ranges: Numerous

• General through 2002: 1 to 200,000
• J range, 2002 – 2007: J00001 – J99999
• U range, 2007 – present: U00001 – U99999
• P Prefix: Cimarron and USFA circa 2000 or so
• AA Prefix: American Arms