Italian STAINLESS 1861 Navy Clone

[Long Johns Wolf]

A question for the initiates, please: found this sales ad with some pics over at Egun, the German internet auction house.
Seller writes this C&B revolver is made from stainless steel, no further info.
The right side of the barrel lug is marked REPLICA ARMS INC. MARIETTA, OHIO, MADE IN ITALY.
Is this really a genuine stainless pistol or was it just stripped? If stainless which of the Italian manufacturers made this model?
Long Johns Wolf

[Major 2]

Replica Arms was an old name used by Val Forgett....Navy Arms/Replica arms
Boxes in the 80's still the Navy Arms RA logo..
If it SS it a Uberti ..However ASM also made some ....
Uberti had some fabed for Colt (Black Powder Series ) 2nd Gen.s

[Sgt. Jake]

   LJW     I recently came across an old Uberti add ,that came in the box of a 1860 Henry ,purchased in 1984.The add showed their product line at the time,there were three C&B revolvers available in SS.I sent the add to a fellow who collects them and posts here.The models they listed were the 1851,1860, 1861,in the add was the old four barrel sharps,a fairly close J&S Hawken,some goodies they no longer catalog. I wish Uberti still produced a line of SS firearms.       Adios  Sgt.Jake

[Long Johns Wolf]

Thanks pards. I knew Uberti (ASM, and ASP/Euroarms) made a replica of the 1860 but you confirmed now that Uberti made a clone of the 1861 as well. So, this one here could be a genuine one.
Long Johns Wolf

[Fingers McGee]

LJW, Not sure if it could be or not.  As said in previous posts, Uberti made some in the early 80s.  Not sure whether Replica Arms imported any; but Allen Firearms in Santa Fe NM imported 1851, 1860, 1861, 1862 Navy & 1862 Police models.  Colt sold the 1851, 1860 and 1861 models around the same time.  I have run across some Colt style C&Bs that were advertised as being SS; but, turned out to be stripped and polished standard models.  Bprevolver - Dr Jim Davis - at RPRCA would probably know for sure if Replica Arms sold SS models or not.

Fingers

[drjldavis]

Wolf sent me pictures of the revolver in question.  From the pictures I do not believe this is stainless steel.  It appears to be buffed and polished steel.  There are no sharp edges which seem to be on most stainless steel revolvers.  Replica Arms was an early competitor of Navy Arms.  They were first located in El Paso, Texas and later moved to Marietta, Ohio.  In 1975 Replica Arms was bought out by Val Forgett and Navy Arms.  During this transition Replica Arms were marked "Replica Arms Ridgefield NJ" on the barrel.  Replica Arms used ASM, Uberti, and Pietta as manufacturers for their guns.  I checked back through all my old Replica Arms Catalogs and price sheets.  There were no stainless steel revolvers listed which also makes me think that this is a polished revolver, not stainless steel. 

I have 1985 price sheets from Tony Gajewsky's company, Southwest Muzzle Loaders Supply, that list fourteen (14) Uberti stainless steel Colt Models that were manufactured.  Manufacturers that produced stainless steel models of both Colt and Remington revolvers are Uberti, Armi San Marco, Armi San Paolo/Euroarms, Pietta, and Colt.

I am enclosing a copy of the RPRCA Collector's Guide table of contents listing the various Stainless Steel models that have been uncovered.  If you have seen others that are not listed I would appreciate knowing about them.

Colt Models in Stainless Steel
1.   Paterson "Texas" Engraved Stainless without loading lever
       9" barrel Pietta
        
2.   1851 Navy
      1)   1851 Navy - Colt 2nd Generation
      2)   1851 Navy Oval TG
      3)   1851 Navy SqBk TG
      4)   1851 Navy Sheriff Model Oval TG
      5)   1851 Navy Sheriff Model SqBk TG
        
3.   1860 Army 
      1)   1860 Army CSS
      2)   1860 Army Polished Stainless CSS
      3)   1860 Army Full Fluted Cylinder
        
4.   1861 Navy
      1)   1861 Navy CSS
      2)   1861 Navy Civilian NCSS
      3)   1861 Navy Half Fluted Cylinder CSS
      4)   1861 Navy Half Fluted Cylinder NCSS
      5)   1861 Navy Sheriff Half Fluted Cylinder
      6)   1861 Navy Sheriff CSS Half Fluted Cylinder
        
5.   1862 Models
      1)   1862 Police Half Fluted - 5 ½" Barrel
      2)   1862 Police Half Fluted - 6 ½" Barrel
      3)   1862 Pocket Navy - 5 ½" Barrel
      4)   1862 Pocket Navy - 6 ½" Barrel

Remington Models in Stainless Steel
     1.  Remington Beals Army Model - Stainless - 8" Barrel
     2.  Remington Beals Army Model - Stainless - Target Sights -
           8" Barrel
     3.  Remington New Model Army - Stainless - 8" Barrel
     4.  Remington New Model Army- Stainless - Target Sights -
           8" Barrel
     5.  Remington New Model Army - Stainless - Buffalo - 12" Barrel
     6.  Remington New Model Army - Stainless - 5 ½" Barrel