Belgian Centaures 1860 Army

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Willie Sutton

Moderator
Got to love mis-described auction ads. Where else can you find a nice 1860 Centaures for less than the price of a Pietta? Totally different paradigm of replica.

Just scored a nice 1860 Belgian, any other owners?


Willie

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Willie...

...I own SN 952 and came by it in much the same way at a gun show about four years ago.

Bought two revolvers for 200.00. One was a .44 Colt with an 1851 pattern barrel and a steel frame. Not great condition. The other was SN 952. Also not in great condition.

Had it gone over to the tune of 260.00.

You bought a revolver to be proud of.

To get it for the price you paid, is a bonus.
 
Got two, both purchased at auction (different auctions) for less than $150 each.

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There is a group in Europe....

...That has established what is essentially a virtual shrine to these high quality revolvers.

http://www.1960nma.org

They will be very interested in knowing the particulars of your revolver. They are seeking to catalogue every one which was ever made and your info could appreciably add to their knowledge base.

These revolvers may actually be a closer approximation of the original Colt 1860, than the Imperato marketed second and third gen Colts.
 
SOOOO! It was YOU!!!!

Thanks Willy you out bid me. LOL!
No hard feelings. Glad to know it went to someone here.
I was looking to make that one a friend of the one I got last month.
You got it for a fair price.

Mine is the Cavalry Model S/N F698 with the full fluted cylinder that sold on GB in DEC.

I'll keep looking for the one to pair with this one. Another Cavalry model would be the cat's whiskers, or Meouw or??
 
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^^ Sorry Buddy.... I think it was fairly sold too.

I've been looking for one for a while too. There were two at auction, the one I bought and a fancier one with gold-filled markings. I'm happy with the basic one. Any ideas of nipple sizes? This one will need a full set.


Thanks as well. Doc. I've seen that site and it's what got me interested in these. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my Second Gen 1860 Army as well as few others I have in the safe. Hopes are high.

Best,

Willie

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Regarding nipples for the Centaures aka Centennial Armies: newly made Beryllium nipples for the Centaures are available.
Please, find the address of the dealer at the bottom of left navigation bar of www.1960nma.org
Long Johns Wolf
 
Many thanks for this

Hey many thanks for this info, I had never heard of this company before, and will have to look for one of these .

It is kind of neat how this is just one more in a long line of Belgium copied firearms that was shipped over here to the US (as well as other places) as cheaper (more affordable) copies of the originals. By jiminy it would be something to figure out in the day of the old west how many guns were from Belgium??
 
Yeah Willie, that fancy one was way out of my reach also and too darn nice to shoot. BTW the nipple sie is 6MM-.75 which makes sense as the screw i need to replace the Stock(4th) screw in mine are 6mm and are too loose in a 6mm-1.0 at my nearest Ace Hardware store....I am betting the the nipple size and the 4th screw are the same pitch.
 
Well, the first of four of these critters finally reached my door yesterday. This wil be my only "fix" for a few weeks, as the other three will arrive after I leave today for a 3 week business trip. Oh well...

In any event the thing is a beauty, and is definately "different" than the Italian copies. Case coloring is rich, the wood is excellent quality with beautiful grain, finish is excellent, contours on the loading lever area, etc., are slightly different and look more like the original, knurling on top of the hammer is quite a bit sharper, arbor length is correct, wedge pushed out with finger pressure and reseated with ease, etc. I'd say it meets exactly what I expected.

This particular example was obviously a shooter. The area where you load the caps has been marked a bit, the cylinder notches have just a bit of wear, overall condition shows it's been shot, and the entire thing is loaded with heavy grease (including the inside of the cylinders). The nipples are missing, leading me to think that it was deliberately used for dry-firing on a routine basis, possibly for a movie production or similar. When I get back I'll strip the grips, disassemble it, pull the grip frame off, degrease the entire thing, reassemble, and lubricate. Need to figure out what the nipple size is, I know that the Germans sell them mail order but Treso must have nipples that will fit. This will make a great shooter, and a decent example for a collector.


Three more to go! I'm glad this one is in the condition it is in... the new in box ones will never be shot. Sometimes things can be "too nice" to really enjoy.


Willie

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Willie,
The nipple size is 6mm x .75, but I do not know the length, they are for sale on the www.1960nma.org website, made by a member in Germany. Dixie has a few different ones from Ampco and the like, but without knowing the length it might be hard to get the right ones.

I looked these up before you beat me out on the bid. Glad you got her home though.
 
^^ Thanks. I'll score some of the ones available here, taking a guess by looking at my other 1860's, and if they do not work I can always send off to the Germans.

If I let this one go, I'll give rights of first refusal here first.


Willie

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I've got one, gave it to a friend to have it engraved....I might not shoot it again once he's done, unless I'm standing on a foam rubber platform. Interesting tidbit about these guns, Samuel Colt licensed a Belgian company(s) to copy his guns in the mid 1800's and the license had no expiration date, some folks think these are the "real" 2nd Gen guns made by the FAUL consortium.
 

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some folks think these are the "real" 2nd Gen guns made by the FAUL consortium.


Some folks think Elvis works at 7-11 too. :cool:

No Colts were ever made using the license that Colt granted. To fluff it up 100 years later as "Authorized".... well.... it's good marketing. So good that some folks actually believe it...

It's a good copy. Very good, in fact. Not perfect: I can show you contours that are quite different than an original, but it's picking nits. They are excellent copies. Better by far than contemporary Italian ones. Better by a little than the modern copies available today.


Love to see your engraved one when it's done.


Willie

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Willie, I post pic' of it for sure. Back to the licensing story, the other reality is that they only made brevette's of the 51', not the 60'...sales pitch ot not, it rolls off the tongue better than "Made in Italy and finished in the USA". BTW, Elvis works at Jiffy Lube.
 
I'm a fan of Belgian guns. I have a few originals and they've stood up well over a hundred or so years. As far as the 1860s - I had one briefly but never fired it. It seems that they all need work of some sorts right out of the box (no big deal). So, what actually makes them better than other copies? Is the steel harder? Are the screw and nipple threads metric or American?
 
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