Companies from Italy have produced numerous replicas of famous firearms from the 1800s. Here’s how the Italians won the West.

by Ryan Hoover

Since the 1960s, modern replicas of historic 19th century firearms have been pouring into the hands of American gun owners. These owners range from collectors to reenactors and movie prop houses to competition cowboy action shooters and beyond. Having run a shop that is responsible for most of the warranty repairs, action work, and customization for one of the biggest importers of these weapons, I have become intimately familiar with the ins and outs of these firearms. Here are some of the pros and cons of these interesting guns, some common problems encountered, and some easy solutions to bring these Italian guns up to our American standards.

Read more in the September 2016 issue.

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