Identification needed

sackettboys · May 7, 2009, 05:12 PM

Have a 1851 style brass frame 44 cal revolver that I just picked up. I don't know who the mfg is. I know it was made in 1987 by the date code (AS) but unsure who made it. The mark in question looks like a capital A with a small v directly underneath it. It appears with all the other proofmarks and also appears under the barrel. Anyone know who's mark it is?

arcticap · May 7, 2009, 09:22 PM

Here's the entire list of all of the modern Italian gunsmithing outfits, and the maker should be listed there. But which one?

http://www.earmi.it/armi/database/armieri.htm

Only one maker has a last name with the initial "A", and the first name with the initial "V".
There are several gunsmiths with the last name "Ameria" listed, and one of them is name "Victoria".
There's one maker with the opposite initials, and a one word outfit with the first letter "A", but no letter "V" to correlate it to.

If asked, I would guess that the maker's mark stands for Victoria Amerias, but that's purely speculative.

About 40% of the way down the list, this name appears as "Armeria Victoria" in the following order of names:

SIACE di Angelo Boniotti Gardone VT 1958
Bernardelli Leonida
Gagliaresi Sergio
Galesi Luciano
Armeria Victoria

CaptainCrossman · May 8, 2009, 04:22 PM

sackettboys
Junior Member

Join Date: 2008-11-02
Location: SW Missouri
Posts: 2

Identification needed
Have a 1851 style brass frame 44 cal revolver that I just picked up. I don't know who the mfg is. I know it was made in 1987 by the date code (AS) but unsure who made it. The mark in question looks like a capital A with a small v directly underneath it. It appears with all the other proofmarks and also appears under the barrel. Anyone know who's mark it is?

perhaps I can help

My Walker has that exact same mark, in the same place- but the barrel is stamped Connecticut Valley Arms on top (CVA), and bottom of barrel is stamped "made by ASM in Italy"- it is date coded AU

ASM= Armi San Marco, no longer in business

I'd guess that your gun was made by ASM.

CaptainCrossman · May 9, 2009, 06:41 AM

I'm not exactly sure about this, but your gun and my gun both having that mark, and my gun being an ASM for sure, makes me think this is the case. I could be wrong, but it's surely not another gunsmith stamp, otherwise why would my ASM Walker have that same stamp, in the same place- intuition tells me the "ASM" letters are there and superimposed as follows:

see attachments

I now have a few ASM guns, and although I've read they had some problems with that make in the past, and the company is out of business now, the ones I have work fine. They actually are good quality, as replicas go, and certainly better than some others I've seen.

sackettboys · May 9, 2009, 07:16 AM

thanks for the info, the quality on the piece seems pretty good. I've had some others over the years that left much to be disired on quality. Haven't messed with BP revolvers in a few years and am getting back in the game. Last time I shot BP it was $5.00 a lb and lead could be had a .10 cents a lb.

arcticap · May 9, 2009, 05:42 PM

Thanks for the making the proper identification CaptainCrossman,
I did locate a similar post and picture on another thread that concluded with the same ASM identification.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/i.../t-353497.html

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Image03-1.jpg

bprevolver · May 23, 2009, 01:36 PM

The logo on your revolver is Armi San Marco. It is one of their last logos used. You will find this on some of their later boxes as well.

Hawg · May 23, 2009, 04:48 PM

bprevolver, did you ever find out who PR was? I recently got a brass framed Remington Navy with PR on the butt. Manufactured in 78 with serial number 591.

May 8, 2009, 04:22 PM	#3
CaptainCrossman Junior member Join Date: April 2, 2009 Posts: 381	sackettboys Junior Member Join Date: 2008-11-02 Location: SW Missouri Posts: 2 Identification needed Have a 1851 style brass frame 44 cal revolver that I just picked up. I don't know who the mfg is. I know it was made in 1987 by the date code (AS) but unsure who made it. The mark in question looks like a capital A with a small v directly underneath it. It appears with all the other proofmarks and also appears under the barrel. Anyone know who's mark it is? perhaps I can help My Walker has that exact same mark, in the same place- but the barrel is stamped Connecticut Valley Arms on top (CVA), and bottom of barrel is stamped "made by ASM in Italy"- it is date coded AU ASM= Armi San Marco, no longer in business I'd guess that your gun was made by ASM. Last edited by CaptainCrossman; May 9, 2009 at 06:39 AM.

May 23, 2009, 01:36 PM	#7
bprevolver Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 141	Armi San Marco Logo The logo on your revolver is Armi San Marco. It is one of their last logos used. You will find this on some of their later boxes as well.

May 7, 2009, 09:22 PM	#2
arcticap Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2005 Location: Central Connecticut Posts: 3,166	Here's the entire list of all of the modern Italian gunsmithing outfits, and the maker should be listed there. But which one? http://www.earmi.it/armi/database/armieri.htm Only one maker has a last name with the initial "A", and the first name with the initial "V". There are several gunsmiths with the last name "Ameria" listed, and one of them is name "Victoria". There's one maker with the opposite initials, and a one word outfit with the first letter "A", but no letter "V" to correlate it to. If asked, I would guess that the maker's mark stands for Victoria Amerias, but that's purely speculative. About 40% of the way down the list, this name appears as "Armeria Victoria" in the following order of names: SIACE di Angelo Boniotti Gardone VT 1958 Bernardelli Leonida Gagliaresi Sergio Galesi Luciano Armeria Victoria

May 9, 2009, 07:16 AM	#5
sackettboys Junior Member Join Date: November 2, 2008 Location: SW Missouri Posts: 9	thanks for the info, the quality on the piece seems pretty good. I've had some others over the years that left much to be disired on quality. Haven't messed with BP revolvers in a few years and am getting back in the game. Last time I shot BP it was $5.00 a lb and lead could be had a .10 cents a lb.

May 23, 2009, 04:48 PM	#8
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,190	bprevolver, did you ever find out who PR was? I recently got a brass framed Remington Navy with PR on the butt. Manufactured in 78 with serial number 591.