In 1958, Val Forgett of Navy Arms contracted with Beretta engineer Aldo Uberti to produce 1,000 reproductions of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver. That turned into the beginning of many decades of production of a wide variety of revolvers and rifles, from the LeMat to a line of Winchester lever actions. Fueled by both organized Cowboy Action competition and general widespread interest in these guns, Navy Arms grew very successful in the market, attracting many other companies who continue to exist to this day. Today I’m talking with Val Forgett’s son (also Val Forgett) about some of the interesting details of the business.
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Y’know… It’s too bad we can’t go another layer deep, and talk to Uberti himself and get him to discuss what enabled affordable mass production of all those reproductions in the first place.
Was it improved manufacturing technology? Simpler designs…?
We’ve discussed bringing back a bunch of different weapons on here before, like the Luger and other historical firearms, and the consensus was that it was in the “Too hard to do…” box.
What made everything Uberti made and still makes accessible for that, and could we expect a similar revolution in manufacturing to enable things like the FG-42 and Luger coming back in an affordable and attainable way…
In other words, what made Uberti successful, and can we expect that success to eventually be spread out over other designs?
Maybe we can’t talk to Aldo, but I bet he has a son someplace.
As a Civil War reenactor through the 1980s, I met the daughter of Aldo Uberti when she and some people visited a couple of civil war reenactments. the first time I met her, I mentioned that I had read of Aldo and her eyes opened wide and she happily stated, “He’s my father!”
She was very pretty – thin with long straight black hair and dark eyes. She spoke with a pleasant accent. I think I met her twice, maybe 3 times.
This is a tour of the Pietta factory. https://youtu.be/-3YiBJcQowI
It’s not Uberti, but it’s possibly even more significative, because Uberti is part of the Beretta conglomerate, while Pietta is indipendent. They can’t afford a product mishap.
What’s impressive (and the video is already 6 year old) is the flexibility of modern tooling. They have ONE line of production, and use the same tooling to manufacture, a week a batch of repro revolvers, the next week a batch of lever action rifles, another week a batch of their modern semiauto carbines.
With those tooling, you can do everything. At least everything that doesn’t require extended use of stamped steel (because, for that, there’s no replacement for scale of production). An M1 Garand? An M1 Carbine? A BAR? A ZB vz. 26? No problem.
Problem is: is there a market for that? Old West Revolver reproductions are mainstream. Many of the weapons people call for reproductions to be made, not that much. Also an original can be often purchased for less than a repro would cost.
Also there’s a risk inherent in the fact that many of those designs are not good designs on a modern day perspective. The buyer of a repro, in most cases, would expect modern day reliability and durability from designs that never had them. But, if the manufacturer alters the design to be reliable and durable, would passionates buy it?
This raises a bigger question about whether you should shoot original guns when reproductions are available.
The antique airplane market has the same problem with the few remaining restored Spitfires costing $8 million. Many of the antique airplanes currently flying have been so extensively rebuilt that they are only 10 or 20 percent original by weight. The real risk is destroying a rare airplane.
Rob Warner FAA Master Parachute Rigger
Ship of Theseus paradox sorta…
One can still put a worn out firearm in a museum. Dings and dents suggest a tale of troubles like an old pugilist’s face.
William B. Edwards was very much involved in this in the formative years of Navy Arms. In fact he was the one who introduced Val Forgett Sr. to Aldo Uberti in 1957.
There’s a detailed writeup of the events in the last chapter of Edwards’ Civil War Guns (Stackpole 1962), available for free at archive.org.
https://ia803206.us.archive.org/33/items/Civil_War_Guns/Civil_War_Guns.pdf
clear ether
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Thanks for the history and background. Have enjoyed your content for quite some time – I appreciate your presentations! I do have shoes older than you (a nice pair of Redwings bought on 198:-)). Have been a SASS guy for around 7 years now – Pietta, Uberti, Rossi, EMF, – a good 15 plus firearms into the collection.
1:39 – $5,000 for 1,000 handguns? 5 bucks a pop?
I expect it was for 100 revolvers.
I had an acquaintance inside Eight Mile say he could pick up a Smith & Wesson .357 for $50. Deals like that are easy to run away from. One wonders how hot a $5 pistol must be
1963 Gun Digest prices Navy Arms 1851s at 89.95. Cheap imported single action .22s around $50.
$5 seems awfully light to me, and family legends do get muddled.
But maybe in the days of $35 gold, hungry Italy, and cheap shipping…
One of the most enjoyable videos you have done. Capturing the history directly from those involved (or in this case, their children who were pretty much participants if not the decision makers at the time)is a gift for future collectors and historians.
Replica firearms could be an affordable niche for someone, just examples of 1851 Colt Navies from all the various makers (and dealer brand names) would be a formidable challenge.
A big salute to Ian and Val III for doing this, and to Val Forgett himself for creating this arms collecting field.
I own a Umberta copy of the Colt 1873 marked Dakota .45 LC on the barrel. The Serial number is 1716. The frame is marked “Made in Italy on the right side, there are several proof marks on the left side of the frame and one on the barrel. The grip frame is brass, the frame is case hardened and the barrel and cylinder are deep blued. I purchased it at a Rod & Gun club in Germany while I was in the Army. It shoots great and is very accurate. I still have the certificate from Umberti. I purchased it in 1967.
I have shot thousands of rounds through it. Totally reliable,
Sorry I put an “M” in the name. I had the gun in front of me, but didn’t bother to check the certificate…