Single Action I haven't seen before

[jgh4445]

I was at a gun show in Montgomery this past weekend and ever watchful for good single actions I came upon a table that had what I first thought were Colts. Upon closer inspection I see that they are AWA Great Western revolvers. The were stamped AWA and PeaceKeeper on the gun. They looked great. Nice color case hardening, good blue, 5.5 inch barrels and the very close copy of the Colt black rubber grips. Although I didn't see boxes for them, they appeared unfired. The owner told me they were "poor man's,Colts". There were two .357's and two 45LC's. The owner was asking $899 each. I thought that to be a bit high for what I think was an Italian clone. The owner told me that Colt sued them for copy right infringement and forced the company to close back in the early 2000's. Anyone have experience witht the AWA revolver? I'm kinda familiar with the GWA pieces and wonder how they compare from a "what are they worth" standpoint.

 

[gbran]

I remember AWA revolvers, but never bought or even fondled them. There was nothing to excite me about them. If I wanted a Colt (which I have), I'd save my money and buy one. I only have one Taurus revolver (22mag), the rest are mostly Smiths and a few Rugers.

 

[rcmodel]

Not Italian.
Californian.

See this about halfway down.

http://sixguns.com/range/Toogood.htm

rc

 

[jgh4445]

I believe the California guns were indeed GW's but were made when Great Western Arms owned the company. I think the AWA Great Western is an Italian import or at least the parts were. At least that's what I can come up with on internet searches. I too have Colts, Ubertis, Piettas and Rugers. Just wondering if there was something I should have known about the GW's I saw at the show that would have made them worth 900 dollars.

 

[Jim K]

Decent quality, limited production, American made, the first Colt SAA clones, used in many movies...

There are quite a few reasons GW's are collectible and could bring a higher price than other clones.

Jim

 

[rcmodel]

Quality was off & on.

Some of them were very very good.

And some were very bad.

You best know your single-actions before dropping $900 on one.

rc

 

[Wildfire]

Colt Copy.

Here is my so called Colt copy.
USFA. .45 Colt with a .45ACP cylinder. Took over a year to finally get it. After touching and feeling the Original Colts I decided on this.
It is quality made and custom made down to every last part.
Made to exact Colt specs. I was told it was one of USFA's last builds.
I paid plenty for it then and the value has come up.

 

[bannockburn]

Wildfire

Very nice and worth the wait! Really love the look of the color case hardening.

 

[DPris]

Great Western was not AWA.

Peacekeeper was.

You're confusing two different companies.

The AWA Peacekeeper was sourced from ASM in Italy & final-finished in Florida.
Had no connection with the earlier Great Western company or guns.

AWA went through three different ownership groups before the dregs of the company were acquired by the final owner, a longtime "gunsmith" for the outfit.
As far as I know AWA's now defunct.

They offered, before the last owner, two models of Colt clones, the Longhorn & the Peacekeeper.
The Peacekeeper was the higher-end version.

Quality was highly variable. When the guns were good, they were good. When they weren't, they weren't.

Parts are not generally interchangeable with other Italian makes.
Denis

 

[CraigC]

What Denis said. I was sorely tempted to get one but had heard many horror stories about them getting a little carried away with the action jobs.

Colt sued them over use of the "Peacekeeper" name, which had little to do with the Peacemaker and everything to do with the Peacekeeper double action of the 1980's.

 

[jgh4445]

Denis, Craig,
Thanks for clearing that up. The seller at the gun show was saying that the Great Western Arms Co. went out of business, was acquired by AWA (more than one company) and that the last company named AWA was sued by Colt and was forced out of business in 2004. The revolvers I saw had American Western Arms Peacekeeper roll marked on the barrel and AWA Italy under the barrel. I have to admit they looked awesome. I didn't get to try the action as the seller had them wire tied and was reluctant to allow that. There was no turn mark on any of them. For 5 or 600 I might have rolled the dice. I thought 900 was a bit high.

 

[Dudemeister]

The revolvers I saw had American Western Arms Peacekeeper roll marked on the barrel and AWA Italy under the barrel. I have to admit they looked awesome.

Are you sure it said AWA Italy under the barrel? Could it have been ASM Italy?

Because that would definitely be an Armi San Marco, as such they're only worth about $400-500. Not more than that.

 

[tipoc]

A bit more on the AWA "Peacekeeper". This you tube piece describes the guns and the issue of patent infringement. It's a decent review and explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBoqB3iae4

American Western Arms...

http://www.awaguns.com/handguns.html

is not the same company as the old classic California firm Great Western.

AWA began as an importer in 1999 and ran till 2004 when it changed it's name to AWA USA and relocated from Del Ray, Fl. to Hialeah, Fl. It's line of SAA Colt replicas were made by the Italian firm of Armi San Marco and reportedly assembled in the U.S.. (See the Blue Book of Gun Values for more on this).

It was sued by Colt about 2001 or so for violation of Trade Dress. This means Colt accused AWA of intentionally putting a product on the market that confused consumers into thinking it was the genuine article when it was not. AWA had pretty clearly done that. They were also the first to bring a recreation of the Colt pump action "Lightening" carbine in 45 Colt to market but had substantial issues of reliability with their version. These and other issues caused them to reorganize in 2004.

A bit more on that...
http://www.hobbygunsmith.com/Archives/Oct04/Feature.htm

Their handguns have gotten good marks and reviews. Here's a link to a review by John Taffin...

http://gunsmagazine.com/web-blast-lightning-strikes-twice-awa-style/

By the way a brand new in the box "Peacekeeper" values at about $725. or more likely less.

tipoc

 

[yugorpk]

My dad had a great western when I was a kid. Not the greatest quality revolver or finish. It rattled.

 

[CraigC]

AWA and Great Western are in no way related.

Youtuber has some of his facts muddled. By the time AWA came along, the Colt Peacekeeper was long discontinued. It was only built in the `80's during the time the finishing staff was on strike. They didn't sue because it looked like a Colt, every replica looks like a Colt. They sued because of the name and the grip ripoff.

The Peacekeeper had real bone charcoal case colors.

 

[tipoc]

They sued because of the name and the grip ripoff.

He was clear enough on that I think, in the ball park anyway.

The Colt Peacekeeper was produced from about 1985-89 and was a double action .357 Mag revolver.

The Colt Peacemaker was a single action 22 caliber Scout gun.

But the name, the grips which were copies of the original Colt grips, and more were close enough for the law suit to go on.

It's worth saying again that AWA and Great Western were never related. The GWs never had a firing pin on the face of the hammer.

tipoc

 

[Jim Watson]

Frame firing pins were standard but not universal.
I have seen a picture of a Great Western with Colt hammer. One or a few I don't know.

Another confusing part, EMF sells GWII which I think is a Pietta.

 

[DPris]

The EMF Great Western IIs are Pietta.
Have one here.

There were FOUR ownership iterations of AWA.
The third was involved in the Colt lawsuit, I have copies of the allegations filed here somewhere.
Some made by Colt were frankly a bit ludicrous, but Colt was in a litigious mood at the time.

After the third ownership group removed themselves, the dregs of the operation were assumed by Russell Simpson who'd been acting as "gunsmith" for at least the third iteration & possibly the second.

Since ASM had been shut down by then, Simpson carried on for a while with new models made by Pietta.

The website is outdated, phone calls the last time I tried a couple years back were just an answering machine.
Denis

 

[CraigC]

The grips were similar, similar enough for a lawsuit but not a direct copy.

 

[Gun Master]

Great Western Single Action Revolvers

They were high quality (the CA ones), but the company went bust, for some reason. Maybe I'll check into it soon.

I bought one in .22 LR, 6 shot, about 40+ years ago, that had a nickel/chrome and blue alternating coloring (barrel nickel & cylinder blue, etc.) that had what looked like a rifle front sight.
Couldn't hit a durn thing with it and traded it in. I think somebody messed up a really good gun, but I was too poor to fix it.

What do you think of the current EMF copies of today ?

 

[DPris]

The EMF GWII engraved Shurf's model here is quite well done.
Have not had a chance to shoot it yet, but well-machined, fitted & finished.
Tight cylinder, smooth action.
Denis

 

[Red Cent]

I should have bought this one for $450.00 about 5 years ago. Ejector housing screw was missing.