A. Uberti, Srl.

Aldo Uberti (d. 1998) founded his company in the foothills of the Italian Alps in 1959 to recreate long-obsolete but iconic firearms from the days of the American West and the U.S. Civil War. The factory was (and still is) in Gardone Val Trompia (Gardone V.T.) in the province of Brescia, an area renowned for arms and armor manufacturing since the late Middle Ages. In particular, a manufacturing tradition of that area (dating back to the Renaissance) has been that of replicating foreign-style armor, most notably armor in the German style to be exported to and used in Germanic countries. This was done in part to help establish the area as an important arms-manufacturing center, which it remains today, and in part to showcase the ability of local artisans and metalsmiths.

Aldo Uberti had attended the Zanardelli gunsmithing school, and by age 14 he was already apprenticing with Beretta, a determining factor in his early career. He founded Uberti on the eve of the U.S. Civil War's 100th anniversary, when he was approached by U.S. businessman Val Forgett Jr. who wanted to cater to the budding but promising reenactment market. Forgett had first worked with Luciano Amadi of Beretta. At the time, Beretta was not interested in producing percussion revolver reproductions, so Forgett and Amadi had joined with parts maker Vittorio Gregorelli; eventually the team brought in Aldo Uberti to work on a replica of the 1851 Colt Navy revolver. The first deal was signed in 1958, for 6,000 revolvers to be delivered in 1959, with Gregorelli and Uberti responsible for manufacturing and packaging for export and Forgett handling U.S. marketing and distribution through his new company, Navy Arms. That first replica was followed by other Colt civil-war-era models; later, Uberti moved on to Remington and Winchester designs. It was during this era that Colt ceased production of their famous Single Action Army or "Peacemaker" revolvers.

By the 1970s, Uberti had grown into an internationally recognized producer of Civil-War and Old West firearms, with high quality standards and a marked preference for forging their receivers out of solid steel rather than using casting or alloys. In the year 2000, Uberti was acquired by Beretta, thanks to whose substantial financing it upgraded the factory to a brand-new facility, thereby greatly expanding production capacity. By 2002, the factory was further modernized with CNC machinery; this enabled them to expedite certain manufacturing processes, although an amount of hand-fitting and hand-finishing remains necessary to this day for this type of firearm.

Current production

Today, Uberti caters to collectors, cowboy action shooters, civil war skirmishers as well as working ranchers, hunters and other outdoorsmen who need or prefer to carry traditional firearms into the field. Historically, Uberti has produced parts such as frames, cylinders, and barrels for several other manufacturers like Beretta, Taurus, Charles Daly, Colt and USFA, while current firearms made by the company are offered under both the Uberti brand names and those of importers Cimarron and Taylor's.

Because of modern steels and experienced craftsmen, Uberti's replicas are highly regarded among shooters and collectors, sometimes thought as surpassing the originals in quality. It is for this reason that Uberti has been called "The King of Replicas" by U.S. shooters and collectors. Furthermore, Uberti's fidelity to the originals is such that many internal parts of their current Colt replica may be interchanged with those of an original first-generation Single Action Army.

Following is a list of firearm categories currently available from Uberti:

Handguns