Tom Foolery U.S.M. #2348 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Can anyone give me a brief history of Armi San Marco? TF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Jones, SASS 2263 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Can't remember much. They were, early on, marketed under the Hartford name through EMF. I got a couple from them in the early '90s and they weren't bad. Still have one, which is ok. Have another, which was a later model, that is, charitably, barely functional. Very poor workmanship. EMF dropped them, due I believe, to quality issues and they went out of business shortly thereafter. Can't remember the dates, but if you need to know ask EMF, they should be able to tell you. Parts, at least some, interchange with Ubertis and Colts; the early ones interchanged with 1st Gen Colts, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Contact Fingers McGee or Driftwood Johnson; they are walking encyclopedias!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 All I can tell you is that I have a Colt clone made by ASM that I got used for $250 about 5 years ago. It has never given me a lick of trouble, and I find it to be a nicely made pistol. It has a V notch rear site, which is more like a 1st Gen Colt. I also have an ASM 92 that I got new for... I can't remember exactly, I think it was about $500 or so. Less than $800 for sure. Very pretty gun. And the action was... Well, the gun was pretty unusable, and I like to shoot my guns as close to stock as possible. I had a basic action job done to it, and it now runs as smooth as a real vintage Winchester, and gives me no trouble. But, ow, it was bad. Several pards said it was painful to watch me try to use it as I fought to work the lever the first time I took it out. Caviat Emptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 The 2 SASS members that have a detail history of ASM are Six Gun Shorty and Nate Jones. My knowledge is plain old poor quality control and ASM closed the doors. One of the owners of ASM was Nicola Nuiti. After ASM, he created Chaparral. Again poor quality control and in addition, Nicola's wife is a high fashion model who liked to spend Nicola's money. Also, somewhere along the line ASM was sold to American Western Arms (AWA) - which also is out of business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mean Matt McCord, SASS #24683 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 This is what I was told. As far as the quality "pecking order" back in the late 90's through early 2000's, ASM was considered to be at the bottom of the barrel. They (rumor has it) used a softer steel for their pistol components, so they could not take the abuse that other brands could endure in our game. That being said, I started out with a pair of ASM 1873 clones in 45LC, and the only thing I ever had to do to them was replace the base pins from time to time, as they would get worn some (hence the rumor about the softer steel). They are not my main match guns any more, but I still have them, and would not hesitate to pull them out and use them at any time. They never gave me any major headaches. A good way of looking at it might be this: if you are one of the competitive shooters who shoots every weekend and/or is almost always in the running to finish in the top 5, then you might be better served having pistols from another manufacturer. However, if you are like me and shoot mostly once or twice a month at the most and/or are not one of those who finishes in the top half (like me ), then ASM pistols may serve you pretty well. Just my $0.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foolery U.S.M. #2348 Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Were they making 1860's in 1973? I have an 1860 with a date stamp of XX9 (1973). NO MAKERS MARKS AT ALL. Only standard Italian proof marks and a "circle HS" that just yesterday, I discovered stood for HY-SCORE out of N.Y. Now I have to try to find out WHO made this pistol. I've shown it to PIETTA, they said no. That leaves UBERTI and ASM. Go to SASS or OLD WEST facebook to see photos. TF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Fill 'Em 67797 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 When I started out I had a pair of ASM SAA clones. I bought them because they were inexpensive, but I guess I should say cheap, because they were. After about a year of shooting them the bolt notches in the cylinders started to wear so that the cylinder would not lock-up reliably. I figured the notches could be recut but by then I had gotten some Rugers so I gave the ASM's to a friend that wanted to shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Here's some more history about ASM ... http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=31718.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe LaFives #5481 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I still have two ASM's from around 1997-98. At that time I had them tuned by Tom Sargis up in Boseman Montana. He mentioned that he felt they were great guns to work on as they were exact copies of the colt's just crappy screws (very true) and indifferent assembly and he could fix that. I haven't used the ASM's as match guns since probably 2005 but they worked fine for those 6-8 years. Periodically I take them out. If I want a set for costuming purposes these are the ones I use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Hazzard, SASS #23254 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I still have two ASM's from around 1997-98. At that time I had them tuned by Tom Sargis up in Boseman Montana. He mentioned that he felt they were great guns to work on as they were exact copies of the colt's just crappy screws (very true) and indifferent assembly and he could fix that. Same experience. Bought a "New Model Hartford" .45, 4-3/4", in late 1997. It had nickeled brass backstrap and trigger guard and nice CCH colors, but the thing fell apart within a hundred rounds of mid-range reloads. Cylinder base pin would back out and tie things up, and the ejector rod housing would just fall off, spring and rod flying in different directions. That's distracting. I packed the thing off to Tom Sargis and he told me the same story, then went through it from front to back and it's a really fine shooter now. I replaced the nickeled BS & TG with blue steel parts bought from EMF. Good solid gun now, but it wasn't cheap all things considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Ash Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Sadly, I just bought 2 of their 1860 open top conversions that need smithing in the worst way. The cylinders have chips in the edges where the hand makes contact and the cylinders bind. I see where the soft metal theories come from. I don't know if they can be smoothed out enough to function normally. I would post a photo but right now the forum won't let me. Anyone know where I can find some new 38 cylinders? Thanks. http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/MarkusRobins/62c4b859-68dd-4fe6-944d-08fd4051f28d_zpsc5054dcb.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Murphy # 873 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Can't tell ya how they shoot but I got 8 of them, Bought the first 6 from EMF in 1984, and picked up the rest here an there, none ever fired. Built shadow boxes for 5 of them them and they been in them every since cept when I take them out once in a while to wipe them down with a silicone cloth. Couple a years ago I came across a unfired copy of a .44 cal Rogers & Spencer, made in Italy and imported by Euroarms of America, Utica, N.Y. Carlos Murphy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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