Chapter 7 – Bibliography and Attachments
7.2 Helpful Background Information, Contacts and Addresses
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7.2
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Helpful Background Information, Contacts and Addresses
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7.2 |
Helpful Background Information, Contacts and Addresses |
Auctions: Centaures can be liberated occasionally at auction houses such as
● France: Naturabuy https://www.naturabuy.fr/,
● Germany: Egun www.egun.de or Hermann Historica www.hermann-historica.de,
● U.S.A.: Gunbroker www.gunbroker.com, Guns International www.gunsinternational.com, Rock Island Auction (RIA) company www.rockislandauction.com, etc.
Try key words like Belgian Colt 1860, Centaure, Centaur, Centennial Army, 1960 New Model.
Acevedo Sr., Horacio: Master engraver, jeweler and gunsmith from Mexico brought in the U.S.A. by Thomas Haas during the late 1950s. Today many initiates believe most of the gunsmithing and engraving art attributed to Haas was done by Acevedo. Read more about this subject in chapter 1.5 of this website.
Bärbel Harlos: German gun importer of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.), gun shop and mail order dealer in Germany during the late 1960s until sometime in the 1970s. Their two-line importer mark B. HARLOS RIEDEN was usually stamped over the Centaures‘ country-of-origin mark MADE IN BELGIUM on the buttstrap. Address back then was 7171 Schwäbisch Hall-Wackershofen. No longer existing.
Baker, Jared: The man who was running Long Hunter’s Gunsmithing Service in Amarillo, TX, U.S.A. until a few years ago. Licensed gunsmith, former CAS gun tuner, Centaure conversion artist and FROCS #216 JB, see chapter 5.7. JB decided to leave the gun scene and is now busy developing and producing single engine airplanes.
Banc d’Epreuves des Armes a Feu: The Liège proof house. That is where the Centaures got proof tested. Address is still like it was when the Centaures were still being manufactured. i.e. 45, Rue Fond-des-Tawes, B-4000 Liége/Belgium www.bancdepreuves.be.
Barnes, Gary: Licensed gunsmith, conversion artist and C.A.S. competitor. Uses aliases like Buckoff, Mayor Maynot Killya. He is FROCS #204 Hoof Hearted. Maker of the Improved Breech Loading Conversion for Centaures, Colt 1860 Army and 1951/1862 Navy replicas, www.cartridgeconversion.com.
Bouras, Kurt: Owner of Classic Firearms Waffenhandel Kurt Bouras in Mainz/Germany. Kurt Bouras is very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to western guns. Reach him at kurt.bouras@classic-firearms.com.
Büchsenmacherei Klaus Mumme: German Gunsmith and conversion artist specializing in restoration, repair and tuning of cowboy guns. Address is Rodalber Straße 140, D-66953 Pirmasens/Germany, email Klaus.mumme@gmx.de.
Centaure & FROCS website https://wp.1960nma.org/: Your source for
● Centaure related information,
● Centaure survey page,
● Cowboy Action links
● Downloads of Data Sheets in English, French and German, to have specifics of your Centaures entered in the Centaure survey page aka data bank,
● Downloads of original Centaure publications in English and German,
● List of FROCS members,
● Pictures on recent Meetings of the FROCS,
● Updates on gunsmithing,
● And much more …
Centennial Arms Corporation of Chicago, IL, U.S.A.: Back then one of the subsidiaries of Shore Galleries. Registered between 1961 and 1984, main U.S. dealer and distributor of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (FAUL) guns incl. their Centaures. Address was 3318 W. Devon Ave, Chicago 45, IL., U.S.A. This suburb of Chicago is the village of Lincolnwood.
Classic Firearms Waffenhandel Kurt Bouras: Leading German western gun dealer, also source of quality Centaures from time to time. Address is Gartenfeldstraße 20, D-55118 Mainz/Germany, www.classic-firearms.com.
Club Little Gun: Belgium gun collectors and study group with encyclopedic website on Belgian collectible firearms including Centaures www.littlegun.be.
Collector Firearms Lutz Viertel GmbH: German mail order gun dealer serving hunters, western gun collectors and C.A.S. shooters, owned by Lutz Viertel. Have Centaures for sale from time to time. Address is Heideweg 3A, D-65719 Hofheim/Germany. Check out the website https://www.collector-firearms.de/.
Collectors Firearms: Leading U.S. gun dealer. When in the Houston area a MUST-visit place. Their Texas size Civil War and Western gun display and exhibition are awesome. Address is 7626 Westheimer at Voss, Houston, TX 77063, U.S.A., https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/.
Davis, Dr. James „Jim“ L.: Since 2007 Panhandle Paden’s and my mentor during the Centaure research program. He is FROCS #10 Dr. Jim. Dr. Davis was the globally renowned reference on replica percussion revolvers because of his fundamental studies on the subject and foundation of RPRCA-Replica Percussion Revolver Collector’s Association, see below. Dr. Davis crossed the Great Divide too early in September 2019. We miss you, Jim.
Edwards, William „Bill“ B.: Renowned U.S. Civil War and firearms historian, international consultant of the gun industry, gun collector and writer. Edwards was the visionary who made Centaures (and Uberti percussion revolvers for that matter) reality. A former associate of Centennial Arms. Corp. he was also one of the founders of the replica industry. Born 1927, passed away in 2008 before Paden and I could consult with him regarding the Centaure research project.
Evans, David M.: Gun collector and cowboy shooter, FROCS #130 Footsour. Source for newly made Centaure screws for backstraps and triggerguards. His address is 29609 Bock St., Garden City, MI, U.S.A., email dakake@wowway.com.
Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.): Manufacturer of the Centaures from 1959 until 1973. The address back then was 22, Rue Trappé, Liège/Belgium. The history of this famous gun maker goes back to 1796. As a member of a consortium of seven Liège gun makers in 1853 they were predecessor of F.A.U.L. and negotiated a never terminated licensing agreement with Samuel Colt to produce percussion revolver according to Colt specifications. F.A.U.L. was sold in 1992, no longer existent.
Field, Leslie: Lawyer, former associate of Mars Equipment Corp. and back then liaison officer working on Centaure imports into the U.S.A. FROCS #75. Leslie Field is another founder of the replica industry.
FROCS – FRiends Of the Centaure Society: The international non-profit special interest group of Centaure collectors, shooters, re-enactors and otherwise enthusiasts. The FROCS are the pillars and supporters of this transatlantic Centaure research program connecting Hofheim/Germany and Lubbock, TX, U.S.A., see this website https://wp.1960nma.org/.
Frugé, James: My trusted friend and pard in Centaure crime in Lubbock, TX, U.S.A. FROCS #1 Panhandle Paden, webmaster of the Centaure & FROCS website https://wp.1960nma.org/ ‘til 2022. Without him there would not be this website nor the English language Centaure book from 2014. Reach Paden at jfruge@mac.com.
Gloystein Michael: German Centaure and Santa Barbara collector and shooter, author and editor of the booklet Centaure aka Centennial Army – Tables of Variations, curator of the military historical museum Alter Flakleitstand www.alterflakleitstand.de and FROCS #158 MacGloy. MacGloy heads the German language Centaure www.centaure1960.de and Santa Barbara website www.santa-barbara-1858.org.
Haas Sr., Thomas „Tom“: U.S. master machinist, „noted“ gunsmith, restorer, custom gun manufacturer, maker of replicas of early Colt revolvers. Haas was friend with Bill Edwards and Sig Shore. Today serious doubts are voiced that the custom engraved and colterized Centaures attributed to him were of his making. Born in 1915, he passed away in 2004.
Hanquet, Albert: Together with his brother Paul Hanquet Jr. one of the owners of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) during the time of the Centaure project. Back then Albert Hanquet was in charge of administration. Born in 1915, passed away in 2003. Father of
Hanquet, Nadine: Together with her dad, Albert Hanquet, at the helm of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) until 1992 when the company was sold. FROCS #25. Born in 1947.
Hanquet, Paul: Together with his brother Albert Hanquet one of the owners of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) during the time of the Centaure project. Back then Paul Hanquet was responsible for operations. Born in 1907, passed away in 1986.
Harlos, Bärbel: Together with husband Peter Harlos the owners of Bärbel Harlos, Schwäbisch Hall-Wackershofen/Germany mentioned above.
HP-Hubertus Waffen-Toppflege: Used in the torture test of Centaures and conversions mentioned elsewhere on this website. Owners are Friedrich and Hubertus Hofmann, Address is Rehgartenstraße 1, D-36151 Burghaun/Germany.
J. Baker and Son: This gunsmith and dealership was sole distributor of Centennial Arms Corp. of Lincolnwood, IL, U.S.A. in Great Britain between ca. 1965 through the 1970s. Among others they sold Centaures imported from Belgium and the U.S.A. Back then their address was 53 St. Martins Lane, London, W.C.2 Great Britain.
Jimbo, Terushi: Gifted Japanese Gun photographer with a certain affinity to Centaures. He lives in Germany, address is Eisenstraße 100, D-40227 Düsseldorf, email tokoi.jimbo@t-online.de.
Long Hunter’s Gunsmithing Service: Gun shop serving cowboys and cowgirls in the U.S.A. They specialize on western guns, repairs and tuning of CAS guns of both cartridge and C&B type. Address is 3403 SW 6th Ave, Amarillo, TX 79106, U.S.A., www.longhunt.com.
Marcot, Roy: Authority on Colt Brevetes, co-author of the acclaimed book titled Colt Brevete Revolvers. Unselfishly Marcot shared long lost key information on the never terminated licensing agreement of 1853 between Samuel Colt and the consortium of seven Liège gun makers.
Mars Equipment Corporation of Chicago: Back then another subsidiary of Shore Galleries. Acted as military surplus importer and importer of F.A.U.L. guns including the Centaures. Offices from 1958 through 1984 were at 3318 Devon Ave, Chicago 45, IL, U.S.A., same as Centennial Arms Corp. This suburb of Chicago is the village of Lincolnwood.
Mayer, Michael: German western gun collector, national and international Cowboy Action competitor, certified range officer, re-enactor with special interest in handgun techniques, equipment and cloths of the 18th and 19th century. The affinity to Centaures made him become FROCS #30 Socks. First his alias was Lederstrumpf which the Americans could not pronounce as you can imagine. Valued friend and co-author of German language book Centaure oder auch Centennial Army – Mythen, Fakten und Fiktionen. Author of many Centaure papers and chapter 6 of this website covering shooting and tuning of Centaures and the FROCS. Reach him at Lederstrumpf@gmx.eu.
Mumme, Klaus: Master gunsmith and conversion artist specialized in cowboy guns. He works out of Pirmasens/Germany. In what little spare time he has, he hunts and competes in cowboy matches. Mumme is FROCS #77 Sliding Horse. Regarding conversions his specialty are Centaure Long Cylinder Conversion. He altered some ten Centaures into these rugged Cowboy action cartridge revolvers. See the full story in chapter 5.7 of this website. Reach him at Klaus.mumme@gmx.de.
Nedbal, Karl: Internationally renowned master gunsmith, restauration expert and conversion artist not only of Centaures, see chapter 5.2 of this website. The man in charge of Waffentechnische Werkstätte Nedbal KG in Vösendorf near Vienna in Austria. Karl Nedbal is FROCS #50 Luger Master which says it all. Reach him at info@nedbal.at.
Pfeiffer, Wolfgang: German constructing engineer and freelance maker of Centaure hands with leaf springs, cylinder stops, screws and custom wooden grips. He is FROCS #76 Gunfire. Unfortunately he passed away on 28. April 2023. Wolfgang will always be in our memory. RIP
PTFE Trenn Gel: This TEFLON paste was used during the torture test of Centaures and conversions mentioned elsewhere in this website. The paste is available through HEGE Jagd & Sport, Mengener Straße 38, D-88605 Messkirch/Germany, www.hege-arms.com.
Ragland, Roger: Prop master of many famous Civil War and Western movies, re-enacting as mounted cavalryman, cowboy gun shooter and great resource of subject guns. He is FROCS #23 Major, researches and publishes on Centaures in the Movies, see chapter 4.9 of this website. Reach him at ragland@shepardes.com.
Reitmeyer, Georg: After retiring as mechanical engineer he enjoys farming and started a gun dealership in addition to collecting guns and shooting. Reitmeyer is certified gun expert and The man who riddled the German replica paragraph which since the 1960s limited collecting replicas. Because in 2017 he realized the long sought-after perspective for replica collectors and became FROCS #213 The Fox. You can reach him at ger.reitmeyer@web.de.
Roncarati, A.L.: Italian who immigrated to Belgium, owner of the shop in Liège/Belgium which machined to shape the major Centaure parts and did the case color hardening for Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) back in the days. No longer existing.
Rothenburger Waffeneck J. Hensel: Gun dealer and custom engraving shop. Their artists engraved many Centaures during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Address is Milchmarkt 4, D-91541 Rothenburg o. d. T./Germany, www.rothenburger-waffeneck.de.
RPRCA –Replica Percussion Revolver Collector’s Association: Founded be Dr. James L. Davis. The resource for the collectors, reenactors and shooters of replica percussion revolvers, http://rprca.tripod.com.
Russell, Dennis: Colt and Centaure collector and historian, author of the useful book on 2nd and 3rd generation Colt percussion revolvers titled Percussion Colt Revolvers – The Second Generation, Collectors Handbook & Price Guide. He contributed important findings to the evolution of Centaure manufacturing, the Cavalry and the factory engraved models. His FROCS membership number is #14, his alias Chain-Fire. Dennis provided the first lead for the rediscovery of the Pocket Army and helped with rare pictures of F.A.U.L. bullet moulds. His address is 3162 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 260-607, Marietta, GA 30062, U.S.A., email derussell@earthlink.net,
Shore Galleries Inc.: Home of the outstanding collection of early Centaures and Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) memorabilia at 3318 W. Devon Ave, Lincolnwood, IL 60712, U.S.A., www.shoregalleries.com. Shore Galleries was founded in 1956 as an auction house specializing in arts and antiques. It evolved into a sporting goods dealer, importer of replica firearms and surplus military arms to the law enforcement supply company of today.
Shore, Mitchell: Today’s head of Shore Galleries‘ family business of sporting good and law enforcement supply company. He is the curator of the collection of early Centaures and Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) memorabilia.
Shore, Sigmund „Sig“: Mitchell Shore’s father and founder of Shore Galleries. He developed the firm from an auction house to become one of the leading firearms concerns in the Chicago area during the 1960s and 1970s. Shore financed the Centure project during the late 1950s and into the 1960s. He was one of the founders of the replica industry. Born 1925, passed away in 2004.
Starks, Charles, L.: Innovative engraver of Centaures and other guns. Address is 2597 7th Ave N, Payette, ID 83661, U.S.A., email starkscl@msn.com.
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum: The name says it all, a MUST-visit place when in the Waco, TX area. Address is 100 Texas Ranger Trail, Waco, TX 76706 U.S.A., https://www.texasranger.org/.
Ullrich, Jörg: Police officer, magician, re-enactor, successful national cowboy action competitor in a number of categories. German champion with his pair of Centaures in the BDS Western 1870 category (similar to S.A.S.S. Frontiersman but MIP 80 for pistols and 120 for rifles) between 2012 and 2018 seven times in a row. Author, coauthor and translator of a number of English and German language Centaure publications and chapter 6 of this website. He is FROCS #99 Magic Joe, and can be reached at zauberquatschkopp@gmail.com.
Viertel, Lutz: Owner of Collector Firearms Lutz Viertel GmbH in Hofheim. Lutz Viertel aka FROCS #196 Doc Richards is western gun collector, hunter and CAS competitor. Reach him at viertel.gmbh@t-online.de.
Vorderlader-Shop: Black powder gun shop, used to supply newly made Centaure Beryllium nipples. Address is Bombergstraße 21, D-35713 Eschenburg/Germany, www.voederlader-shop.de.
Waffenhaus am Bodensee GmbH: Gun shop, supplier of selected original Centaure spare parts. Address is Nonnenhorner Straße 13, D-88079 Kressbronn Bodensee/Germany,
Waffentechnische Werkstätte Nedbal KG: The shop where many of the Centaure conversions, the FROCS Special and other unique and exquisite gun creations featured on this website became reality. Pistal address is Ortsstraße 167, A-2331 Vösendorf/Austria, www.nedbal.at.
WD-40: Was used in the torture test of Centaures and Conversions mentioned on this website when the going got tough. Maker is the WD-40 company, address in Germany WD-40 Company, Zweigniederlassung Deutschland, Siemensstraße 21, D-61352 Bad Homburg, www.wd-40.de.
October 4, 2022/WDN
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