Hi Papa. I am even newer to this than you. I was starting to wonder if I had the only Replica Arms 1860 in captivity. It's nice to know there is at least one other out there. I bought mine new in 1970. I don't know much about the Company, but I will try to provide what little I know. On the top of the barrel on mine, and I am sure on yours too, it says, REPLICA ARMS INC. MARIETTA OHIO made in italy. Marietta was indeed, the importer, and in competition with Navy Arms. In fact , our Replicas are the exact same revolver Navy was selling at the time, made by the same maker in Italy, UBERTI. If you look on the left side of the frame, below the front of the cylindar, you should find a stamping that looks like the muzzle of a hexagon barrel with a U in the middle of the bore. That was the logo Uberti put on their guns back then. I went to my old friend and gun dealer to buy a Navy Arms 1860 Army, which if I remember correctly, were $90. He told me to order the one from Replica, because it was the same revolver, made by the same company, but I could use the $30 I would save, to buy some powder (DuPont Superfine, $5 a pound), Some caps (German made RWS, $1.25 per hundred), a Nipple wrench ( $2.50) a set of replacement nipples, because the ones on the pistol were too soft an would deform and start welding caps ($8), and a capper ($6, Ah the good old days ! ). He was right about everything. For $90 I got the pistol and the stuff I needed to shoot it for a couple of gopher stooting sessions. Navy Arms did buy Replica about that time. Not much, but now you know what little I know. Sure wish we could still get Dupont Superfine. Cowpox