Former type Private Fate Dissolved Defunct 1964 | Industry Firearms Founded 1954 | |
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, United States | ||
The Great Western Arms Company (GWA) was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1953 to produce an American-made copy of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver. Colt had discontinued this model in 1940. Great Western Revolvers were used in many Western movies and television shows of the 1950s and 1960s.
Contents
History
Due to slow sales of the Single Action Revolver models, and government contracts requiring the production of more modern weapons for military use during World War II, Colt had discontinued production of the famous Single Action Army in 1940. This revolver had been in continuous production since 1873. After the war, there was renewed interest in the Colt SAA, and firearms enthusiast William R. Wilson recognized the need and the opportunity. In 1954, Wilson founded the Great Western Arms Company with financial backing from a doctor and 2 NFL Football players: Dan Reeves and Dan Fortmann to produce an almost-exact clone of the old Colt SAA for television and movie westerns.
Great Western revolvers were made in the same three standard barrel lengths as the Colt Single Action Army: 4 3⁄4 inch, 5 1⁄2 inch, and 7 1⁄2 inch, plus a 12 1⁄2 inch Buntline Special. They were chambered in .22 long rifle, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Special, .44 Magnum and .45 Colt. They became popular for use in the sport of Fast Draw. A variety of grips were available from faux stag to genuine pearl and ivory. According to firearms writer and historian, John Taffin, Great Western used pictures of Colt's in their earliest advertisements and a majority of Colt parts were interchangeable with their revolvers. Some models have the letter "T" stamped on the cylinder frame. Assembler Toni Rimerez hand stamped the guns that she assembled until she was instructed to stop.
The company went out of business in 1964, eight years after Colt resumed production of the Single Action Army and inexpensive clones were being imported in great numbers. Financial mismanagement and inconsistent quality in the later years of the company may have been partially responsible for the company's demise. The total production number of Great Western firearms was 22,000 revolvers and 3,500 deringers.
Marketing and use in films
Hollywood importer and gun shop owner, Haywood (Hy) Hunter, became involved in the marketing and promotion of Great Western Arms.
Wilson presented John Wayne with an engraved blued pair with smooth ivory grips that Wayne used in The Shootist. Both John Wayne and Audie Murphy were spokesmen for the company and appeared in the majority of their brochures, catalogs and advertisements, despite rumors to the contrary, neither men were partial owners or held a financial stake in the company. A specially made Great Western revolver was built for Don Knotts in the Disney movie, The Shakiest Gun in the West; this revolver was built in a manner that it would fall apart when cocking the hammer.
In 1955 a nickel-plated revolver with a 5 1⁄2-inch barrel chambered in 38 Special was presented to President Dwight Eisenhower and a similar model to California Governor Goodwin J. Knight.