CUSTOM GUNS - MODERN MASTERPIECES - Guns of the Old West

Engraving firearms has been an art form in Italy for over 500 years. In the 19th century American master engravers worked on Colt, Remingtons, and other firearms just as the Dassa brothers do today. (Colt style grips by Lewis Ezsak/Cowboy Emporium)

The Civil War was a watershed period for arms engraving with deluxe examples of Colt, Remington and other makes being presented to officers either by the various makers or individuals. Shown are a Starr single action, Colt 1851 Navy, Colt 1860 Army and Remington New Model Army engraved by Dassa.

The Nickel and Gold example is based on a presentation revolver given to Maj. Gen. George Meade sometime after his victory at Gettysburg. The original shown was fitted with carved ivory grips and a silver dedication inlay.

6A. Pietta U.S. Grant Commemorative 1860 Army 2 copy

6B. Pietta U.S. Grant Commemorative 1860 Army copy

Two recent Dassa models, including a Buntline incorporating designs based on six different Colt Centennial Exposition guns.

The engraving shop of Cuno A. Helfricht was responsible for some of Colt’s most impressive work on the 1873 Peacemaker

8C. Dassa Centennial Buntline detail copy

n December of 1893 famous frontier lawman Bill Tilghman was presented with a handsomely engraved Colt Single Action by the citizens of Perry, Oklahoma. The reproduction by Dassa is faithful to the New York style of engraving on the original.

9B. Bill Tilghman's original Colt SAA copy

10. Dassa Engraving Patron by Pietta copy

Once a cowboy, always a cowboy! As can be seen, the youthful Dassa brothers enjoyed playing cowboys and Indians as much as any two kids who grew up in America. It certainly appears they were even outfitted better! The brothers today with Mauro putting on his trusty leather cowboy hat.

Insert 2. Engravings hand made by Dassa Italy copy

Insert 3. Work room with Alessandro Dassa image001 copy

The basement showroom of the Workshop is just as clean and well organized as the upstairs showroom and engraving area. The Dassas have something for every shooting enthusiast!

Insert 6. S.P. Fjestad with dassa Brothers L1030402 copy

Insert 7. Dassa Engraving Centennial Buntline copy

Sergio and Mauro Dassa grew up watching westerns, just two typical brothers who enjoyed the movies, the horses, the gunplay and the grandeur of the American West, only they were watching them in Italian! When the Dassa boys grew up in northern Italy, they were (and remain) huge fans of the American West and the legendary folklore that surrounds it. Many of Mauro’s best memories while he was growing up were of him and younger brother Sergio playing Cowboys and Indians. “Sergio and I often watched American Cowboy Western movies in the evening and we played Indians and Cowboys with our friends during the day, after school. We pretended we were Cowboys on horses. We wore hats and boots and we made a noise similar to the noise of spurs. We spread talcum powder around to create the effect of dust. We held poker cards and cups full of orange juice as if it was whisky. It was fantastic! When the carnival parade came (last Tuesday before the beginning of Lent), we would dress up like cowboys or sheriffs, cut sheriff stars out of cardboard or foil.

“The movies we watched the most and ‘re-enacted’ were’ ‘C’era una volta il West’ (Once Upon a Time in the West) , ‘Per Qualche dollaro in più’ (For a Few Dollars More), ‘Il Buono, Il Brutto il Cattivo’ (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly), ‘Per un pugno di Dollari’ (A Fistful of Dollars), ‘Giu La Testa’ (A Fistful of Dynamite), and many more by Sergio Leone with extraordinary actors like John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Terence Hill, Paul Newman, Jimmy Stewart, etc.” The American West was in their blood.

Engraver’s Sons
Sergio and Mauro are the sons of an engraver, and in Italy, most often, engraving is a generational endeavor, with sons and daughters following in their parents footsteps. With the Dassa brothers this was inevitable as their fascination with the Old West would inspire them not only to become engravers in the Italian tradition, but to expand beyond their training in the traditional arts and study and incorporate the designs of famous American engravers like Gustave Young, Louis Daniel Nimschke and Cuno A. Helfricht, who created some of the finest engraved Colt, Winchester, and S&W firearms of the 19th century…