A Different Manufacturer Mark

[sourdough]

I found a repro 1851 Navy brasser (manufacture date XX7/1971) on GB that has a peculiar (to me) manufacturer mark on the backstrap butt. I did a bit of online looking (I won't call it research) and it seems to be the mark of the small manufacturer M.A.V.I. di Savinelli of Gardone VT-Brescia who was active in the 60's-70's. They also seem to be a manufacturer of shotguns at some time. The M.A.V.I. seems to be the initials of two relatives involved.

I also found a few archived threads on other forums about a similar 1851 Navy made by them, and our very own respected Hawg commented about it in 2016 on one of them. Another commenter stated that they had poor wood to metal fit, which is somewhat indicative of the GB gun.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/834752228

The mark on the GB Navy seems to be very worn compared to the mark I found on a MAVI shotgun, which is similar to a stylized muzzle view of a SXS shotgun. Curiously, there is no apparent manufacturer mark on the frame, and, unless the serial number 15750 is either cryptic or just part of the entire line of various guns made, these guns should be all over the place.





If there are any repro oddity collectors here, this might be an opportunity. The last bid I saw today was $105. I would bid on it but I am completely out of pocket "mad money".

I hope this was interesting. Any comments are appreciated.

Regards,

Jim

[Hawg]

There were a lot of small manufacturers in the 60's and 70's. Quality of some of them was so so. Some like Rigarmi(RAG)were pretty decent and most of them were closer copies of originals than Uberti or Pietta could ever hope to be.