In 1957, Davide Pedersoli launched the business bearing his name in Italy, at first specializing in the production of over-under and side-by-side shotguns for hunting. Word of the quality coming out of his factory quickly spread, though, and a few years later, Val Forgett, Jr. was knocking at the door.
It was 1959 when Forgett established Navy Arms in the United States, and with the 100th anniversary of the Civil War approaching, he was in search of companies to produce replicas of the period’s firearms. He commissioned Pedersoli to produce a lever-action. The specimen exceeded every expectation, although no agreement between the companies was reached at the time. Seeds were planted for the future, though.
In 1960, the first muzzleloaders rolled out of the factory. The response was a warm one, and by 1973, hunting shotguns were no longer the firm’s primary focus. Orders were brisk, and Pedersoli streamlined operations and manufacturing processes steadily to meet that climbing demand. By 1982, 100 percent of the metal and wood parts in the firm’s muzzleloaders were produced in-house.
Davide Pedersoli died in 1996. The company, however, remains managed by his family and is based in Gardone Val Trompia, Italy. Despite the timeless and classic look of the replicas crafted by the firm, the latest in CNC manufacturing is harnessed in manufacturing. The designs are created on CAD software, mock-ups are generated with 3D printers and, finally, prototype firearms are fully tested in an onsite shooting tunnel.
Filling requests for its finely crafted guns stateside continued to be a challenge until 2014, when the company entered into a partnership with a trio of Italian gunmakers—F.A.I.R, Sabatti and Tanfoglio—to form Italian Firearms Group. It serves as the importer and is based in Amarillo, Texas, where it offers Old West Pedersoli replicas, classic muzzleloaders, howdah shotguns and much more.
