Herbert Schmidt, Ostheim an der Rhon, Germany. In the late 50s and early 60s there were a number of westerns on TV. I believe the were as many as 30 running at the same time. This set up a craze for Colt type single actions. This was also the time frame when Colt stoped making the Peacemaker, good timing right? Several companys imported or assembled single actions from Spain, Italy and Germany to meet the demand. Schmidt was one of those makers whose guns was sold under as many as 25 diffrent names, incluing Great Western, Hawes and Herters. Schmidt has been out of firearm bussiness for a number of years now. The ones I have seen were well made ( Not Colts by any means ) and most were decent shooters. However they were not clones and very few if any Colt parts will interchange. If any parts are needed you are in a world of hurt. Gun Parts carries some parts but not all. By the way as a side note, The 7 1/2 inch Colt that Matt Dillon carries on Gunsmoke, is really a Great Western clone.