Whoever it was at Colt that said they did not use Italian parts to make the C series percussion guns at their factory does not know what they are talking about. The major parts for these '51 Navies and 3rd model Dragoons were supplied by Navy Arms, who imported Uberti parts in the rough, machined them to spec and then sold them in the white to Colt. Colt then case hardened and blued the parts and assembled the guns using American made screws and internal parts.
Colt found that this was too expensive to be profitable, so, in 1976, Colt subcontracted the complete manufacture of their percussion pistols to Lou Imperato and his Ivor Johnson Company. The line was expanded to include all models except the M1849 Pocket. Ivor Johnson then imported unfinished Uberti parts in the rough, completely finished them and assembled the guns under the supervision of a Colt Factory Quality Control team that answered only to Hartford. Upon completion, these guns were then shipped to the Hartford factory where they were inspected once again and then sold to wholesalers around the U.S. This latter arrangement lasted until 1981, when the "bean counters" got control of Colt and canceled the line without warning, stating that Colt had no business making obsolete firearms.
This left Lou Imperato with several millions of dollars worth of parts and a large number of finished pistols- which he was not allowed to sell because Colt said their existence violated their trademarks. Of course Imperato sued and ended up settling out of court for the right to manufacture Colt Percussion pistols under license and to use the Colt trademarks. These pistols became known as the 3rd generation of Colt Percussion Revolvers.
If you have any doubt about this, I strongly suggest you get a copy of Dennis Russell's book about the 2nd and 3rd generation Colt Percussions. It is the final word about these guns.
As for the purists who claim that these 2nd and 3rd generation guns are not real Colts because they weren't made in the Hartford Factory, they do not know the history of Colt. If these guns are not real Colts, then neither are the Paterson Colts nor the Walkers!