European Revolvers?

I've had an interest in Russian military small arms since I was in my teens. A Nagant revolver would be very nice to own, but the prices of them and the cost of ammunition has put them far off in the distant future. I do plan to own one, but not anytime this decade.

The Webley's really have me interested. Quality wise, I'm sure they far exceed the Nagant. Performance wise I have no idea, but I'm sure they're fun to shoot.

I'm more interested in the .38 S&W Webley than the .45 Webley's as so many of them were chopped to use .45 ACP in a moon clip. Historic guns that were modified from their original cartridge don't interest me and I already have a .45 revolver that uses moon clips.

The French revolvers look cool, but ammunition is probably going to be nigh impossible to find or handload for. So, what did the Sweeds and Swiss make? Not likely going to buy them over the Webley, but I am interested in hearing about them.
 
I never had much truck with them...compared to the average Smith or Colt, they seem clunky...expensive look-a-likes to H&R's, and Charters. JMHO, YMMV, Rod
 
There are a lot more European revolvers than we normally see here.
The Webleys, Enfields, and gas seal Nagants are about it if you want something to shoot.

The Belgians, Swedes, Swiss, and French had well made revolvers, but novelty prices are high and ammunition is scarce.

Yes, there are 3 inch Webleys, in Police and Pocket models, not surplus.
Prices will be high, import duties and extra layers of importer and dealer put the US price up to $50 in 1939, more than any US revolver except the S&W Magnum and the Colt Shooting Master.
 
I saw a Reichsrevolver at a local estate aution a couple years ago. I didn't know exactly what it was at the time, but it was obviously well made. So I left a lowball bid, but didn't get it.

Dad has a Rast & Gasser 8mm revolver. It's thoroughly European in style and appearance, but again, they were made with extremely impressive tolerances and fit & finish. I've read they were used by police forces and such for a looong time simply because they didn't wear out. The neatest feature is you can pull down the trigger gaurd and the whole side of the frame hinges open so you can easily clean the innards- very handy in messy trench warfare. And we were surprised to learn that new ammo is readily available online and no more expensive than .38 special.

The Eibar region of Spain was famous for their good quality copies of the older Smith & Wesson top-break revolvers in big bore calibers. I have one by Orbea Hermanos in .455 Webley, and a .44 special by another obscure maker. I've also seen one in the Italian 10.35mm service round (which can be made from .44 brass.) They usually fetch a tenth of the price of American big bore top breaks, but are still fun to shoot in the back yard.
 
Reichsrevolvers were made by several factories you might have heard of - Schilling, Sauer, Mauser, Haenel, and the Royal Arms factory at Erfurt, none of them known for poor work. That Rast & Gasser is also a high quality revolver; some of its features were copied by the Japanese in their Type 26 revolver.

Jim
 
FWIW, there is a fair amount of information on the KNIL and its arms - some can be found by simply Googling that abbreviation. One interesting aspect of the 9.4mm revolvers is that that at least some ammo was made by cutting off fired 6.5 mm rifle cases and reloading them with revolver bullets.

Jim
 
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