Spanish 38 special

Spanish Revolvers

There is a person on an other forum who has over 600 spanish handguns (both simi-auto and revolvers) His position on 38 specials or his position was that if he shot one, he would use wadcutters only. He was very selective on which ones he fired. He is a expert on spanish handguns. I am no expert and do not clam to be, therefore I will not shoot any spanish revolver.
 
A general rundown on Spanish guns of the 1900-1930 era.

None were high quality. None were as good as S&W or Colt, or even the Spanish guns by Astra, Llama or Star of the late 1930's and post-WWII era.

Some were reasonably well made and safe enough with low power standard loads. One key is whether the maker thought enough of the gun to put his name on it. Many (perhaps most) did not.

The auto pistols were generally made of steel, but soft and of low quality. Again, some companies were the exception and again, the "no name" guns are the poorest, in both material and workmanship. Parts are often not hardened and failure of hammer notches and sears is common.

Safety is generally poor, even in the better guns. Auto pistol safeties block only the trigger, not the sear or hammer, so the gun can fire if dropped. Revolvers have no hammer block or transfer bar.

Jim
 
One certain "tell" for the quality, or lack there of, of some of these Spanish S&W copies...

If you ever find one that's marked to the effect of "Use those cartridges that fit best," RUN AWAY as fast as your feet can carry you. Oddly enough, quite often a .357 Magnum will fit just fine in one so marked.

In my experience, those are the ones that are generally so soft that they'll deform when firing anything other than a licorice stick, or made of cast iron so brittle and loaded with inclusions and weakened by sulfur that they'll fly apart into ragged chunks if you speak crossly to them.

Get a generic hot dog in their presence?

Nookulur Armageddon. :p
 
It's really unfortunate that these older Spanish guns were of such dubious quality as they gave all Spanish handguns a bad reputation. Later guns made by firms like Astra and Star, while typically not up to the fit and finish of a S&W or Colt, are generally decently servicable, though often utilitarian, handguns. Unfortunately, they are often lumped in with the older pot metal guns as junky wall-hangers.
 
In the early 20th Century, the Eibar region of Spain - noted for its long history of gun makers - was producing knock-offs of famous guns from FN, Colt, S&W and others.

Most of the guns made up to WW-I were designed around low-pressure and/or black powder cartridges like the .32 S&W, .38 S&W, .38 Colt, .25ACP and .32ACP. The region also produced knock offs of the 5.5mm Velodog (.22LR). When found, most of these relics should be rendered unserviceable due to the poor quality of construction and materials.

From WW-I to WW-II, Spanish firearms makers improved their quality somewhat. Some companies like Llama (nee Gabilondo and Urresti who made the infamous Ruby trademark) had made money off the French demand for pistols in the first war. They could afford to buy steel of decent quality and maufacture guns in larger calibers like the .38 Special, 9mm Largo, .380ACP and 7.63 Mauser. But their metals were not sufficiently hard or well heat treated to withstand heavy use.

Guns made in Spain from 1927 to 1954, which were proof tested will carry an A-Z alpha-numeric stamp ending in a '1' (exceptions for CH1 & LL1) that translates to the year of proof testing. Guns lacking this stamp or made prior to 1927 should be viewed with suspicion.

Note: Llama pistols made in the 1960's and 1970's were still noted for having "soft" metals. Quite often this was noted by peening of the slide stop notch on many of their 1911 knock offs.
 
Bill, I will say again that many of those guns, especially the revolvers, were not soft; they were/are hard and brittle and when they blow, they break almost like pottery.

One interesting point is that many of the S&W copies have the outer shape of an S&W, usually the M&P. But internally, they use what is basically the Colt system, with a V mainspring and a rebound lever that functions the trigger, the hand and the cylinder stop. This was probably done because, even though fitting is harder, the Colt system uses fewer parts.

In addition, many of those imitation S&W's do not have sideplates, with the mechanism being inserted through the bottom of the frame and the opening closed with a pinned-in trigger guard, much like the old H&R or IJ revolvers (and the Webleys).

Jim
 
The "Bascaran" part of the manufacturer was Martin Bascaran, who sold pistols in .32 ACP to the Allies during WWI (the "Martian"), and who, according to Gene Gangarosa Jr.'s book Spanish Handguns, was out of business by 1930.

Personally, I would just put it away somewhere and enjoy looking at it from time to time as a relic from a bygone era. Plenty of other good quality modern .38 Specials to shoot without endangering your fingers and eyes.
 
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