Some interesting sidelights. Those Spanish guns were often advertised in magazines with words like "equal to SMITH & WESSON" with the S&W name in big letters so the casual reader thought his $2.95 was buying a genuine S&W. Worse, when those guns broke, as most did, the owners sent them "back" to the S&W factory for repair, leaving S&W to pay to return them. And of course, S&W got the blame for the poor quality of "their" revolvers.
One result was that S&W trademarked the use of color case hardening on their hammers and triggers. If the Spanish makers continued to do the same, the guns would be stopped by customs; if they didn't, their guns wouldn't look like S&W's.
Jim
