Spanish " Smith & Wesson " ??

F

Frenchy

New member
Need some help fella's! I just purchased a 38 spl. revolver from a local gun dealer friend of mine and I need to get some background on it. It looks like an early copy of a S & W.
On the top of the 6 inch barrel is " Garate Anitua CIA.-EIBAR (ESPANA). On the left side of the barrel is " For 38 Special and U.S. Service CTG. ". Right side plate has " Made in Spain" . There is a number " 2717 " on the crane. S.N. is 40XXX on butt. It has checkered wood grips that look like they would interchange with the Smith. No bluing left to speak of but no rust or pitting either. Fixed sights. Bore is very good and Lock-up is good if not great.
This pistol felt real good in my hands and I just had to have it. Gave $105.00 out the door.
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Frenchy

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Donnez-moi la liberté, ou donnez-moi la mort!
 
First off, I wouldn't fire it. Many of these Spanish copies were quite badly made, with soft steel, or even iron, frames.

Spanish gunmakers for years blatantly copied S&W's patents, trademarks, logos, etc., to varying degrees.

I think the situation was finally settled in the 1920s when S&W sued the US importers of these firearms, and won.

The marking on your gun (U.S. Service Ctg.) indicates to me that this gun could be prior to WW I, as the .38 Long Colt was replaced by the .45 ACP as the official service cartridge in 1911. It's really pretty tough to say, though.

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.

[This message has been edited by Mike Irwin (edited October 11, 2000).]
 
I agree with Mike...Don't fire it. The fact that it has the manufacturer's marks on it is a positive sign....some were total knock offs, but all too many of those were unsafe to shoot when brand new. Before, during and after WWI literly train loads of "ironmongery" revolvers inundated Europe, coming from Spain and Belgium. The ones with the maker on them were the safest, one knew not to shoot one. The total knock offs are more dangerous because the unwary might think they were the real thing and get somebody hurt.

Sam...every gun I own is a tack driver, need big tacks for some of em tho.
 
If you have a gunsmith with a good rep nearby, I'd have him look it over. All may not be lost.

But as the others said, I wouldn't fire it without a pro giving it a once over and a function test.

(Spanish guns have a flakey reputation; they've made some very good ones, but there's a lot of junk mixed in.)
 
Thanks guy's. I took your advise and contacted the gunsmith that sold it to my dealer. He said he had been through it and shot it and it functioned fine. In fact he kind of regretted selling it because it was accurate. He also said not to use +p type of ammo, but I figured that was a given. Wadcutter type ammo is what I had in mind. He also said that the internals were designed more like the early Colt's rather than the S&W.
 
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