Swiss M1882 Revolver

S

Skans

New member
I have a Swiss M1882 Revolver. On the frame, under the left black bakelite grips it is stamped "SIG". I believe this stands for Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft, which according to Wikipedia is German for "Swiss Industrial Company".

For any of you who may be knowledgeable about these revolvers, I have a couple of questions. Would this mean the pistol was actually made in Germany? Were all M1882's marked "SIG", or were they made by more than one manufacturer?
 
1882

Most of the swiss 1882 revolver were produced by "Eidgenössische Waffenfabrik Bern" (-->W+F M1882: army production).
SIG means "Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft" and was producing guns since 1860 (-->SIG 1882: civil production). The M1882 ordonanz revolver was produced in Switzerland in any case.

_MG_1296_DxO.jpg


This gun is a master piece of gun mechanics and hand craft and very soft and accurate to shoot. :)

Do you have a picture of your gun sign?
 
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Yep, that's my 1882. The parts are actually straw color, and the grip should be black - probably a lighting thing. It is a beauty! The best thing is that the frame door easily swings open exposing the clockwork. Oh, and every part is numbered and marked. I've never shot mine - you must have ordered the ammo special just to shoot it?

Heracles, so if I understand correctly, my SIG marked M1882 would actually be more of a civilian or commercial production gun. Interesting!! Thank you so much for this information.

The 1882 was "steampunk" before there was steampunk.:D I would love to find an M1878 to keep it company, but they are too hard to find and too expensive when you find them now (on on gunbroker listed for $2,750)
 
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What acrtridge does it take?

This is a source for some of that obsolete ammo,,,
Perhaps you could find some here?

gadscustomcartridges.com

I found ammo for my 1892 Lebel there.

I dunno about you,,,
But it hurts me to own a gun I can never shoot.

Aarond

.
 
M1882

Yes, the SIG marked M1882 is the civilian or commercial production gun. You can shoot the 1882 with its original 7.5mm BP cartridge. They are still available (but not always working :-) ) at egun.
7.5_Swiss_Ord_patronenschachtel.jpg


or shoot it with the .32 S&W long wad cutter (mild load) like I do :-)

pictures see also:

http://imgur.com/a/NuvrJ
 
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Ordonnanz-Revolver%20Mod.%201882.jpg


On this photo you can see the "W+F" logo (below the Swiss cross) for "Waffen+Fabrik" Bern
and the black "Bakelit" hand grips.

sw-getimg.php
 
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The original loading, powerwise, was very close to the .32 S&W Long, if not under that.

I've not seen one of these in a long time.
 
Here are some pictures of my Swiss M1882. It's marked "SIG" toward the bottom of the grip frame under the left grip panel. Interestingly, I believe it is also marked "WF" under the Swiss cross on the frame. I took the grips off and opened the door to expose the action for these pictures:

SAM_0442_zpseqqdhpu7.jpg


SAM_0444_zps6pdnejsv.jpg


SAM_0439_zpshf4gnspv.jpg


SAM_0446_zpssmq0atn9.jpg
 
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SIG and W+F

Nice,very nice!
You have two marks on it: W+F on the side of the frame (like all others M1882)
AND the SIG mark on the frame grip part.
Now I have to check my 1882...may be there are also SIG marks.
Thank you for yours pictures.:)
 
Heracles, that is interesting and baffling. I'm wondering now what this mark is? Why would yours be SJG?
 
J vs. I

In older ages the sign "J" instead of the "I" were often used. This was very common in German language, but not practised in present.
 
gun history

They are nice pieces of gun history. As simple as that. During this ages, the revolvers were made by W+F and SIG. SIG was a private company building mostly other industrial products, where W+F was supported by the government (Swiss army). Both manufacturers are well known for there quality products back then, especially W+F had a long tradition in making quality firearms, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffenfabrik_Bern
I enjoy to shot this revolvers, more than the newer revolvers I own and I am still surprised about the quality of this revolvers.
 
It would be an early practice, then.
Edit: I looked in a few books and came across it on a few old rifle tags; The "J" in SJG is simply due to the font used. It looks like a "J" but is still an "I".
I saw a rifle tag bearing the name "Hans Jmthurn", but he's still called and written "Imthurn". So there's that.

Now, both SIG and Waffenfabrik Bern made the Revolvers. Depending on where they went, they have different marks. My only source is a book about Swiss police handguns, as I have not yet been able to source the military handgun book. Anyways, depending in which department was issued them, different marks are found. Yours appears to be military issued as the police ones bear a P before the serial.

Now, Swiss weapon manufacturing was (and still is) a quirky and sometimes complicated affair. It sometimes is hard to pinpoint who exactly made (or used) what weapon.

I try to find out more about it.

By the way hello to all, I'm new here, names Marcel, living in - wait for it - Switzerland, not far from Neuhausen ;)

Edit: Yours is from 1914, made by Waffenfabrik Bern. I reckon SIG and WF shared some resources, thus the SIG stamp.

WF mainly made the military issued revolvers and also for the police (with a P before the serial). SIG made private ones and police ones but without a P (but a Fabrique Neuhausen stamp).

Source:
http://www.swisswaffen.com/?W=R82&LP=H7
 
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