[elephant_man]

:confused:

Does anyone know of any Spanish firearms manufacturers who may have produced Single Action Army clones? This particular one my brother bought at a flea market has a round swivel on the back strap, and the backstrap is part of the frame and not removable.

The left side of the frame says "44 Caliber Winchester 1873" and "Made in Spain" and the right side of the frame has a circular logo that's worn off that says "Trade Mark". Inside the circular logo it looks like a large 'H' in the center with an upside down 'A' in a much smaller font in the upper right. The frame has two screws and the cylinder is fluted.

The barrel is wierd and the writing is pretty faded. Google turned up nothing when I searched for this. It reads:

"AU--DA EBBEVOLVERIKAN FUERTIENA"
"FUSKARIAN [the R might actually be an B] EGITANDANA-"

Actually, I googled that 'fuskarian' part and found a page dating back to 1997 about someone with the same inscription on his barrel and it doesn't seem to mean anything. I wonder if it's the same revolver, lol. I'm trying to get my brother to send me pictures so I can post 'em.

EDIT: Spelling, details.

[Jim K]

I can find no Spanish copies of the SAA in the early 1900's; Spanish makers were usually making auto pistols or DA revolvers by that time. There were some earlier.

There is one clue - the Euskadian Republic was the name of the independent Basque state that existed from 1936 to 1939. When Franco won the Civil War, he absorbed it into Spain. Since most of Spain's gun making industry is in the Basque country, a gun marked as made there would be quite likely.

If that gun is marked in Basque, lots of luck; I don't know anyone who reads the language.

You can get more info using Google with the search word "Euzkadi."

I will caution, as always, about firing unknown revolvers, especially of Spanish make. Most were made of cast iron, and not even good cast iron; many have blown up when fired with even moderate loads.

Jim

[elephant_man]

interesting info, thanks!

And it is made of iron, unfortunately. I'm guessing since the company that made it is so obscure that parts are pretty much impossible.

Oh well. At least the grips look nice :uhoh:

[Jim K]

There were several Spanish double action break top revolvers made around the WWI period and possibly into the 1930's. They were mostly copies of older S&W revolvers, like the DA First Model and the Wesson Favorite, and some were made in .44-40. One maker, Garate, Anitua & Cia. (GAC on the grips) actually sold guns to the British Army in WWI, and their revolver was adopted by the British as "Pistol, Old Pattern, No. 1, Mk 1."

Another maker of that type of revolver was Orbea Hermanos (OH on grip), which also "borrowed" S&W designs; needless to say, neither company paid S&W any royalties.

Jim

[Sunray]

"...made of iron..." What makes you think that? Just curious. Pure iron hasn't been used for any firearm for hundreds of years.

[elephant_man]

I only think it's made of iron, anyways. The frame is heavy, it makes a hollow "clank" sound when you tap it and the insides look rough.

Also, the closest thing I can find that closely matches the logo is Orbea Hermanos. I can't find anyone else who happens to have SAA's made by them and the serial number is low. I guess they made very few of these.

[Jim K]

Hi, Sunray,

I don't think there is such a thing as "pure" iron outside the laboratory, it all has impurities of some kind. Most of those guns were made from castings of what is often called "pot metal", the same iron used for making skillets and cook pots. Definitely not high quality carbon steel.

Jim

[CCRAWLER]

Was wondering if you found out any thig else about this?
also you wrote:

"AU--DA EBBEVOLVERIKAN FUERTIENA"
"FUSKARIAN [the R might actually be an B] EGITANDANA-"
Actually the r is an r and the f is an e, Euskarian this was known as a
euskarian revolver, the translation is euskara or euskarian a lot of people refer to this now days as basque it should read:

"AU-DA EBREVOLVERIKAN FUERTIENA - EUSKARIAN EUGITANDANA"

if you haven't found any more info let me know, i am still researching this ut have a lot more info......