[finnfur]

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Well wife came back from estate auction and says " They had some guns and I bought some " Heres one auction says is 44 cal. Has S&W emblem embedded in grips . There are no other ID marks on the gun except SN on bottom of handle frame were lanyard attachment is.
Any ideas ?

[finnfur]

http://i50.tinypic.com/awuslc.jpg

[Oro]

I am thinking it is a copy by someone of a S&W Double Action Frontier. The lack of patent dates, the shape of the frame, and details of the cylinder differ from a S&W made gun. The grips are from a 1910-1919 era S&W, though.

[finnfur]

I did a little more surfing and the screw pattern / shape matches a Iver Johnson model 3 but there are no Iver Johnson markings at all. Maybe they made it for someone as a S&W
look alike .Some of the owls head grips are the same shape as this one .

[Oro]

Maybe they made it for someone as a S&W
look alike

Yes - there were lots of firms that specialized in copying S&W, both in the US and also particularly in Belgium and Spain. Those grips might be worth as much as the gun, BTW. N-frame grips of that vintage in that condition would probably be worth $150. That pattern is likely not as in demand, but still collectible to someone in need.

[idoono]

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Well wife came back from estate auction and says " They had some guns and I bought some "

Better keep that wife!:D:D

[Jim K]

I think it is a Spanish copy of an S&W, that someone put S&W grips on. Note that they don't fit very well, and are certainly not original. It might be by Orbea Hermanos, a relatively good maker, but an OH gun should be marked. One way to detect foreign origin is to check the barrel and cylinder for proof marks.

Aside from issues about firing an antique, I strongly recommend not firing that gun at all.

Jim

[finnfur]

Jim
No shooting , she doesn,t time proper . Has issues . And appears to have been shot a lot in its past.

Oro
Its at least nice to know the grips have a value.

With no marks I lean towards this being a foreign copy.But its a closer copy of the I & J than the S&W. Why copy a I&J ? Who knows. But the estate she bought it at had a lot of I&Js so it fits .

Idoono
I know she's a keeper. She doubled my gun inventory in one day. Wish she could have doubled the value too LOL

Thanks to all for the help - a great forum