Several Spanish-made Smith & Wesson clones have popped up here lately, so I thought I'd add mine. I found it at a local gun show on a pawn shop's table, mixed in with a lot of junk pistols of the "Saturday Night Special" variety, with a tag marking it as a "Smith & Wesson K-frame M&P, .32-20." That caught my attention, since I'd been wanting something in that calibre to try out for a while. The asking price was only $165, so I picked it up to take a look.
It had a cheap pair of plastic "stag" grips, and had obviously been heavily buffed and reblued; the manufacturer's logo on the sideplate was buffed down flat, and illegible. The barrel markings were clear, however, and had all the proper S&W marks and patent dates, though the serial number on the flat under the ejector rod (113xxx) didn't match the one on the butt (35xxx). I figured it was a Model 1905 .32-20 that had been rebuilt.
I took it home for $135, plus tax and NICS, and went to put a pair of Hogue Monogrips on it. That's when I noticed the innards didn't look anything like a Smith & Wesson.
The frame under the grips is more roughly finished than the exterior, and has no manufaturer's name or mark that I can see, but the "E" for Eibar proof is legible, along with some smaller marks I'm not sure of, which the rebluing has partly filled in. Whatever Spanish maker made it, it seems to be of fairly decent quality from the fit and finish of the working parts, but the only thing that's genuinely Smith & Wesson about it is the replacement barrel. Still, the timing is okay, and it does have the hammer block safety, making it safe to carry 6 rounds in the cylinder, which a lot of the Spanish makers didn't bother with. I went ahead and put the Hogue K-frame grips on it, and tried it out, and it shoots decently with Cowboy Action .32-20 ammo, and mild lead reloads. I got snookered into buying something that wasn't what it appeared to be, but it turned out to be a decent shooting .32-20 for $135, so I'm not too put out about it.
It had a cheap pair of plastic "stag" grips, and had obviously been heavily buffed and reblued; the manufacturer's logo on the sideplate was buffed down flat, and illegible. The barrel markings were clear, however, and had all the proper S&W marks and patent dates, though the serial number on the flat under the ejector rod (113xxx) didn't match the one on the butt (35xxx). I figured it was a Model 1905 .32-20 that had been rebuilt.
I took it home for $135, plus tax and NICS, and went to put a pair of Hogue Monogrips on it. That's when I noticed the innards didn't look anything like a Smith & Wesson.
The frame under the grips is more roughly finished than the exterior, and has no manufaturer's name or mark that I can see, but the "E" for Eibar proof is legible, along with some smaller marks I'm not sure of, which the rebluing has partly filled in. Whatever Spanish maker made it, it seems to be of fairly decent quality from the fit and finish of the working parts, but the only thing that's genuinely Smith & Wesson about it is the replacement barrel. Still, the timing is okay, and it does have the hammer block safety, making it safe to carry 6 rounds in the cylinder, which a lot of the Spanish makers didn't bother with. I went ahead and put the Hogue K-frame grips on it, and tried it out, and it shoots decently with Cowboy Action .32-20 ammo, and mild lead reloads. I got snookered into buying something that wasn't what it appeared to be, but it turned out to be a decent shooting .32-20 for $135, so I'm not too put out about it.
