Just acquired this and would appreciate any info out there.

Well, I had no idea what it was, so, I Googled it. Appears to be a Japanese gunmaker, that is neither Smith and Wesson or Colt. Other than that, if there is a Miroku Forum, that would be good. If not, I found several links to The Firing Line and The High Road Forums, both more generic firearms Forums than this one.

si--------

I owned a 2" .38 Special, about 45 years ago. Just out of school, and couldn't afford a Smith.

Very nice workmanship, as are all firearms made by Miroku (have a Charles Daly 20 gauge made by them)

I gave it to my father in law. It disappeared after his death.

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NRA Instructor

It looks like what would happen if you dropped a Detective Special and a Chiefs Special into a blender then this is what would pour out. Interesting.

Hi:
I recall them as being in the 1960-1970 era. My cousin had one and showed it to my Father (big mistake-Dad did not like "Nips"which was a slang term WWII Pacific combat veterens used). IIRC they were very well made.
Jimmy

Pic please. I'm curious.......

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The Last Standing Knight

I have handled a few of these over the years, they seemed to be a fairly solid, well made firearm. I have heard that they fell afoul of some technicality in japans export laws that considered handguns "weapons of war" that put a stop to the production (or at least the sale here) of them. Not sure if thats true but i've heard it a few times.

The 1969 Gun Digest has a short article on imported .38 snub revolvers that covers the Liberty Chief, including a picture of the odd lockwork.

Larry S. Sterret, .38 Special Revolvers - A Bevy of Imports, 1969 Gun Digest. Retail listed for the 6-shot, 24 oz. Liberty was $54.95.

I worked on a homicide case a few years ago. The perps got into a chase and shoot-out with the state police in another state and were permanently rehabilitated. The gun they had with them was a Miroku and the murder weapon here was a .38 Special. Our murder and their shootout was only a few days apart. We were pretty surprised when the Miroku didn't match the bullet recovered from our victim.

I was the only person on the detective division floor that knew what a Miroku was. You just don't see them very often.

I have a Miroku "Special Police" [EDIT: originally I thought it was a Liberty Chief, too]. It is a medium-frame 6-shot 2" revolver. It is very high quality. My grandfather bought it new in the late 70s or early 80s and had it by his bed and traveled across the country in his trailer with it after retirement. My gramma gave it to me after his death because I was the "gun nut" in the family and she knew I would cherish it. He and I went shooting a time or two with it.

The general comments above are correct--Miroku in Japan make many of the high-end rifles and shotguns for Browning and Winchester and have a very high reputation--among those that have ever hear of them, that is. They marketed and sold very few guns in the US under their own name--the .38 Special revolvers (which do appear to be a cross between a S&W and a Colt) and some over/under shotguns.

I'm sure I have a picture of mine somewhere...I'll post it when I can get it uploaded to my website.

Rob

How interesting! So does the cylinder rotate into the frame like a Colt or away from the frame like an S&W?

I have a Miroku-made, USRAC-branded, Winchester Model 86 takedown. Very nice quality. The USRAC 1886 version has a rebounding hammer (which I had removed) and the Browning version, also made by Miroku, does not. I called them up years ago to ask if I could stick a Browning part in there to eliminate the rebounding hammer and they said it would not fit. I thought that sorta puzzling -- maybe they were just trying to blow me off.

Miroku also makes wooden steering wheels for car manufacturers.

Helped a friend, sight in his .204 Ruger chambered, A-bolt Browning.

I was surprised to see, it was made by Miroku.

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NRA Instructor

'Solingen Cutlery' was the US importer of the Japanese made Liberty Chief, Liberty Chief Target (and other models) revolvers starting in the mid 1960's.
They also imported inexpensive W.German mfg revolvers and semiautos.

I was doing some "digging" in the gun vault today and pulled out my Grandpa's Miroku to take some pics. I did not have good light, but these should show the gun OK. I also (somewhere) have the original "manual" for it, which actually doesn't show any models called "Special Police" like this one is marked. I've also shown it with a 3" Model 36 for size comparison. Cylinder rotation is CLOCKWISE, btw.






Rob

James Earl Ray had a Liberty .38 in his pocket at the time of his arrest In London....they actually held him on charges of carrying a concealed weapon until they were able to prove who he really was.

I would not hesitate ot buy any firearm made by Miroku. They made the Browning Side by Side which is a pretty darn good shotgun. Not a Parker by any means but hell built for stout-very pretty and safe for steel it you bore out the chokes to IC/IC (or M/IC)

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Forum consigliere

As stated,if the handguns are as nice as their shotguns,I would think that they are extremely well made. I have a buddy who collects Miroku over-and-unders. NICE!
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Browning production in Japan:
Citori, Cynergy, BLR Lightweight, BLR Lightweight '81, A-Bolt II, X-Bolt, BT-99, BL-22 Rifle, Auto-22 Rifle, T-Bolt, BPS (all), and Gold 10 ga. (production for these firearms have been at the Miroku factory in Japan starting with the BT-99 in the late 1960s. In 1970 the over and under Citori (made by Miroku) would gradually replace John M. Browning’s Superposed model as the the key product in the Browning line. In about 1973 the Browning Pump Shotgun (BPS) began production at the Miroku factory, and in 1976 production of the legendary Auto-5 shotgun made the move from Belgium factories to Miroku, in Japan. The others followed as they were introduced.


http://www.browning.com/customerserv...tail.asp?id=90


I can only speak for the Citori's myself, but like Cajunlawyer, I would not think twice about buying another!!