Please help on date of manufactur and model #. Thanks

Hand Ejector
Seril: C35266
.38 Special
3 7/8" barrel
No strain screw
5-screw

Has "Made by Orbec Hands Eibar Spain" on front grip strap

Eibar is a city in Spain. Your gun was made there, not by S&W. I've seen several of those over the years.

It's a knock off and not worth a lot.

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Don Mundell

How bout a picture SigO?

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

These old Spanish revolvers are good for turning in at gun buy-backs.

Hello Sig, need pics. Not much value to a S&W collector.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Be cautious if shooting it, they have a reputation of being made from "soft" steel and don't wear very well.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I'm fairly certain that would say Orbea, not Orbec, followed by some abbreviation of "Hermanos" = brothers.

The firm of the Orbea brothers was a long-established gun manufacturer in Eibar, the center of the Basque arms industry in Northern Spain. Like many other gunmakers, they produced copies of big-brand revolvers, and after WW I, the S&W K-frame was particularly popular as a template. Most were made for the Latin American market where patents were unenforcable.

As others have said, quality of Basque copies can range from acceptable and safe to dangerous, so if you want to shoot it, you're on your own.

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"Orbec Hands" really reads Orbea Hermanos, meaning Orbea Brothers, one of the larger Basque gun manufacturing concerns in Eibar, Spain. Probably out of the late 1920s-1930s since it is so marked.

Spanish gun quality varies from very good to junk! Orbea are generally among the better quality. Something that cannot be generalized about, although everyone seems to want to!

Depending on condition and buyer your gun could be worth as much as $200, although likely closer to $75-100. Every S&W collector needs at least one Spanish copy in their collection simply as a curiosity.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

IF IT IS IN FAIR CONDITION, you could shoot 38 target and Non +P loads in it safely. Whatever you paid, is probably the most it is worth. They make great tool box guns!

Ivan

There are actually a few collectors of older Spanish handguns. I know one. As stated, some show very good workmanship, others don't. There was a Federal court decision in the early 1920s which barred the (legal) importation of some of the Spanish revolvers on the grounds that they constituted unfair competition to U. S. manufacturers as they were clearly fairly exact copies of S&W and Colt revolvers which sold at a far lower price than the US products. Sort of like banning fake Rolex watches from importation. But neither ban worked very well (they never do), and some Spanish revolvers continued to find their way here until the Spanish Civil War of the later 1930s stopped them at the source.

More recently, Astra and Llama revolvers were imported into the USA during the 1960s-1980s period, and all of those were fairly well made. I don't think there are any of the Spanish handgun manufacturers still in business today, at least none exporting handguns to the USA.

Many diversified or went into completely different lines of products after the 1930s. The above-discussed Orbea brothers' company is still in business today selling high-end bicycles.

A college buddy had a Spanish .32-20 revolver. Fired brass looked more Weatherby brass, with none of the taper left.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!