I’m trying to help a friend identify this revolver. The attached photos are the only ones I have. There appears to be some kind of crest or emblem on it. Thank you in advance for your time.


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At least you posted in the correct sub-forum.
Based on the cylinder release latch, that's not a S&W.
A photo of the other side might help.

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A Spanish copy of a Smith M+P?

It looks like there is a line of letters under the crest, illegible in the picture can you make them out? If so what are they?
Steve W

Unfortunately I don’t have the revolver in my possession and the photos sent to me are not the greatest. I can’t make the writing out either.


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Def a Spanish copy...can’t remember which company though

Possible a Orbea Hermanos revolver. They made copies of S&W and Colt revolvers. The S&W copies were called "Revolver oscilante" (oscillating Revolver), from the fact that the cylinder opens to one side and to make a diference between these models and the top brake (copy of S&W also) that they produced.

The Colt copies were called Colon Revolver (In Spanish Colon and Colt sound very similar to the uneducated person).

Attached Images

	Orbea 1.jpg (83.2 KB, 41 views)
	Orbea 2 .jpg (63.0 KB, 50 views)
	Orbea 3 .jpg (62.7 KB, 40 views)

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"lets be careful out there"

Another option is "DESTROYER" also a Spanish copy or BH (Beístegui Hermanos).

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"lets be careful out there"

I was wrong. Just found one that I think is the same as yours:

ARMSLIST - For Sale/Trade: Eibar Spain 38 long CTG (38 special) Revolver

MANUEL ESCODIN EIBAR SPAIN 1924 MODEL REVOLVER ... for sale

The brand is Manuel Escodin from Eibar in the Basque County of Spain (as were almost all the gun manufacturers in the motherland)

Most probably made in the 20's

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"lets be careful out there"

Many knockoffs of both Colt and S&W revolvers were made in Spain by numerous manufacturers between WWI and the Spanish Civil War. Many went to South America, some came to the USA. Some were well made using good materials, many were not so good. I have not previously seen any by Manuel Escodin, but that is no surprise. Eibar is in the Basque country of Spain and there were many gun manufacturers clustered around that area, also many parts suppliers. No idea if many (or any) remain. Until relatively recently (1990s) Star, Astra, and Llama exported fairly good quality handguns from Spain to the USA (both revolvers and semiautomatics), but I believe all are now out of the gun business.

I have a study of the arms industry of Eibar which includes a list (gleaned from city archives) of manufacturers before 1914, broken down into revolvers, pistols, shotguns etc., down to one-man shops. No Manuel Escodin there.

He does, however, show up on my list of producers of Ruby-type pistols (see attached). So he may have been the employee of another arms maker who went into business for himself on occasion of the "Ruby" bonanza during WW I. His production during the 1920s was apparently limited to the S&W copy labeled the Model 1924 in .38 Spl., .32-20, and .32 Long Ctg. Not a major player.

Many of these small concerns quickly went under or consolidated. As DWalt mentioned, only the big ones like Star and Astra survived the civil war and prospered long-term. And some, like Orbea Hermanos, switched products completely; another revolver manufacturer in Eibar in the 1920s, Orbea now produces high-quality bicycles, although their website still displays their gun history quite prominently:

Us - Orbea, yesterday and today — Orbea

Attached Images

list.JPG (119.1 KB, 22 views)

Nice CTG! The Spanish are excellent gun makers.

I believe you’re correct Tadeus67. I appreciate all the help and knew someone here would be able to identify it. Thank you!


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