Spanish copies of American revolvers were well-known within the arms industry and distributed throughout various countries in Central and South America. After World War Two, most of these were copies of the Smith & Wesson (S&W) K-frame Military & Police .38 Special, sold under the “Ruby” name and made by Gabilondo (better-known as the maker of the “Llama” autoloading pistols). This was one of three Spanish gunmakers remaining after their Civil War; the others being Astra and Star.
An acquaintance of mine is interested in Spanish firearms, and recently acquired the rather unusual revolver featured in this article. It copies features of both Colt and S&W, making it a trues “Smolt.” During the later years of the Twentieth Century, some gunsmiths combined Colt Python barrels with S&W frames to create stylish custom revolvers. (This was before S&W began making full-lug barrels.) Such hybrids were sometimes termed “Smolts,” using some letters from “Smith” and “Colt.”
The subject revolver was made by the Orbea Brothers firm in Eibar, possibly better-known for their copies of the S&W design. This gun at first glance resembles an S&W, as it has a barrel lug, a sideplate on its right side and an S&W K-frame in contour and size. Closer inspection shows that the cylinder latch on the left side copies the Colt style (and is moved rearward to release the cylinder), and the barrel lug has no front locking pin. Colt cylinders rotate clockwise, tending to move the crane inward towards the frame. For this reason, Colt never developed a front locking pin for the ejector rod on its swingout-cylinder revolvers. Colts also had sideplates on the left.
S&W cylinders rotate counter-clockwise, tending to push the cylinder away from the frame; the reason the K-frame M&P (introduced in 1899) received the front locking pin in 1902 after 20,975 guns had been made without that feature. The cylinder on this Orbea model rotates as does an S&W. The barrel lug has an internal plug with no spring, and the tip of the ejector rod is shaped like a round nose bullet. The revolver is serial-numbered on the butt.
As can be seen in the third photo, the lockwork utilizes a Colt-style V-spring, the upper leg actuating the hammer and the lower leg extending into the rebound lever to push the trigger forward after firing. The cylinder stop copies the S&W 1905 Model style, with a forward spring-loaded plunder retained by a screw in front of the trigger guard.
The barrel on this revolver is 4-7/8” long and marked as follows:
Left side: 38 SPECIAL CTG
Right side: OTRBEA BROS EIBAR SPAIN
Top (two lines): J L GALEP NY SOLE DISTRIBUTOR (See Author’s Comments, below)
U.S.A. 1922 MODEL
On genuine Colt swing-out revolvers, the cylinder release latch slides within a groove in the sideplate, and is a rather complex machined part that is withdrawn forward after the sideplate has been removed from the frame. The internal cylinder release design on this Orbea copies the S&W, and the outside “knob” is held by a small-diameter screw passing through a slot in the frame with its head barely visible in the vertical bar portion of the cylinder stud near the breech.
Author’s comments: I think the Spaniards misspelled the name of the importer, stamping a “P” rather than an “F” as the company name should be “GALEF.” The plastic stag grips are not original to the gun but are an exact fit for a square butt S&W K-frame revolver. While it is technically interesting, I don’t think highly of his hybrid. The Colt double-action trigger pull is generally not as smooth as that of an S&W, and I think trying to combine both types of lockwork in the same frame does nothing to improve operation. Also, I think the gun would have had a nicer appearance if the front barrel lug had simply been cut off rather than plugged.
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Spanish Orbea Bros "Smolt"
Linear Mode
