I got to spend the morning in a friend's shop looking at and helping to grade and price a bunch of S&W's. Some of them were really nice, and some....well, not so much. Among the latter was a 38 top break that I just couldn't figure out and I'm hoping to get some help with it from the Forum. Here's some photos:








It appears to be either a 4th or 5th Model, but the serial number is either "303" as stamped on it's butt, or "43" as stamped on it's cylinder and barrel latch. However, those sn's are both wrong for the design of the cylinder stops. The frame has a lanyard ring and the butt sn is appropriately oriented to accommodate the ring, so apparently it wasn't an just an afterthought. The gun also has some serious mechanical issues; specifically, there is a chunk taken out of the left-side frame in close proximity to a groove in the cylinder ejector; it appears to be lacking some sort of a removable locking device for the ejector star, consequently, the ejector doesn't function properly. Also the barrel has obviously been cut, but done in a very amateurish manner. It's got nice MOP grips, but otherwise appears to me to be only a parts gun. The barrel is stamped "Smith & Wesson, Springfield Mass", but no other S&W markings. I'm guessing that this thing started out as a Spanish copy that somebody tried to meld an S&W barrel & cylinder onto. However, the trigger mechanism looks right and it'ss well installed. I'm a bit confused by it and would much appreciate others thoughts on what it is and why it's the way it is. Anybody seen anything else like it? -S2

I'm going to go with Spanish (or possibly, Belgian.)
Starting at the front... the muzzle/rib configuration is typical of Spanish guns. The numbering is not S&W type. The frame should have three pins above the trigger guard if it were a S&W and I've never seen a S&W top break without a side plate. The hammer shape isn't quite right.
That pretty much leaves the barrel inscription and your pic is too fuzzy to make any sense of it. Besides, the Spanish weren't bashful about a little "creative" marking.

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Thanks Dean. I agree that the frame is not S&W. The barrel marking is what confuses me; I'll try to get a better photo of it next week. -S2

If you find a stamp with an oval with ELG in it and a Crown above it, it is for sure Belgium made. You will find the stamp on the cilinder face.
But I do think it is Spanish.

It's a foreign copy. No part of it ( regardless of the stampings) was made by S&W. Ed.