Triple Lock?

I have what appears to be a Spanish copy of a Triple Lock Hand Ejector in 44 S&W Special caliber with a 7" barrel. It is marked "P. Aranzabal-Eibar". I have seen other Spanish copies of S&W's and all were of rather poor quality and finish. This one could have easily come out of the S&W factory it is that good. It is a five screw with the triple lock mechanism at the front of the frame. The trigger and hammer show good color casehardening. Does anyone have any info on this?

Thanks,

Pine_Worker

I have what appears to be a Spanish copy of a Triple Lock Hand Ejector in 44 S&W Special caliber with a 7" barrel. It is marked "P. Aranzabal-Eibar". I have seen other Spanish copies of S&W's and all were of rather poor quality and finish. This one could have easily come out of the S&W factory it is that good. It is a five screw with the triple lock mechanism at the front of the frame. The trigger and hammer show good color casehardening. Does anyone have any info on this?

Thanks,

Pine_Worker

Pine_Worker, Some years ago, one of the Wesson family , either Harold or Doug, visited the Spanish gun makers in Eibar, Spain, and were show a T-Lock copy made in Spain. Wesson said it was the equal, or even better, than a S&W T-Lock. Many years ago, there was an article in Gun Report by Gil Newton about the T-Lock Spanish copies. You might be able to locate that article through the Gun Report index. Ed.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Pine_Worker

opoefc, would you know how I can contact Gun Report to research this?

Thanks,

Pine_Worker

Originally posted by Pine_Worker:
opoefc, would you know how I can contact Gun Report to research this?

Thanks,

Pine_Worker

Click to expand...

Triple lock

Try this

Thanks,

Pine_Worker

I have before me, a 1934 Hudson Sporting Goods, of NYC, catalog advertising "Big Bertha" a copy of the T.L. No manufacturer, or countru of origin is listed, but the ad does say that the gun is imported. 5 or 6 inch bbl, .44 special,blued with "cased" T. and H. Special Price was $15.95(list was $39.95).
By comparison,Hudson was selling new 38/44 H.D.s for $33.45.

Most likely, your gun was made by Trocola, as the book, "Pistols of the World" says that they were the only one of the Eibar producers to make the gun, and that the quality was superb.
But there was so much "ownership change" and subcontracting, that the actual producer/pedigree of many Spanish handguns is very hard, as is pointed out in the book, "Spanish Handguns".

The triple lock copy was known as the "Modelo Militar" and the full name of the producer was; Trocola, Aranzabal, y Cia.

The Spanish Civil War(1936-39) would close down many small operations among the Basques in the Eibar region.

A famous lawsuit, by S&W, in the 1920's, against J. Galef, importers, stopped the deceptive labeling practices on many of these Spanish revolvers; such as "made for .38 Special SMITH & WESSON ctgs."- or - "SMITH & WESSON pattern".

If your T.L.has medallions in the grips, THE Spanish continued to use a "monogram" very much like S&W's intertwined letters; the ONE T.L. copy I've seen, Trocola used the 3 letters of their full company name, intertwined "TAC". A quick glance makes you think they are genuine 1910-20 S&W style grips.

But at least there was NO attempt to "confuse the buyer" with deceptive markings, due to S&W winning the Galef lawsuit in the previous decade.

Trocola, and another firm by the name of Garante, were the only 2 Eibar makers to win World War One British contracts to produce top break .455 D.A.s (on the S&W pattern of course!) for the arms starved Brits. Even though the hauty British considered these revolvers "2nd line"(and rejected many" Trocola was one of the more "respected" Eibar makers.

I have always wondered about the quality of the steel in the Spanish T.L.s?? Even though I think of Toledo steel, some of the "assembled" Spanish handguns in the 1890-1925 period had metal not much stronger than the "pot metal cap pistols" I had as kid!

Sorry for the lengthy post, but hope that it may give you some more info.

Bud

Somewhat OT, but does anyone know if the guy in Canada that the Gun Report link is to actually gets those kind of prices on old Gun Report magazines? If so, I am sitting on a lot of bucks, as I have all but a very few of the complete run. Missing at most three or four.