Asking for a friend. His 1937 Brazilian contract has L.N.C. on the barrel and he is wondering what it means. Any idea what that is?
Brazilian Contract 1917 Question
- Thread starter Retired W4
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Where on the barrel? Is he certain of the abbreviation? Can you post some pictures? Spare barrels were manufactured by a Brazilian plant stamped with the letters "I.N.A." representing "Industria Nacional de Armas, National Arms Factory." There were also several import companies that stamped their ID on the extractor rod flat as required by law. Often these were heavily abbreviated like IA SAC. However, I haven't seen an L. N. C. abbreviation for one of them.
OP
Guy, I'm working on having my friend send a picture to me. One other major point I forgot to mention. It's chambered in 45 Colt, AKA 45 LC. I have not seen or handled the gun. I'm just going on his description.
Have him send you as many pictures as he can take. It will be interesting to see if the cylinder serial number matches the rest of the revolver.
OP
As Paul Harvey used to say, Now the rest of the story, or something to that effect. My buddy has a factory letter which states it was part of an 800 gun shipment to the Brazilian government, per the contract and was converted to 45 Colt sometime after delivery. It looks like I.N.A. on the right side of the barrel, as mentioned by Guy and S&W 45 LC on the left. I will have to examine and post more photos in a minute.
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OP
StrawHat
Member
I believe the L.C. has been added to the S&W 45 stamp. I have one INA barrel left and will post images when I can.
The cylinder "could" be an altered original but I would lean towards a replacement.
The serial reads with the barrel pointing to the left. That generally indicates a post war contract revolver so it was most likely built on frames bought back from the Army when the war ended. Scrap parts if you will. Hondo44 can fill in the details when he joins in the discussion.
Kevin
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OP
Pretty interesting. I'm packing it in for the night. To be continued tomorrow.
gunsnrovers
Member
was the brazilian crest buffed out? hard to tell in the pic if it's still visible.
Model19man
Member
Refinished, caliber changed, non Smith & Wesson barrel - I don't see any collector value. It might be worth $500 as a good shooter if in fact it does.
The grips have some value...
...Ben
...Ben
The Brazilian Crest wasn't very deeply stamped on the 1937 Brazilian contract guns. See the photo of mine below.Looks buffed out to my old tired eyes.
From the OP's photos, it looks like this one was given a "Parkerized" (phosphate) refinish, and it seems likely that the Brazilian Crest was buffed off the sideplate in the refinishing process.
JMO, and FWIW.
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OP
From what I can see in the pictures the crest is pretty much gone. S&W logo is somewhat in tact Still no picture of the cylinder. I would like that picture to see how this conversion was done. Beyond that the one thing left to do with this shooter is to shoot it. I'll supply the ammo.
handejector
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Looks like it is pointing right to me.
Jack Flash
Member
I could not dispute about collector value, but if it is a good shooter, I would expect it to go for more than $500.
StrawHat
Member
Looks like it is pointing right to me.
It appears we need clarification of this point.
Tom, could you ask which way the barrel is pointing when the serial number is located normally?
Kevin
OP
I will have to work on that one. I can not tell by the photo. In the mean time, I did receive a picture of the SN on the cylinder. The number on the cylinder obviously does not match the gun, but I can see it is outside the Brazilian contract range. Hopefully some of you out there know the source of the cylinder but I'm leaning towards a modified post post war cylinder that was fitted here in the USA.
One thing I noticed is the extractor star is not centered over the chambers. Looks like that might be trouble.
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Model19man
Member
I don't know what it would sell for - it would not be a $500 piece to me.
OP
I have bought a number of Brazilians. Two of them had mismatched cylinders to frame numbers, I posted a thread on it and while not normal far from unusual. I believe most of those were mix mastered by the Brazilians, Yours probably got the cylinder swap at the same time the barrel was replace and it was refinished. But, supposedly many of them came back to the states around 1990, then were sold cheap on the second hand market. There were also lots of parts available. Shotgun News comes top mind. Lots of them ended up being modified, chopped barrels etc. I got one around that time and made up my very first 45 colt using a 357 cylinder from a model 28. I think I paid around $135 at the time. They are currently worth about $500 if functional. Very few are in high condition and those you prefer guns with a nice finish seldom want any of them even if completely stock.
I have several modified Brazilians. All still 45, but mostly 45 colts using reamed 44 mag cylinders. I still have one I have not molested, but it has a mismatched cylinder.
I recently bought one off a forum member and am going to turn it into my version of a PRC gun.
cause this thread need pictures
I have several modified Brazilians. All still 45, but mostly 45 colts using reamed 44 mag cylinders. I still have one I have not molested, but it has a mismatched cylinder.
I recently bought one off a forum member and am going to turn it into my version of a PRC gun.
cause this thread need pictures
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Might not be to a lot of people.
On the other hand I've often heard it said around here that pretty much any functional N frame is worth $500, so if you get one for less you're getting a bargain.
If I didn't already have a couple of 1917s and a Brazilian I'd probably be somewhat interested at that price.
Though of course I'd try to negotiate a discount.
OP
I don't know if my friend would sell it. I do know I want to shoot it.
StrawHat
Member
Model19man
Member
So I bought a Model 1937 Brazillian around 1990. It was a "better than average" one, cost something like $180 back then. The dealer told me he pulled it and 199 similar revolvers from a barrel full of grease. Mine was a tack driver with 45 FMJ rounds and a S&W full round clip. Wish I had kept it, I foolishly traded that revolver for a Thompson Model 1911 that was a horrible shooter.
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I'm guessing the serial number on the back of the ejector star doesn't match that cylinder serial number.
StrawHat
Member
The image posted by Retired W4,
https://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=686606&d=1719446155
My INA barrel is on the top,
Here is the other side, the INA barrel is still on top,
To me, it appears the L C is a different font and hand stamped.
Kevin
https://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=686606&d=1719446155
My INA barrel is on the top,
Here is the other side, the INA barrel is still on top,
To me, it appears the L C is a different font and hand stamped.
Kevin
OP
In reference to my post #18, does it look to anyone that the cylinder extractor pins (S&W part #5014) are missing?
It does, and one of the pin holes in the extractor looks wallowed out suggesting one pin may have been lost for a number of shootings before the other fell out...
...Ben
OP
It does, and one of the pin holes in the extractor looks wallowed out suggesting one pin may have been lost for a number of shootings before the other fell out...
Thanks Ben. I will see if I have those pins for my buddy's gun before we shoot it. Hopefully there are no other problems with it. I won't know until I have it in hand.
