CAVIM Model 10

[shark_za]

Hi there,
I'm hoping someone could shed some more light on the latest addition to my collection.
It is a square butt normal barrel 3 inch model 10-7 assembled in Venezuela by CAVIM.

The side frame reads "Ensamblado En Venezuela Bajo Licencia De Smith & Wesson"

How many of these were assembled under license? Commercial or military/police market?

 

[shark_za]

A pic of the markings

CAVIM_zpsdbc5c751.png Photo by shark_za | Photobucket@@AMEPARAM@@http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a200/shark_za/Glock/CAVIM_zpsdbc5c751.p@@AMEPARAM@@11.photobucket.com/albums/a200/shark_za/Glock/CAVIM_zpsdbc5c751.p

 

[BUFF]

I had no idea S&W had ever had guns assembled in Venezuela. If they did, and those are not just arsenal "rework" markings, it was done as a local work or value content part of a contract with the Venezuelan government, for handguns being purchased by the government of Venezuela, frequently done with industrial products to help the buying nation develop some local capacity to support and mebbe later build the product on their own.

Pretty neat!

How about a profile shot of the full gun?

 

[Texas Star]

Shark-

I think CAVIM is/was a military industry. I may have the wrong outfit in mind, but did they make armored cars, too?

Shark in your name, I get. Is the ZA part for Zuid Afrika? Am I daft, or is that correct Afrikaans for South Africa?

BTW, I am interested in sharks and saw a TV angling program that showed the world record Bull Shark/Zambezi Shark (C. leucas) caught in SA in a river many miles from the sea. It was over 13 feet long. The angler (Jeremy Wade, from the UK) had to release it under an agreement with some scientists.

Back to the gun, I'd like the see the full view. Does it have the standard barrel or the heavier one? A lanyard ring? Four inch (10CM) barrrel? (You said three inches. Is that measured from the cylinder face to the muzzle?)

I'm guessing that it was assembled in Venezuela prior to the late Hugo Chavez taking office there? He was an admirer of Cuba's Dr. Castro.

BTW, Welcome/Welkom here. It's good to see another South African aboard. There's one, maybe two, others.

Oh: as long as you're here... is the Z-88 copy of the Beretta M-92 9mm still made there? If you've handled them, how do they compare in quality to the Beretta original? Is the Z-88 the South African military pistol? I've read that it's used by police.

If this CAVIM gun really has a three-inch barrel and sq. butt, it sounds very like those used by Australan police in a couple of states there.

 

[shark_za]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

Yip ZA is the international code for South Africa and I used to be very involved in shark conservation and diving with sharks.
Zambezi Sharks are a speciality of mine and I have dived with hundreds over the years.
Quite a few tigers too but I have been unlucky to have not come across a Great White in the wild. Living in hope though.

This revolver is sitting at a friends house while I comply with the onerous licensing requirements, it will be around 3 months before its inside my safe.

Its a 3 incher, slight taper to the barrel, the 3 inch hides this taper but it is there.
It came with a box and the grips shown.

It will go well with another one of my special K frames, a 4 inch Peruvian 19-P. Basically a Square Butt 19 with fixed sights.




The Z88 is a great gun that is no longer produced. It is now the military pistol although there are very few of them out there.
MP's and a few others have pistols, but I have seen the odd officer still armed with the old issue Star BS.
The police are even procuring PX4 Storm pistols now as the Z88's grow tired.
I have a NIB Z88 sitting awaiting a license that will form part of my Police/Military collection. Very well executed licensed copy, seems better than the original.
Of interest to fellow S&W aficionados is the ex Military marked M&P in 38 S&W I have. Quite a few of them around.
It was standard issue to police and army in the 50/60's before they got Walther P38's and Stars respectively.

 

[BUFF]

S&W made a commercial model of the M&P in the 1960's and 1970's in .38 S&W that was primarily intended for and sold to the South African police. It was the Model 11.

 

[Texas Star]

i read the detective novels set in SA, written by James McClure. He was English, but lived in SA for some years.

He had the cops with S&W .38's, but didn't mention the exact cartridge. His detectives had PPK .32's. One was a big blond Afrikaaner and his partner was a Zulu.

If you can find them, they're good books, although with the underlying theme of opposing aparthied. That was almost universal in any books set there. The publishers are usually quite liberal, and probably insisted on that sort of PC thing. He also took digs at the death penalty. But the overall attitude wasn't too bad and the books are good.

The hero dated a girl known as the Widow Fourie, and she had a young boy. The cop gave the kid a BB gun. It was made to portray the Afrikaaner culture negatively from a liberal English view but I liked it.

Did anyone else read those books? I haven't seen new ones in years. The Zulu was named Mickey. Can anyone recall the name of the white cop? He was a really sharp guy, despite the PC overtones of the books.

Back to sharks, I've seen the big Whites jumping for seals off of Cape Town, and it's impressive.
BTW, Cape Town was founded in 1652, by the Dutch. I'm sure that Shark knows that, but others here probably won't.

 

[Professor Frink]

That is really interesting. Now that I know if exists, I want one.

This is of little help, but when I was in my late teens, I bought a bunch of .308 ammunition that was packed in 20 round boxes all marked CAVIM. Reason I remember is it gave me all sorts of extraction problems.