Found Gandfathers old gun

[charlies]

If it were mine. I'd leave it alone no welds no hammer removal and figure out what cartridge fits. Then I'd shoot it with light loads enjoying it as it is.
Then I'd start looking for my next acquisition. Isn't that what most of us do? We are never satisfied...

 

[wunderboy]

Perhaps your grandfather had a friend or two who could help with some info.

 

[Jack Flash]

I would never dream of shooting it. Just have it around as a keepsake. There are way too many M&Ps / Model 10s still available at reasonable prices.

 

[DWalt]

Not knowing anything else about it, I personally wouldn't attempt shooting it with anything other than wax bullet loads (assuming the actual caliber it is chambered for can be determined). Nor would I do anything to deactivate it. What's the point? It's just a very unusual curio and memento.

 

[cmj8591]

Maybe it slipped out of the plant the week that the quality control department was on holiday break!

 

[Jim Watson]

A lot of the early Spanish knockoffs were chambered in 9mm REVOLVER Largo. Not much different from .38 Long Colt.

 

[DWalt]

There are many different .38 rimmed CF cartridges from various places in the world, used at various times. The Japanese military once used a revolver cartridge similar to the .38 S&W, and some of those Japanese service revolvers were used during WWII, along with the Nambu semi-auto pistols. If that unknown revolver originally came from Japan (which I doubt), that could be the proper cartridge.

 

[Dashlight]

Some dimensions of the cartridge[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

 

[DWalt]

Having a chamber diameter of 0.394", it would be consistent with the .38 S&W. Not that SAAMI specs mean anything in this case, but the SAAMI chamber diameter is 0.390-0.394" for the .38 S&W, so at least a .38 S&W cartridge would fit. Were it a Khyber Pass product, .38 S&W would be possible, as many guns made there were chambered for British cartridges.

 

[merl67]

You would be surprised what the folks in the Khyber Pass region can do with just basic tools. I have seen a few Enfields done by them no they are not great but when you realize what they have to work with it is amazing what they can do.

 

[DWalt]

I saw a video once showing how ammunition was made in the Khyber Pass. Very primitive, but I guess it must work. I suspect the gun manufacturing is just as primitive. Those people have been at the gun trade for centuries. Apparently, Westerners are not welcomed to see how they do it.

 

[Watchdog]

Wow. And it's a 5-screw with diamond magnas and a pinned barrel!

I certainly wouldn't disable it, but I'd sure expend the effort to identify it and find out where it came from. I'd also resist any and all suggestions to get rid of it.

Keep us posted if you find out more about it.

 

[Watchdog]

You would be surprised what the folks in the Khyber Pass region can do with just basic tools. I have seen a few Enfields done by them no they are not great but when you realize what they have to work with it is amazing what they can do.

There was an article in one of the leading gun magazines back in the seventies (can't remember which one), that showed the Afghans and their techniques and talent for gun making. All they needed was an original and they could copy it almost perfectly...using the most basic of tools and techniques.

They were/are famous, also, for their single shot, long barrelled muzzle loading rifles called jezzails. They make these things basically from scratch using no plans at all. They just take pieces of steel and wood and turn them into a very deadly rifle. They are accomplished marksmen with these guns.

 

[Jack Flash]

Yes, I remember reading that article. If I had to guess, I would say it appeared in Guns & Ammo.

I would humbly submit that making a copy that looks correct and making one that is properly heat treated, etc., are two different things. Maybe those back alley gun manufacturers can really make a functional, reliable, safe firearm. I'll never know.

 

[DWalt]

There are no lawyers in that area to sue the gunmakers for product liability.

 

[Watchdog]

Yes, I remember reading that article. If I had to guess, I would say it appeared in Guns & Ammo.

I would humbly submit that making a copy that looks correct and making one that is properly heat treated, etc., are two different things. Maybe those back alley gun manufacturers can really make a functional, reliable, safe firearm. I'll never know.

Yes, I think it was Guns & Ammo.

As far as the Afghan gun makers making functional/reliable/safe firearms...they used their homemade rifles to drive the British out of Kabul in 1842. They massacred the British 44th Foot and thousands of soldiers and civilians during the retreat. I think something like 16,000 started out on the retreat, but hard as it may be to believe, only one survived.

 

[Jack Flash]

Any statistics on how many of those guns blew up in 1842?

Those were black powder guns. Today's pressures are a mite higher.

 

[DWalt]

Smokeless powder rifles were being made by the French and Germans as early as the late 1880s, using what would today be considered inferior metallurgy and designs. And they held together OK. Remember, modern guns are designed and made with a large safety factor to ensure against blow-ups in normal use. The Afghans were producing knock-offs of the British Lee-Enfield rifles from about the time the British themselves started using them, and they seem to have worked safely. I've read that a few of those Khyber Pass Enfields may still be in use by the Taliban and Al Quaeda.

 

[Kinman]

That is truly interesting, I'd tie it to a tire or a tree with a cord and fire it just for the pure devil in me.
A guy I know brought back a copy of a 1911 that he got while working in Afghanistan in the early years. According to him he stumbled on a shop while going through a bazaar with some friends. The guys that worked in the shop were firing an AK-47 full auto into the air, a full magazine, then there were congratulations all around. He checked into it and found that they make just about any firearm you can think of, they showed him the 1911 and he was amazed at how well made it was made, considering it was made from raw steel and a file basically. He told me how they had a large grinding wheel like a potters wheel that turned horizontally on the ground and that was how they ground the flats on the frame and receiver. Those guys are well known for manufacturing AK-47 type rifles and in that trade they are known as Kyber Pass style rifles and often carry quite a price tag among collectors.

 

[Watchdog]

Any statistics on how many of those guns blew up in 1842?

Those were black powder guns. Today's pressures are a mite higher.

Talk about splittin' hairs...