seeking info on copy of M&P 1905 -- Spanish?

[ddeanjohnson]

Somebody I know is offering this revolver for sale, and I am thinking about it. The seller thinks it is a Spanish copy of a S&W M&P Model of 1905, in .38 Special. Probably so, but I don't recognize the name imprinted on top of the barrel, although it is hard to read, nor have I been able to Google up any information on such a name. If anybody has any information on this maker I'd be interested.

Douglas Johnson
SWCA No. 2404

 

[had3nuf]

Doug I have one very similar to it, it was imported by a company in New York, Gooney is fairly knowledgeable on these Spanish imposters.

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[Texas Star]

I can't read the name on the barrel. Can you post it?

 

[DWalt]

I can't read the name on the barrel. Can you post it?

It looks like Dreadnought. The Spanish liked to give their products dramatic names. Between WWI and WWII, there were many small sweatshop Spanish gun manufacturers making components or complete guns for export to the US where they undersold the domestic Colt and S&W revolvers. But for the most part the quality of their materials and workmanship were not up to that of the domestic manufacturers, and some were considered dangerous to fire. Unless there is some manufacturer's marking, it can be difficult for a non-specialist (or even a specialist) in these guns to identify the makers. Often they were given bogus markings that superficially resembled the trademarks of S&W and Colt. They have relatively little value except as curios, but there are specialty collectors of such handguns (both revolvers and semiautomatics). Spain wasn't the only source, but probably the most prolific.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

"Dreadnought" it is!

It looks like Dreadnought.

Yes -- I couldn't make it out before, but you are exactly right -- it says "Revolvers -- Dreadnought." I just did a little Googling with that name. One source asserts that these were manufactured by one Antonio Errasti of Eibar, Spain, from 1905-20. No information, yet, on the quality of the steel or what kind of loads they will handle. There is apparently some dispute about whether these were intended for use with the .38 Long Colt or equivalent cartridges, or with the more potent .38 Special.

 

[DWalt]

What they were intended for was to be knockoffs of established US handgun brands in order to make quick money. Just exactly like all the fake Gucci handbags and Rolex watches of today. While there reputedly were some higher-quality Spanish (and other) revolver makers at that time, I would consider all of them to be curios and not shooters.

Now, some of the more recent Spanish and South American S&W-like revolvers, such as those by Llama (by Gabilondo y Cia), Rossi, and Taurus were reasonably well made, not dangerous to fire, and were sold legally without intent to disguise their source. While they were (and are) not up to S&W or Colt in quality, I would not consider them to be in the same lowball league as the cheap Spanish revolvers of the 1920s and 30s. I've owned several Llama revolvers and semi-auto pistols, and they were very good products for the money. I still have one, and plan to keep it.

 

[cmort666]

Most of the earlier ones depicted in the A.B. Zhuk book of line drawings are intended for .38 Long Colt, although some will chamber Specials. It's advised to stick to the .38 Long Colt... if that.