Spanish Copy of S&W DA Top Break

[Rambler42]

Every time I read about someone being given an old revolver by a grandparent, uncle, or friend, I get so jealous. Well today it happened to me. A neighbor gave me this top break double action revolver. It looks like a Spanish copy of an S&W design. The top strap on the barrel is engraved with:

MANUFACTURA ESPECIAL DE REVOLVERS
GARATA ANITUA y O*EIBAR (ESPANA)

The * is a letter I can’t read.

The stamps on the left side, and on the cylinder flutes are the only other marks on the gun. The serial number appears to be 56. It appears on the side of the frame and under the cylinder latch. No other serial number is on it.

I believe it is .45 caliber since a .45 ACP fits well in the cylinder and a .44 is too loose. The cylinder is 1.42 inches long and the charge holes are .484 at the entrance and .445 at the exit. The barrel is .453 at the muzzle and .449 at the entrance. (Take these numbers with a grain of salt. I am not an expert with a caliper).

The top latch is a little loose and the cylinder locks up fairly tight in single and double action, but with the hammer down and the trigger released the cylinder will freely spin.

Any idea what I have and how old it is? It will fit in nicely with the other top breaks in my collection. Thanks for your input.

 

[Rambler42]

A couple of extra pictures

Three more pictures

 

[Rambler42]

I posted this to the wrong forum.

How do I move it to the right one?

 

[Diego]

You've got a "Garate Anitua y Cia" revolver, made in Eibar, Spain.They made guns, bikes and motorbikes. Their better known gun is the "El tigre" carbine, a copy of the Winchester 92. They stopped making guns after Spanish civil war, and their products had quite a good reputation among Spanish gun makers of the era. You can see here the cover of a catalogue were they advertise that they specialize in "Smith and Wesson revolvers"
CATÁLOGO DE GARATE, ANITUA Y CIA. EMSIME

 

[Rambler42]

Diego, Thanks for the information.

 

[.357magger]

I'll bet your caliber is .455 or 450 Webley.
Lots of Spanish (and Belgian) top breaks were. I'd certainly have a gunsmith check it out before I cranked off a 45 acp in it.

Also, how would the ejector work on a rimless 45 acp?

 

[Racer X]

I strongly suspect I have one of their 32 S&W short revolvers. I need to find it. It is still in the original hollowed out book my dad found back in '77 when his mom passed away. The story goes my grandfather, a Sheriffs head Deputy, took it off a perp, and passed it along to his wife to use as a house gun while he was away at work. I have the book, anbd the pistol inside, "somewhere" in the house.

I swear it looks just like that .45 but downsized, complete with that odd undercut topstrap. Her's does not have the frame exposed and extended below the grip and a lanyard loop.

The Spanish writing has always thrown me off. It always reminds me of a saying my dad used "Hotter than a Spanish pistol" Those .32 S&W shorts pack less punch than a modern HV .22 LR cartridge. Might as well shoot the whole cartridge at someone with a slingshot.

You all have my word, that when I find it, I will post pics, including the cut out book.

 

[Absalom]

By all appearances, this is what you have (copied/pasted for convenience):

“GARATE Y ANITUA 1915

Spanish copy of the S&W 3rd Model DA .44 Russian revolver, introduced in 1881. Like the original, this revolver has a cover plate extending to the whole left side of the frame. Manufactured by Garate y Anitua of Eibar and other Spanish producers, in the calibers .44 Russian and .45 Long Colt.

In 1915-16, the British army had a great lack of handguns. In order to fill that gap, the British ordered about 100,000 of these copies in Spain, but in the .455 Webley caliber which was the common one used in the British army. The Spanish could easily and rapidly convert barrels and chambers to the British caliber.”

 

[Rambler42]

I'll bet your caliber is .455 or 450 Webley.
Lots of Spanish (and Belgian) top breaks were. I'd certainly have a gunsmith check it out before I cranked off a 45 acp in it.

Also, how would the ejector work on a rimless 45 acp?

I wasn't intending to fire a .45 ACP in it. Just trying to see if a .45 would fit in the cylinder. I had a .44 that seemed too small.

 

[Rambler42]

By all appearances, this is what you have (copied/pasted for convenience):

“GARATE Y ANITUA 1915

Spanish copy of the S&W 3rd Model DA .44 Russian revolver, introduced in 1881. Like the original, this revolver has a cover plate extending to the whole left side of the frame. Manufactured by Garate y Anitua of Eibar and other Spanish producers, in the calibers .44 Russian and .45 Long Colt.

In 1915-16, the British army had a great lack of handguns. In order to fill that gap, the British ordered about 100,000 of these copies in Spain, but in the .455 Webley caliber which was the common one used in the British army. The Spanish could easily and rapidly convert barrels and chambers to the British caliber.”

Yes! That's it! Thanks so much for the information. The folks n this forum know everything.

 

[Jack Flash]

MANUFACTURA ESPECIAL DE REVOLVERS
GARATA ANITUA y O*EIBAR (ESPANA)

The * is a letter I can’t read.

The stamps on the left side, and on the cylinder flutes are the only other marks on the gun. The serial number appears to be 56. It appears on the side of the frame and under the cylinder latch. No other serial number is on it.

...

The "O*" is actually "Cia" the Spanish abbreviation for "Company". Thus it reads "Garata Anitua and Company" in English. The "IA" is capitalized but in a smaller font and is a superscript, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

As to the marks, I'm guessing they are Italian Proof Marks / Acceptance Marks since a lot of these .455 Spanish top breaks wound up in Italy. I could be wrong about this since I couldn't find them on the NRA's website. (http://www.nramuseum.org/media/940944/proofmarks.pdf)
The number 56 may have been applied in Italy or somewhere else in its travels.

Here is some more detailed information about your revolver:

.455 "Pistol, O.P. with 5 inch barrel, No. I Mark I" Eibar, 1915. A six-shot double-action hinged-frame self-ejecting .455 inch centre-fire revolver, ... Signed "Manufactura Especial De Revolvers Garate Anitua y Cia -- Eibar (Espana)" on barrel rib. Unloaded weight 32 ozs. Length about 10 inches. Five inch barrel. Bore 0.4425 inch. rifled by seven concentric grooves (0.142 inch wide/0.00575 inch deep) making one right-hand turn in twenty inches. Blued finish with colour case-hardened hammer, trigger and ejector claws. No serial number. ...

[From Revolvers of the British Services, 1854-1954, by Chamberlain and Taylerson, page 57]

Note: "O.P." means "Old Pattern" since this is a copy of the older S&W break top, not the new (at that time) Hand Ejector.
I hope you find this useful...

 

[Absalom]

....
As to the marks, I'm guessing they are Italian Proof Marks / Acceptance Marks since a lot of these .455 Spanish top breaks wound up in Italy. ....

I think the proofs in the cylinder flutes are the British crown/V (obvious) and likely crown/GP (not clearly recognizable, but what would be expected). I can make no sense of the two marks on the left of the barrel frame.

These models did go to Italy too, but generally marked for the Italian 10.35mm caliber and the Italian importer, Tettoni. In the absence of the producer‘s name these are frequently mistaken for Italian and generally referred to as “Tettoni revolvers”.

 

[Jack Flash]

I think the proofs in the cylinder flutes are the British crown/V (obvious) and likely crown/GP (not clearly recognizable, but what would be expected). I can make no sense of the two marks on the left of the barrel frame.

You may be right about the marks on the flutes. I can't see them well enough to say. I'll look for the barrel markings in the hard copy references I have.

These models did go to Italy too, but generally marked for the Italian 10.35mm caliber and the Italian importer, Tettoni. In the absence of the producer‘s name these are frequently mistaken for Italian and generally referred to as “Tettoni revolvers”.

At least 6,000 .455 top breaks that were rejected by England found their way to Italy in 1916. (see the source cited in post 11). I have read, but don't have a source, that these were not rejected because they weren't functional, but because parts were not always interchangeable due to various manufacturers being involved.