Pistol, Revolver, Old Pattern, No. 1 Mk. 1.

stevejones

stevejones

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Courtenay, BC
I recently acquired this revolver. It was made under contract in 1914 for the British by a Spanish Company called Garate y Anitua. It is broad arrow marked so definitely saw military service. It is a direct copy of the S&W .44 Double Action First Model and is chambered in 455 Webley ( or 455 Elley or 455 Colt...). I really like the grips. It just fits in my hand perfectly. Bore is mint but it has issues....The cylinder turns unless the hammer is cocked. I'm hoping this will be a simple fix. This is an old design so i doubt if its a complicated issue. The gun strikes me as being well built.

nd4jed.jpg
 
Could be mistaken, but IIRC the cylinder turning as you describe is normal on many knock-off guns.
I've a Belgian or two myself, so I'm not slighting you as well.
Some folks look down on Spanish or Belgian pieces, til I handle them I don't judge. They made some decent pieces as well as some...questionable ones?
 
Lol, that is the way it's supposed to be.
Most likely, very likely I'd say.
I've an article from Gun Digest that tells why Belgian ( and Spanish) pistols were different from American pistols this way.
Bottom line is it was cheaper and easier.
 
As tokguy says, it's built that way on purpose. Cheaper or the Brits didn't care. Are there any other marks on it beside the Belgian/Spanish proofs and broad arrow? It was likely built for use by colonial troops rather than general issue. I was told something similar about a 44 Buldog I have. It does exactly the same thing as yours. I thought there was something wrong with it as well but after taking it apart it was pretty obvious that without some serious redesign it is what it is. That pistol isn't considered to be an antique but it is a nice example of what it is and like my Bulldog, it is what it is. It looks to be re blued as well but that may just be the lighting.
 
On the top of the grip it sys 1914. Apparently 30,000 were made under contract for the British. I can't see any other marks on it.

bearhunter said:
As tokguy says, it's built that way on purpose. Cheaper or the Brits didn't care. Are there any other marks on it beside the Belgian/Spanish proofs and broad arrow? It was likely built for use by colonial troops rather than general issue. I was told something similar about a 44 Buldog I have. It does exactly the same thing as yours. I thought there was something wrong with it as well but after taking it apart it was pretty obvious that without some serious redesign it is what it is. That pistol isn't considered to be an antique but it is a nice example of what it is and like my Bulldog, it is what it is. It looks to be re blued as well but that may just be the lighting.
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