I recently picked this up, a Spanish made revolver purchased by France during WWI. These are probably the cheapest firearm from that war that can be purchased today, typically around $150. France was desperately short of handguns and turned to Spain, among others, to fill in the gaps. The semi-auto Ruby was bought in larger numbers, but they also acquired around 500,000 of these Spanish copies of the S&W K frame. Spain had odd copyright laws that allowed Spanish firms to outright rip-off the products of companies that didn't produce their product in Spain. This one was made by a company that still exists, Orbea Hermanos, but it makes bicycles today.
They remain cheap in the US because there are so many cheap Spanish revolvers available and the wartime product isn't recognized as such. The only marking denoting French purchase is the star on the butt near the serial number. It is chambered for the French 8mm ordnance cartridge, but this one was marked as 32-20 in the auction description where I found this, which seems to be a common mistake. These Spanish revolvers get a bad rap in part due to people typically firing the wrong cartridge in them, although they certainly are not S&W quality either.
I only recently learned these things even exist, but it didn't take me long to find one once I started looking. I actually have found several, but ended up winning this one due to the relatively nice condition.
They remain cheap in the US because there are so many cheap Spanish revolvers available and the wartime product isn't recognized as such. The only marking denoting French purchase is the star on the butt near the serial number. It is chambered for the French 8mm ordnance cartridge, but this one was marked as 32-20 in the auction description where I found this, which seems to be a common mistake. These Spanish revolvers get a bad rap in part due to people typically firing the wrong cartridge in them, although they certainly are not S&W quality either.
I only recently learned these things even exist, but it didn't take me long to find one once I started looking. I actually have found several, but ended up winning this one due to the relatively nice condition.
