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Spanish 38 S&W long revolver for $65.00 Deal or no Deal?

15K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  falm16 
#1 ·
Found at the bargain case at my local gun shop. Spanish 38 CTG long revolver by the Beistegui Brothers Eibar. $65. It looks very much like this one:

http://www.auctionarms.com/closed/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=5842362.0

The cylinder hand is broken. Otherwise the pistol is in fair shape. Think the broken hand could be replaced with a S&W one, and the pistol would be shootable? Or is this a wall hanger only?
 
#3 ·
Well, at $65 this is really a bargain only if you can repair the pistol yourself. If you can find a more-or-less correct S&W hand for $20 (with s&h) you are already into this for $85 before doing anything else. If you have a gunsmith modify and fit the hand, you may find your final cost approaching or exceeding the cost of a WWII S&W Victory in .38 S&W.

If you pursue this, the first thing is to identify which S&W model this copies. Spanish copies of S&W revolvers vary widely in how closely they copy the original, especially in the lockwork. I'd start with http://www.oldwestgunsmith.com/gunparts/swhome.htm to compare it with various S&W models and versions, especially the K-frame models. You can also find an exploded diagram of the S&W model 10 (1950s+ version of the S&W Hand Ejector model 5, aka Military & Police, aka Victory) at Numrich: http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=10016. Note that a few parts are different on the model 10 versions than on the WWII and earlier revolvers.

One of the problems with replacing parts in revolvers is that this can entail a little or a lot of handfitting to get the revolver's action to function correctly, and the hand is an essential part of the action. Using an S&W part in a Beistegui Hermanos copy will almost certainly require handfitting.

The "38 CTG Long" may refer to the .38 Colt Long or to the .38 S&W Long cartridge. While there is no actual .38 S&W Long, it is a designation frequently found in connection with older European revolvers and ammo. You can Google "38 S&W long" to find discussions, descriptions, photos, and dimensions of the cartridge, but be prepared for German, Italian, Spanish, etc websites (or use "Google translate").

Finally, whatever the actual size of the cartridge, remember that many older Spanish revolvers were intended to be used with relatively low pressure black powder cartridges rather than the higher pressure smokeless powder cartridges that replaced them, much less the even higher pressure cartridges available today. Since these Beistegui Hermanos copies are fairly well known, you might want to check with some owners to see what cartridges are appropriate (and maybe even find a BH hand, although that would still require some handfitting).

Good luck!

Bill
 
#4 ·
The 38 Long revolvers will chamber and shoot 38 Special cartridges - thus a lot of folks experienced failures with these guns from shooting over powered cartridges in revolvers designed for black powder charges. Here again, another source of the "Soft Spanish Steel" myth.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have a top break Eibar in the bedroom for the Mrs. We shoot factory Remington 38 S&W longs through it and my own low powered reloads. My wife and I have shot hundreds of rounds through it since it was traded into my (now closed)retail gun store 3 years ago. I reload minimum -10% for being cautious and safe, but have never had a problem with any of the factory ammo that is still in production(Remington, Magtech, Federal, etc).
The 38 S&W long cartridge was made as a heavier police round(when the 32 S&W was popular) and before the 38spl pushed it out of popularity. This round was also heavily used by the British during WWII in the S&W Victory revlover, which was sold in the USA in the 38 spl caliber.
It is an interesting round to research and would be a fun plinker when repaired and examined by a competent gunsmith.
Buckeye Tony
 
#6 ·
Sspanish 38 Largo

condition1, here's one i have that is very similar to the one in your link. mine is marked 38 Largo, has a crest and looks to be a few winged lions on it. when i bought it from SOG, i think, it was advertised as made for blackpowder but safe for 38 spl loads. that's all iv'e shot in it, 38 spl, it is a large 38 and fits my hand great. also it is a very fine shooter. can't remeber what i paid, seems maybe around 125 bucks.
 

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