scharfschutze

I recently acquired this revolver from a friend who's father had passed recently and she knew nothing about the gun. It is a large frame swing-out cylinder revolver that has no manufacturer logo and stamp on the frame or barrel, no caliber designation, and seemingly, no model number.

I measured the chamber on the cylinder and it appears that it is .32 caliber. The serial number is 133xx and the only other stamping on any of the metal besides the SN is 037.

The grips have a logo panel on them that I am not familiar with and I have included photos of the grip and detail of the logo.

I would really like to know what this is and maybe when it was manufactured.

Thanks in advance!

scharfschutze

Well, I received some info from my friends at Classic Firearms in Va Beach today and they were fairly confident that the revolver was a Spanish S&W clone. They also confirmed for me that it was in fact .32 caliber. With that in mind, I Googled and found the manufacturer to be Orbea Hermanos. What I don't know is what model it is or what year it was manufactured and whether it is safe to fire. From what I've been able to find, I believe that it is .32-20 or .32 Largo.

retDAC

Does the cylinder length correspond to .32-20? Do the chambers appear straight or tapered from the rear?

Btw, welcome to Pistolsmith and thanks for the followup!

scharfschutze

I'm not up on these handgun calibers. I see that 32-20 is a rifle round, so it's definitely not that. I'll get my calipers out and check the ID at both ends and measure the length of the cylinder. Maybe I can get a decent photo of the inside as well and post it.

scharfschutze

Okay, got my calipers out and the cylinder itself is 1.575" long. The ID at the back of the chamber is .359" and the ID at the front of the chamber is .326. There appears to be a shoulder in the chamber at a depth (relative to the back of the chamber) of 1.087". I wish I had a chamber gauge or something to test the fit but I don't have anything for handguns. I cannot tell if there is a taper looking in the chamber.

scharfschutze

Okay. I think I've figured this out but I want to put it out there so maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm my deduction or shoot it down. I have found some more information on the revolver itself and found that it is likely a Orbea Hermanos Model 1892. Apparently, most of these were made chambered for the 8mm Lebel cartridge. The dimensions I took and posted previously are much more in line with the dimensions of the 8mm Lebel than any .32 cartridge I could find.

Bullet diameter - 0.317 in
Neck diameter - 0.348 in
Base diameter - 0.353 in
Rim diameter - 0.411 in
Rim thickness - 0.053 in
Case length - 1.1 in

Can anyone help me confirm that I'm on the right track here?

retDAC

.32-20 is primarily a black powder rifle round but many revolvers and some single shot pistols were chambered for it. When smokeless came into use, there were both rifle and pistol factory loads. Don't know about these days.

retDAC

My 10th edition Cartridges of the World gives dimensions as follow:

Bullet diameter - 0.323 in*
Neck diameter - 0.350 in
Base diameter - 0.384 in
Rim diameter - 0.400 in
Rim thickness - Not Given
Case length - 1.07 in
Ctge length - 1.44

*HOWEVER this article reflects Bullet Diameter as .329". 8mm Lebel Revolver | RAVELIN'S BLOG

Keep in mind that some of the case dimensions might be nominal.

scharfschutze

Thanks for the info! I guess I should make a cast of the chamber to see what the entire profile is.