1926 model spanish .38 issues

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    Senior Keyboard Operator
    Feb 10, 2007
    2,704
    Bought a Manuel Escodin Eibar Spain model 1926 .38 special recently - very clean, just a little rub wear. Cleaned it and took it to the range today and had a bit of an issue. shells went in fine and the ejector rod easily slide them back out. fired first 6 and the ejector would only pull shells out 1/3 of the way and they were tight to pull out. unlike when they went in prior to firing when they easily slid out. Same with next 6- very tight. Shell casings no damage. 3rd time after 3 shots the cylinder wouldnt turn, hammer wouldnt go back nor would cylinder slide out. Set the gun down for about 10 minutes and didnt touch. After 10 minutes it opened and I ejected the shells.

    What would cause this? Is it not safe? Any cure? Thansk
     

    Bullfrog

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 8, 2009
    15,152
    Carroll County
    Hi...

    I'm not qualified to answer your question, but I was curious about what your new revolver looked like, so I googled it and ran across this:

    # 12093 - Manuel Escodin
    1/19/2008
    Walker
    Manual Escodine Bar - 38 Special - Stainless Steel -

    engraved with leaf patterns What is the date it was manufactured, what is the value, is there original grips available?

    Answer:
    Walker, I had to think about this one for a while but finally my brain unfroze and I realized that your revolver is a Manuel Escodin of Eibar Spain. I am not sure how that you came up with the unusual spacing in the name and it threw me for a minute or two.

    There is not a lot of information on Manuel Escodin of Eibar, the only facts that are known for sure is that he produced inexpensive low quality revolvers chambered in .32 or ,38 Special, from 1924 to 1931. The Escodin was a near-perfect copy of the S&W Military & Police Model and it sported a badly stamped ornate coat-of-arms trademark on the left side of the frame.

    I very much doubt that your revolver is stainless steel, it is probably plated with something like nickel or chrome. It has been reported in a major gunsmithing text book that the metals used in many of the old Spanish revolvers of this vintage is of very low quality making them dangerous to fire. Values for Spanish S&W copies is very low, probably in the $50 range if you can find anyone willing to buy one. I would advise against wasting time or money in a search for replacement grips. Marc

    Link: http://oldguns.net/q&a1_08.htm

    The writer doesn't specify his source (reported in a 'major gunsmithing book'? :confused:), but this comment combined with your experience would make me very concerned.

    Like I said, I'm not qualified to answer, really, but the issue of sticking steadily getting worse as you fire it more, then going away after waiting makes me think it's a heat expansion issue... perhaps due to poor quality metal as the quote suggests? Just be careful...
     

    zoostation

    , ,
    Moderator
    Jan 28, 2007
    22,857
    Abingdon
    I am not a gunsmith but it sounds to me like the heat and pressure from the firing of the cartridges is causing the cylinder to expand enough to eventually get beyond the tolerances allowing it to turn. In short, I have to agree with the above poster's quoted article and theory. For an Eibar handgun from 1926 the .38 Special is one of the hottest cartridges you'll see. Those factories were used to making guns for much more mild cartridges such as .25 and .32ACP autos and weaker .38 cartridges like the .38 Largo that were popular in Europe. If it were me I would stick to very low power loads, maybe cowboy action loads. Even then it could be dangerous to fire though. No way to tell when you can't trust the metal.

    Also while I'm thinking about it you may also want to make sure that your gun is indeed in .38 Special and not 38 Largo. I'm saying that because .38 Special rounds will usually chamber in a .38 Largo revolver. However it is not safe to shoot in a .38 Largo gun. The .38 Largo round is a much lower pressure round, in fact I think it began as a black powder round.

    For that matter it isn't inconceivable to me that someone in a basement gun shop in Eibar 80 years ago just said screw it and stamped .38 Special on his .38 Largo revolvers to get a few more bucks per gun.
     
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