UNUSUAL BELGIAN S&W DA TYPE .44 RUSSIAN

© KIRIMON AUGUST 2008

Belgian gun makers were experts at copying any type of arm that they thought they could make money on. And indeed, why not? Actually the copies tended to mirror the style of the arm rather than faithfully recreate the original, often the ENTIRE mechanism being totally different from the original S&W design. During the ‘Century of Gold’ - the Principality of Liege in particular - supplied - massive variety of arms to the world, and at moderate prices.

The particular revolver for sale here today, was manufactured in Belgium, but made I suspect with thoughts of sale to Russian Officers in mind. Loosely based on the S&W DA introduced in 1881 it is known that revolvers of this type were very popular with Russian Army Officers, as they were ‘lighter, handier and could fire faster than the standard single action S&W ‘Russian Model’ service revolver’. Ref Zhuk.

This particular military style revolver is rather unusual. It has the typical trigger guard spur that is a distinctive feature of the ‘Russian Model’ singe action S&W – but I have never encountered it on a double action variant of this configuration. Even more unusual are the use of cylinder locking cams and a full ring ejection system that have echoes of Warnant, Gasser etc….

The full ring ejector was thought by many to be superior to the ‘star’ system used by S&W which only griped half the cartridge body and could slip – especially under battlefield conditions or with poor or damaged ammunition – the ‘Ring’ could not fail to drag the spent case clear of the cylinder.

This is made more intriguing when considering the manufacture date indicated by the proof marks!

This revolver displays the following markings:

Crowned ELG over star in circle – Proof marks post 1893 - On cylinder.

Star over W – controller post 1877 –

‘33’ Assembly number

This number also on frame, ejector plate, latch, barrel etc etc.

Crown over R– rifled bore from 1894 - On barrel

Star over W- controller post 1877 –

‘J’ Assemblers/sub assemblers mark - Beneath grips

And others unreadable…

So – you can see from the proof marks that this revolver must have been made after 1894 – and was probably a bit later – so late 19^th /early 20^th century.

It is - as you can see from the pictures I hope - a rather nice looking nickel plated top break .44 calibre DA revolver copied – or rather based on the S&W DA revolver.

The finish, which is highly polished, and shows some scratches and handling marks from use over its long life - is not the original – as the stampings are clearly beneath the finish, and I think some have been lost - but it retains 95%+ of this. Again unusually the latch, trigger and hammer appear to be Gold plated – with much of it still remaining. See Pics.

The grips are in keeping with the period and fit the gun well, and are in excellent condition. They fit the gun so well they could well be original, and provide the only real clue to the possible manufacturer of this piece – indicating perhaps that this could be by J.B. Ronge of Liege. Many revolvers made by this company sport similar grips. See Pics

The cylinder bores, are clean, as is the barrel - with some pitting as you would expect with the age of the piece - and the rifling is still clearly defined. See Pics.

Frame lockup is good, and the gun indexes correctly. The action is powerful and functions, in single and double action as it should, the cylinder lock is fair - with some wear - i.e. some ‘play’ - as you would expect from wear on the cylinder stop. Seems to be an all original gun with the assembly number ‘33’ on many parts.

The closed ring ejection system seems to work fine – but I think possibly this should be ‘automatic’ (?) – I.e. it springs back itself - on this gun it simply retracts as the barrel and frame are closed… I confess I am not sure about this – I have seen both systems, and ‘Rings’ usually are not fully automatic – but they are usually on older guns… But it even works upside down – which is my simple little test to see if the springs are still working...

This striking looking gun – like most of its ilk will have seen some hard winters, and will have been repaired, messed and fiddled about with as well as being refinished during its long working life; however it is still functional, and presents an opportunity to acquire a cosmetically attractive and technically unusual large calibre revolver of the early 20th century in very fair condition and at a good price.

This big old Belgian boomer is chambered for the ever popular and accurate S&W .44 Russian cartridge. This is an obsolete calibre. The age of this item, plus the fact that this calibre is regarded as ‘obsolete’ - means that it complies fully with UK legislation, and no license is required, as long as it is held as curiosity or ornament

Comes with the six totally inert .44 Russian cartridges shown to enhance your display.

Please note: - these cartridges are entirely solid. Their bases and primer seats have been bored out and destroyed; the entire cavity filled with high tech’ epoxy resin. They cannot fire – OR EVER BE MADE TO DO SO.

Any questions gladly answered.

Please add £15.00 towards postage, packing and insurance.

© KIRIMON AUGUST 2008