ALFA .38 LC Revolver

[Cavagan]

I have a couple old revolvers I'm looking to get some input on. These have been in the family since I was a child, and I have personally put many hundreds of rounds through both and were some of the first handguns I ever fired. They've been stored and unused for many years. I recently dug them out and cleaned them up and have a few questions that I thought the awesome folks here might be able to help with.

This revolver is stamped "ALFA" on the frame near the grip, and has the following text stamped along the top of the barrel:

"American best cartridges are those that fit best the alfa revolvers"

It is chambered in .38 Long Ctg, and is fairly obviously a copy of the S&W and/or Colt police revolvers.

Search as I might, I can turn up precious little information on this revolver. Some information seems to point to it being a german manufacture, others to Spanish manufacture (see this website translated from spanish). Regardless of where it was manufacture, it does appear to be fairly old, possibly manufactured somewhere around 1910-1930.

Some images:

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The previous owner had replaced the stock grips with the larger rubber grips you see in the images above, which really balances it in the hand much better.

Any body have any more information on this revolver? I would be grateful for anything as my search has been long with very little satisfactory results.

 

[Soulman]

Manufactured by Armero Especialistas Reunidas, located in Eibar, Spain, used from 1923 to 1929, so the revolver is of Spanish manufacture.

While "ALFA" was the trade name of the Adolf Frank company, that trade mark is not one they used. I think it is one of many names used by various Spanish makers on a wide assortment of both pistols and revolvers in the between-wars period.

With few exceptions, most of the revolvers imported into the U.S. in that era were, to be blunt, junk, made from cheap "pot metal" (cast iron of the type used for making cook pots). I have heard of several blown up with standard loads, and STRONGLY suggest you not fire the gun.

It MIGHT stand up to standard .38 Special loads, but whatever you do, don't try to fire it with high pressure (+P or +P+) loads; you will be risking injury.

Incidentally, while those revolvers were outwardly copies of the S&W M&P (K-Frame), the lockwork was of the Webley-Colt type, with a dual leaf spring powering the hammer and the rebound lever.

 

[flatwins]

.38 Long is the forerunner to the .38 Special. I would be surprised if a Special would chamber in the cylinder since the bored length would be shorter. .38 LC cartridges are available from places that specialize in cowboy action shooting. I'd just make sure I had the revolver checked out very carefully before running anything through it.

 

[ldp4570]

Those old Spanish S&W copies are best reserved for wall hangers. The metalurgy is questionable an even with moderate loads you really risk loosing a digit or two.

 

[Soulman]

.38 Long is the forerunner to the .38 Special. I would be surprised if a Special would chamber in the cylinder since the bored length would be shorter. .38 LC cartridges are available from places that specialize in cowboy action shooting. I'd just make sure I had the revolver checked out very carefully before running anything through it.

yes yes, I read 38spl when in fact he put LC. All the info I posted should still be correct though besides that slip.