Trocaola Aranzabal Y Cia

On this particular gun, the cylinder latch is of a different design as the original, but other copies are so close to the originals that some parts are interchangeable.

Various Spanish makers made close copies of American swing-out cylinder revolvers. T.A.C., Cordoba, Crucelegui and others also made close copies of the S&W Top break New Model, Colt New Model Army & Navy and Colt Police Positive.

During WW1 both France and the UK ran short of handguns since the home manufacturers could not fill the demands. The British ordered Colt New Service revolvers in the .455 caliber, but Colt could only deliver 107.000 of them by 1917.

France needed a revolver that could chamber the 8 mm Lebel cartridge used in their St-Etienne 1892 Regular Service model.

Since the Spanish copies were of good quality and could easily be produced in the calibres used by both nations, France and England ordered huge quantities of them. The French chose Colt and S&W copies, both chambered for the 8 mm Lebel cartridge, while the British mostly preferred copies of the S&W Top break, which was easy to convert from the original .45 calibre onto the British .455.

Those Spanish guns saw heavy service during WW1 and proved of very good quality. Since they were chambered for the same cartridge as their regular St-Etienne 1892 model, the French gave them later the nickname "Spanish 92's".

Yours is not a war production, since it is chambered for the original .32 Long S&W cartridge.

I assume it was produced short after the war, but I can't tell for sure. It could also have been produced short before.

No matter what anyone would say, those Spanish copies proved to be of a quality comparable to the originals. Many WW1 soldiers thank their life to them. However, for some unknown reason, Spanish guns in general are not very popular in Europe, and are quite unknown in the USA.

During the 19th century and to this day, Spanish arms production has been concentrated around the city of Eibar (north of Spain) and in the area of the French-Spanish border (Hendaye). The Spanish were, just as the Liège makers, very skilled in copying existing popular models.

Marcel

Trocaola Aranzabal Y Cia

Velo Mith , Velomith, Velo Smith were weapons made in Spain, Eibar, by several arms manufacturers: Garate Ermanos, Ojanguren y Marcados (OM), Retolada Hermanos.

S.C. means “sociedad en comandita”.

This one is a “Top break”, calibre 6mm with central percussion, eight shots.

Many thanks to “ANTLERMOUNT” for the photographs

Another of the same kind

Trocaola, Aranzabal y Compañía

It is about a shotgun manufactured by the Company “Trocaola, Aranzabal y Compañía” between 1920 and 1937. (T.A.)

The brothers Hilario and Jose Antonio Aranzabal founded in Eibar in the years 1883 a workshop of arms manufacturer where they were specialized in the copies of Russian revolvers which were lawful in Spain since 1884 up to 1906.

At the same time, Venancio Trocaola, also having a factory in Eibar, was devoted to manufacture shotguns of the Lefaucheux system.

In 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, the two factories were plain by forming Trocaola, Aranzabal, y Compañía with an aim of equipping the French Army with revolver Smiths & Wesson army and police force Cal. 38.

At the end of the war, they continued to manufacture, while being devoted almost exclusively to the manufacture of weapons of hunting.

In 1936 they equipped with weapons the legal army of the Spanish Republic, but in 1937, the town of Eibar fell between the hands from the troops from Franco and machines was destroyed.

The factory Tomás Roote forever existed; it was surely a trap to mislead Spanish Finances fiscally.

Jesús Madriñán (Santiago de Compostela, España)

Trocaola, Aranzabal y Cia

Here is a very unusual revolver, it has no proof marks as such, but has some lettering in Spanish - on the safety is says FUEG0, and beneath the SMITH EXPRESS I can just make out the start of the letters, FABRICA ARQU______ the rest of the name of the manufacturer is undecipherable. This may be chambered for the 7.5mm Nagant revolver cartridge, a 32 Long Colt fits with just a bit of slop. A gunsmith in Uruguay suggested it was perhaps manufactured in Spain during the Civil War, many guns from that war went to Uruguay, especially with the last Anarchists and Republicans to leave Barcelona (many then took refuge in Uruguay). Since Russia was providing some of the ammunition and arms for the Republican side it would make sense to manufacture an arm that used the Nagant cartridge.

here is some info on the revolver:

Serial #4 (or inspection mark)

Barrel 4 3/4 inches, overall length 9 1/2 inches

On cylinder, frame, trigger, etc., marked #4

On cylinder: Y

10-shot cylinder

Richard

The "Smith Express" is one of the numerous Spanish copies of the S&W, this time called "safe" because of the concealed hammer. The maker is Trocaola, Aranzabal y Cia at Eibar, Spain (seee the TAC logo in the cartouche on top of the grip plate).

Normal calibers should be .32 or .38, but other calibers may exist.

Marcel

Back to "SPAIN GUNS"