Couple Old Rangers real cool

[Big T]

Hello Guys , I recently aquired the 2nd one of these so now here is my pair , these were made in belgium an are copies of the Colt 1877 lightening , they are 38 s they shoot any 38 avadable (but +p) I dont shoot them in it , I load mainly 38 cowboy spcl in them they are double action so i dont shoot them in matches but I love to shoot em they are damn accurate up to 40 yds , the cyl free wheels an locks in place when fired , marked TEXAS RANGER all original except the cyl pin on the one I just got I will prolly make one closer to the original soon hope you enjoy them ,The bottom one is the 1st i had in the 2nd pic

[Herbert]

There is also Belgium one that has the 1877 grip frame,I have been trying to find one of these for years,tryed one years ago and not only did it shoot realy well the double action pull was good as a Webly Greens,I would not feel good about shooting +P loads in these revolvers even standard 38 specials may be pushing it,check to see if it is nitro proofed

[Big T]

Yea I have put about 200 rds thru the old one loaded with 130 rnfp an 3 grns of trail boss my standard cowboy load ,,also a few 38 S&W rds just for fun , also about 75 rds of blackpowder loaded thru it , it is amazingly accurate ,t

[Books OToole]

Big T;

Join NCOWS and you can shoot them in a match.  We also have a Double-Action Championship the first weekend in May at Garnett, Kansas.

Books

[St. George]

Except that they don't remotely go back to the era, and aren't copies of a Colt...

They won't make the cut for NCOWS.

These came into the United States well after WWI, as cheap revolvers were flooding the postwar market.

The so-called 'TEXAS RANGER' revolver was a Belgian copy of the Spanish EIBAR Model 1929 revolver, made sometime in 1930s.

Imagine that - a Belgian copy of a Spanish revolver...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Herbert]

Would the revolver with the 1877 colt type grip frame ,simular to to the ones above have been made in Spain or Belgium,It had no markings other than a Sydney Australia retailers adress,it had British proof marks but lots of Belgium guns have these,IT was very well made ,as good as a colt or British revolver of the period,I was told it was Belgium but may be its Spanish,I have only seen a photo of one other the same so mabe I am looking in the wrong place

[St. George]

Look at the reverse of the cylinder - often, they marked the proof there.

British proof marks were copied by the Belgians and Spanish makers - especially when the product was headed for overseas sales, as so many cheap guns were.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Herbert]

It was also very comon for the  British gun trade to buy better made Belgium guns and mark them with there own trade mark,these guns had to be British proofed,even some of the goverment contract guns are marked like this.The revolver in question is not mine,it was owned by a Cobb & Co stage coach driver who was one of the last coach drivers in Queensland Australia around 1920 and was presented to him by the company(the present owner will not sell it for any money)there are BP marks on every chamber of the cylinder and on the barrel that seem to be identical to the proof marks stamped on a London marked colt that I have,it is a high grade revolver ,the quality reminds me of A Francotte but I do not think he made revolvers

[Big T]

Not to be condesending SG but I would like to see your research an where you found the info , I have been looking for over a year on the net only to find out what i posted about them on a few different forum sites ,t

[St. George]

Try 'The Revolver' by Taylor.

That - and five minutes online - using 'Texas Ranger Revolver' as the search parameter should show you several sources, once you winnow out revolvers actually associated with the Texas Rangers.

Then - try adding 'Eibar' and 'Belgium' in the search parameter and you'll really narrow it down.

It helps that I've seen these since I started collecting in '63, and they still show up in area pawnshops.

Good Hunting!

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Rube Burrows]

Pretty guns and the insides may look like a Colt 1877 but the outside sure don't.

[St. George]

The insides most definiltely don't look like a Colt - it's more of a Colt-like 'wrapping' around a European DA mechanism.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[w.b. masterson]

An old man carried one of these on the Texas Wagon Train 125th anniversary.  He claimed his grandfather carried it in the Texas Rangers and that was why it was so marked.  I didn't have the heart to disillusion him about his gun.