jcerillo70 16 Posted May 19, 2020 Hey guys! Been a while, My father passed away a few years ago, and one of the things in his gun cabinet was this old .38. From what I remember he said it was my grandfathers or great grandfathers service pistol from Plainfield pd. I’m not 100%. the only marking I see are an fn mark on the barrel and what looks like a standing lion engraving. And a 4 digit serial # on the butt. I’ll attach pics, any info would mean a lot. Thanks guys! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted May 19, 2020 Hmmm.....Crown over X is a Spanish proofmark. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pizza Bob 1,488 Posted May 19, 2020 The crown over X is a Spanish proof mark associated with the Eiber proof house up until 1931 when the king fled. The crown changed to a knight's helmet. The rampant lion is actually the final proof mark and was used from 1923 to 1928. Just a guess but the EN is probably the Eiber Nitro proof (smokeless powder). Eiber was a hotbed of S&W counterfeits. With the exception of the cylinder release, this gun is very much a copy of a S&W Military and Police. That's all I've got. Adios, Pizza Bob 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcerillo70 16 Posted June 5, 2020 I found some new clues after taking the grips off. - Made in spain marking below hammer. - There is a " F A " mark on the grip frame. - a stamped # "16 " on one side of butt. - a stamped # " 21 " on other side of butt. any info is greatly appriciated Thanks Joe Cerillo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pizza Bob 1,488 Posted June 5, 2020 There were thousands of S&W copies that were made in Spain. Their proliferation here and in South America is what lead S&W to inscribe "Marcus Registrada" (trade mark) on their guns - although there is some debate about that and even if that is Spanish or Latin - in either case it has a Romance Language origin and would be understood by Spanish speaking countries. Most of those copies came out of the Eibar region of Spain. I certainly wouldn't attempt to shoot it - or if you must, tie it to a log or something and hade behind something before remotely pulling the trigger. Any proof marks? Adios, Pizza Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites