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!

Hmmm.....Crown over X is a Spanish proofmark.

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

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

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