[bluerunner1]

I need any info on manufacture,year, value and any other information. It is 32cal made in Spain . My son-in-law was giving this by his grandfather and would love to have a little back story. Thanks

 

[22WRF]

So are there marking on it??????

 

[bluerunner1]

Hope this helps

 

[22WRF]

You have a Spanish proof of 1929 (A). Other that the best guess it's one of the many 100's thousands out of the Eibar District.

 

[Alpo]

It's a Ruby 32, from Eibar, Spain.

That X in the shield with the crown on top is Eibar, prior to 1931.

The picture in my book is a little hard to make out, but I THINK that grip mark is Euloglo Arostegul, of Eibar, on the Azul pistol.

 

[22WRF]

DO NOT fire this weapon without a complete inspection by a gunsmith. The value of your weapon, if in good working order and declared safe is around $100.00.

 

[Fatstrat]

They had an article on these in the last (as in last ever) issue of Guns & Ammo Surplus Firearms Magazine. It's a Spanish variant of the Model 1903 Browning Hammerless model. A good design. Many of them were made by Spanish gunmakers for the French to use in WW-1. A good way to tell if French used was the safety was marked FEU (Fire) and SUR (Safe).

 

[RJay]

They had an article on these in the last (as in last ever) issue of Guns & Ammo Surplus Firearms Magazine. It's a Spanish variant of the Model 1903 Browning Hammerless model. A good design. Many of them were made by Spanish gun makers for the French to use in WW-1. A good way to tell if French used was the safety was marked FEU (Fire) and SUR (Safe).

Another good way to tell the difference is the French army pistols will have France acceptance markings and will have a long grip for a 9 round magazine and a lanyard. The posters unmarked gun just seems to be a genetic Eibar made between the end of WWI and 1936. It is a unauthorized copy of the FN Browning, but not a clone. There are no parts for these old guns and even if a like item parts gun is found the parts will more than likely not interchange. These guns from the smaller cottage manufacturers were file fitted by someones great-great uncle while sitting at a wood bench in a goat shed. Even the magazines wouldn't interchange and each gun furnished to the French had to have its magazines numbered to the gun. Sorry about that.

 

[Fatstrat]

Another good way to tell the difference is the French army pistols will have France acceptance markings and will have a long grip for a 9 round magazine and a lanyard. The posters unmarked gun just seems to be a genetic Eibar made between the end of WWI and 1936. It is a unauthorized copy of the FN Browning, but not a clone. There are no parts for these old guns and even if a like item parts gun is found the parts will more than likely not interchange. These guns from the smaller cottage manufacturers were file fitted by someones great-great uncle while sitting at a wood bench in a goat shed. Even the magazines wouldn't interchange and each gun furnished to the French had to have its magazines numbered to the gun. Sorry about that.

Hence the word "Variant".

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Interesting tidbit- the grips are cow horn.

 

[wonderwhippet]

This gun can be very useful in keeping papers from flying off s desk.

 

[Fatstrat]

This gun can be very useful in keeping papers from flying off s desk.

Maybe, maybe not. According to the G&A magazine article, some of these guns were fairly well made. No Browning mind you. But not junk either. It also states that some were pretty shoddy. It might be worthwhile to research this particular MFG on the consensus of the overall MFG quality of guns made there. And while cosmetically the gun doesn't appear to be in very good condition. That doesn't mean it won't function. You just can't jump to that conclusion by looking at 2 pics.
Does it have any collector value? No. Is it worth a restoration? Not likely. But it might be a good shooter. Only a qualified gunsmith appraisal can determine that. It could easily be cleaned and cheaply spruced up to look better.

 

[mogunner]

I have an Eibar Echasa MAB GZ, made in Spain, chambered in .32. Parts can be difficult to find for a lot of these but they're out there but require patience and fitting, as some have said the parts may not fit right, mine was only made for two years and the replacement slide I bought in order to get the firing pin I needed had differences that made it not function correctly when fired. In decent condition I see these Spanish pistol sell on Empire Arms website for $150-$200. I shoot mine, it's an accurate little gun and fits my hand well. If I can manage to get the magazine ears set right and get rid of the feed problems it'll be one of my favorites to shoot.

 

[RJay]

The Model GZ was manufactured from 1955 until 1965, Both under the name of MAB GZ ( Manufacture D'Armes de Bayonne ) , and under the name Echasa-Eibar / MAB. Echasa was one of the better Spanish maker, who in fact was not afraid of putting his name on his product. The Echasa firm was also one of only four makers who was allowed to continual to say open after the very bloody civil war ( aren't they all ) of 1936. Most of the rest wound up " disappearing ". Echasa developed into a modern firm that folded their tents after the 1968 GCA stopped the importation of small cheap handguns ( along with some high quality ones , such as Walther ).

 

[Lanrezac]

This gun can be very useful in keeping papers from flying off s desk.

LOL!

Because of big French orders, Spanish gun makers built up a huge capacity to make cheap automatic pistols during the First World War. In the 1920's they sold large quantities all over the world, including the USA. The flow was greatly reduced by the Smoot-Hawley tariffs in the early 1930's, and ended entirely by the Spanish Civil War in 1936 (although retailers and wholesalers probably had supplies for several years on hand, given low Depression demand).