Just received a recent acquisition which might be of some small interest to participants in this forum. It is a .455 cal. Great War vintage British-accepted "Pistol, Revolver, Old Pattern, No. 1 Mark I" (pp. 57-59,
Revolvers of the British Services, 1854-1944; pp. 93-94,
Howdah to High Power ...)
I am hoping someone (Spanish Marshal?) will be able to steer me in the direction of more information about the 19th Century Spanish military use of this pattern of revolver (see below ...)
Some background on this particular revolver - During WWI, British production capacity was woefully inadequate to supply the
one million .455 cal. revolvers that the Ministry of Munitions, in 1915, deemed would be required, so it was decided that "substitute standard" revolvers would be acquired from non-British sources. The two primary criteria for the selection of suitable models were (1) that the country of origin had to be a non-combattant and (2) must have production capacity deemed to be adequate for the purpose. The best known substitute revolvers contracted for by Britain, of course, were the American Smith & Wesson "Hand Ejector" and Colt "New Service" models.
However, the Ministry also turned to Spain, which had a strong firarms manufacturing industry, and selected two very similar models being produced there, which were essentially copies of the top-break S&W ".44 Double Action"introduced in 1881. My references indicate that these models of revolver were approved for Spanish military officers by the 1884 Royal Decree which introduced the Spanish 11mm center-fire service revolver cartridge. (The "Old Pattern" nomenclature used to describe these models by the British in 1915 relates, of course to the 1880's origin of the design ...)
My acquisition does have British military proof and acceptance markings, but at some time in its post-military life it has been "pimped" with nickle plating .... Other than that, it is in good shape, with strong rifling, but has an intenal problem (which resulted in my getting it for a good price, but which I understand should actually be a fairly easy fix ...) I thought it would make an interesting addition to my collection of Canadian/British service pistols and, assuming I can get it operational, hope that I can even use it in NCOWS/GAF events.
These revolvers were produced by a sort of "consortium" of Spanish manufacturers - this one was made by
Fa. de Trocaola Aranzabal Y Cia., of Eibar...