orbea cia eibar spanish .32 revolver

[arcraptor]

Hi guys my father has a revolver of spanish make. It has "Orbea Cia Eibar" engraved on the barrel. I think it is the name of the manufacturer . I searched a lot about the company of the gun ,its quality etc. one thing I came to know was that there were some revolvers manufactured in eibar,spain at the time of ww1 for the spanish military. I want to know more about the gun and please tell me its value in the indian market...one thing about the gun for which i am sure is that it extremely sturdy..and looks like colt...i dont have its original pic but i searched and found one exactly similar to it...

[mundaire]

Please don't mind my saying this, and I am sure you cherish your family heirloom (as you should for sentimental reasons) - BUT most Spanish revolvers are of less than best quality.

I would suggest you not worry too much about value and in stead just keep it for sentimental value.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[arcraptor]

Hi Abhijeet,
This is actually not our hereditary possession...actually it was bought by my dad about 4 to 5 yrs back...my father wanted to sell it and get a new revolver...coz its very big...and cant be carried comfortably...thats why i was trying to figure out its value...do u think an IOF revolver will be better than this revolver?or any suggestions please...

regards
Archit

[dr.jayakumar]

yes,
iof revolver is compact and easy to carry.regarding performance,some are good and others not.depends on luck.

[arcraptor]

thanks sir

[ruger_rugged]

Dear arcraptor,

My dad got a spanish revolver similar to this (picture attached) which be bought 31 years ago. Is extremely light in weight about 400 grams. Although it is longer than the IOF but is not as thick and therefore easy to conceal. We never had any issues wit it. Recently I fired 3 chambers full (18 shots) without a miss and without getting the barrel heated. I must say our's is more reliable than IOF. http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php ... 65#p108665

[winnie_the_pooh]

Recently I fired 3 chambers full (18 shots) without a miss and without getting the barrel heated.

It must be made of that 'super duper secret heat shedding XYZ alloy'.All other steels get 'hot' within a couple of shots.Even the steel Ruger revolvers are made of

[ruger_rugged]

@ winnie_the_pooh

It must be made of that 'super duper secret heat shedding XYZ alloy'.All other steels get 'hot' within a couple of shots.Even the steel Ruger revolvers are made of

O God never thought of the super duper steel secret steel

I was just trying to compare the IOF revolver to the old Spanish ones in discussion. I bet the IOF gets close to red hot on firing 18 shots whereas Spanish one doesn't. At 18 shots components of IOF expand due to heat and the chamber may not open rather does not open. In a self defence situation what will a person do if his weapon refuses to open and get reloaded? These century old weapons are certainly not be good as the S&W or Colt but are way better than the desi IOF.

A weapon, car seat belt and helmet all fall in the same category. You don't know when they might be needed and carry them all your life so when needed they Better Work.

[winnie_the_pooh]

I was just trying to compare the IOF revolver to the old Spanish ones in discussion. I bet the IOF gets close to red hot on firing 18 shots whereas Spanish one doesn't.

What is the bet?Some of the Spanish built handguns were known for using soft steel. You think that a handgun on which a manufacturer was hesitant to add his name is a quality product made by a reputed maker?

At 18 shots components of IOF expand due to heat and the chamber may not open rather does not open. In a self defence situation what will a person do if his weapon refuses to open and get reloaded? These century old weapons are certainly not be good as the S&W or Colt but are way better than the desi IOF.

I have not experienced any of what you state will happen.Two reloads in a SD situation are highly unlikely.

[arcraptor]

An honest opinion...about the spanish guns : yes they are not of the best quality, and quality of the weapons depends on the manufacturer and the luck of the procurer...this is about the guns which were manufactured fairly earlier..but, in 2012 you can get a decent gun from most of the spanish gun companies...IOF : let me tell u a story when i first fired an iof revolver...we took my spanish rev and my uncle's IOF rev to an army range..i fired about 10-12 rounds from spn. gun and i admit a few misfires (probably because of the KF ammo.) and now came turn of IOF..the thing would not open..even for the first time and took about 10 mins toil of at least 4 ppl...i wasn't obviously a good impression of the IOF. And yes that was good day...i also fired slovakian VZ assault rifle and 9mm browning

[winnie_the_pooh]

the thing would not open..even for the first time and took about 10 mins toil of at least 4 ppl..

I have seen it happen many times.Shows unfamiliarity with the firearm.You need both hands to open it.Push down on the top lever with one thumb and at the same time push it at the top with the other thumb and break it open

[Vineet]

I own a IOF revolver from past four years and have fired more than three hundred rounds through it. Also I have seen and handled 30-40 other IOF revolvers but did not see this problem regarding opening in any of them. There is no such problem with IOF revolver.

I have fired 30-35 rounds continuously from IOF revolver without any problem. What happens is that after firing those many rounds, lots of carbon and residue gets collected on the axis on which the revolver cylinder rotates. This makes it difficult to rotate and in turn makes the trigger pull extremely hard. You need to clean it to make it function smoothly again.

More than the revolver being faulty, its the .32 S&W ammo that is at fault because it burns very dirty. I had read somewhere regarding .32 S&W ammo that you will spend more time in cleaning it then firing it which is true.

[arcraptor]

That may be the case bro as that was my first time with the gun (IOF)...and Vineet I am very happy to hear that IOF rev. CAN fire 30-35 rounds continuously...that's great. But, KF ammo is certainly NOT good. In case of shotgun also there is lot of sute...due to the ammo.

[mundaire]

The "soot"/ fouling left behind by IOF shotshells is mostly burnt/ partly burnt/ shredded cardboard which is used in the top wad/ wadding. IOF Astrams which used a plastic wadding combined with a star crimp did not cause such fouling. Unfortunately IOF Astrams seem to be no longer in production.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Vineet]

Unfortunately IOF Astrams seem to be no longer in production.

Astram Magna with cardboard wadding are in production. I saw fresh ones with a dealer in Haryana last week.