pistol ID help

[randal909]

I received this a gift from a friend of the family but I have little idea of what exactly it is. All I have come up with so far is it was made by the dutch I believe. Thanks in advance. The one stamp that is a little blury is a backwards capital P with a crown above it.

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[mosinnagantm9130]

The ELG proof mark on the cylinder is a Belgian proof mark.

[SVT-40]

Yup Belgian

[randal909]

A Belgian what exactly, I have searched and cannot find one with the identical design. Is there some place I should be looking ?
Thanks

[Chaos47]

From googling it looks like a Francotte or at least a knock off of one.. I havent found the exact model yet but these are very close:

http://littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20francotte/a%20francotte%20revolver%20pryse%20gb.htm

http://littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20francotte/a%20francotte%20gb.htm

[randal909]

Number 396 looks the closest to me.

[randal909]

But with a few little differences.

[Chaos47]

I think it looks like 394 with differnt grips

[randal909]

Mine does not have the shell extractor like the 394.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Guys, my guess is that it is a Belgian revolver that came out of one of the many, many little shops that were building them as fast as they could in the late 19th century. Trying to identify it is going to be like trying to identify a toaster somebody got at Walmart in the 1970s. If it doesn't have a name stamped on it, there is a reason. It was built by a no-name shop. And while it may look like guns made by other companies, it isn't. It is a knock-off. That doesn't mean it is crap. It just means that somebody was trying to make a buck selling the equivalent of a knock-off Colt or Webley. You see a lot of that in Belgium at that point in time. I can't tell what caliber it is from the pictures, but my guess would be something like .38 S&W, or some other low-pressure cartridge. Maybe even .450 Adams, or one of the other primarily European calibers.

-Mb

[SVT-40]

Guys, my guess is that it is a Belgian revolver that came out of one of the many, many little shops that were building them as fast as they could in the late 19th century. Trying to identify it is going to be like trying to identify a toaster somebody got at Walmart in the 1970s. If it doesn't have a name stamped on it, there is a reason. It was built by a no-name shop. And while it may look like guns made by other companies, it isn't. It is a knock-off. That doesn't mean it is crap. It just means that somebody was trying to make a buck selling the equivalent of a knock-off Colt or Webley. You see a lot of that in Belgium at that point in time. I can't tell what caliber it is from the pictures, but my guess would be something like .38 S&W, or some other low-pressure cartridge. Maybe even .450 Adams, or one of the other primarily European calibers.

-Mb

This...

The technology at the time was changing day by day.. Many many different shops and factories were adapting their designs based on the ever changing new discoveries..

Collecting these big bore European revolvers is a great niche idea...the prices are not prohibitive and you get some one of a kind pieces...

Someday, someone will make these revolvers mainstream...and the values will skyrocket....