Original Item: Only One Available. The City of Eibar, located in the Basque region of Northeast Spain, has long been a gunmaking center, with a history going back hundreds of years. It is located in a valley between mountains, and at the time was supplied with power for machinery by the River Eba. Anitua Y Charola was a well-known maker in the late 19th century, operating from approximately 1881 to 1899, though for the last few years the name was changed to Charola Y Anitua for some reason. This means that all "Anitua Y Charola" marked firearms are considered Pre-1899 Antique firearms by the BATF.

At the time, Spain was known for making a lot of copies of famous revolver designs, which was partly due to the peculiarities of Spanish patent laws. Unlike other countries in Europe at the time, you had to have production operations in Spain to be able to apply for an receive a patent. As there were effectively no foreign owned gun factories, this effectively meant that Spanish companies could copy virtually any design with impunity. They even were able to apply for patents on these copied designs!

Anitua Y Charola is one of many companies that did this, and for some reason they chose the advanced designs of Merwin, Hulbert & Co. to copy, and even successfully received a Spanish patent for the design. These were very well-regarded revolvers at the time, the "Rolls Royce" of American cartridge revolvers. They had smooth lines and many highly advanced features, which in some cases were fairly over engineered, which does make one wonder why the company didn't choose a more simple design to copy. Still, they went into full production, and attempted to get some military contracts for production of the Merwin Hulbert clone revolvers. They produced them for years, and they were well-made and quite popular.

Of interest is that a much larger manufacturer in Spain, Orbea, also was making Merwin Hulbert style revolvers, which resulted in Anitua Y Charola suing them for patent infringement in the early 1880s. They won the suit, a great embarrassment for Orbea, who then countersued in 1885, proving that they had been producing the Merwin Hulbert style revolvers for longer than Anitua Y Charola, which ended up invalidating their patent. This does allow the revolvers to be somewhat accurately dated, as after the patent was dissolved, the patent markings were removed from the barrel.

This early example of an Anitua Y Charola clone of a Merwin Hulbert revolver has the correct patent markings on the top of the barrel, which are still crisp:-

The side of the barrel marking is still easy to read, though the first letter is worn away:-

The only other marking on the revolver is serial number 4497, which is marked on the grip frame under the grip, on the rear of the barrel assembly, on the end of the arbor pin, and on the front of the cylinder. That makes this a great "ALL MATCHING" example, with no parts swapped out over the years. There is no caliber indication on the revolver anywhere, and measuring the bore and and front of the cylinder gives a measurement of 0.430" inches, while the rear of the cylinder measures .450". This does not match .44 Smith & Wesson, .44 Russian, or .44-40 Winchester, the three calibers we most often hear associated with these Spanish Copies, so we are not able to accurately determine what it is chambered in.

Cosmetic condition is very good, considering the amount of service it saw. The original blued finish on the frame and barrel is now faced mostly to gray from cleaning and oxidation, with some areas still showing a worn plum color. The cylinder is more of a dark gray color, and shows wear similar to the rest of the revolver. The walnut grip scales are in very good shape, showing overall wear but no cracks, missing chunks, or repairs.

The revolver functions and breaks down correctly, still functions relatively well. Built with a lot of advanced features, this unfortunately also means there was that much more that could malfunction. One example of the complex internal workings include a "safety" that prevents the revolver from being broken open unless the hammer is in the loading position, and if the latch on the bottom of the frame is not in the fully forward position, these revolvers can have trouble cycling. The system also utilized a somewhat unique ejection process, where unlocking the frame and pulling the barrel and cylinder forward would cause spent shells to pull out by "suction". The heavier loaded cartridges would stay in the cylinder. This was assisted by the "rim" on the front of the frame around the arbor pin, as well as the rim around the base of the cylinder.

We have tested the action on this revolver, and it works very well, with a strong lockup and nice indexing, though there is definitely some wobble due to wear. It has a working safety position on the hammer, and the frame lock can be moved once it is in position. We really did not notice any mechanical deficiencies or finicky behavior, definitely a rarity for these, especially the Spanish copies Still, we do not recommend "fan firing" it, as it can result in excessive wear to the internals. We checked the bore, and it is quite worn, still showing rifling, but also a lot of past oxidation and fouling, now removed. Most of these revolvers saw very long service, so this is typical.

A very interesting Spanish Basque copy of the Merwin Hulbert & Co. revolver design, still in very nice functional condition, This is the first time we have had one of these, and it is not likely we will see another any time soon! Ready to research and display!

Specifications: 

Years of Manufacture: 1881 - 1896
Caliber: Approx. .43-.44"
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 6 7/8" inches
Overall Length: 12 1/4 inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to most US States and most U.S. territories.

These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition, and are not tested for the the ability to feed or load any type of cartridge. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers" not for use, and we make no guarantees regarding functionality aside from what is stated in the description. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.

Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to most addresses within the United States.