Texas Ranger 38 spcl

[Rich/WIS]

Neighbor has a western style revolver from his late father. Made in Belgium, lot of proofs but no makers name. Marking on barrel read "Texas Ranger 38 Smith and Wesson Special". Has ejector rod like a Colt/Ruger and loading gate on right side. Lock up is sloppy and it can be fired in SA and DA mode. Fixed sights.

Anyone have any info or experience with one?

[rancher1913]

found these 2 snipets on other sites, about all the help I can be.

The "Texas Ranger" revolver you have was a cheaply made revolver from Belgium. They were made from about 1922 to 1931 and imported during the 1930s to the USA. Some were .38 Special & and some were .44-40. They were copies of the Spanish EIBAR Model 1929 revolver. I would roughly put the value at $100 - $150 if its in good working order. I would definitely suggest that if you want to shoot it, you first have it checked out by a qualified gunsmith. Due to the poor quality of these guns, they may not be able to handle current factory ammo which could be dangerous to you and the gun. Parts are virtually non-existent so repairing a broken gun may be very difficult.

The Belgium Texas Ranger has come up on this forum a few times before:)
The best information I have gleaned is , no one knows the manufacture, other than " made in Belgium". A lot of guesses but no facts. One guess was FN, which I doubt very highly, anything from FN was of a much higher quality. They seem to have been imported during the 1930's, designed to look roughly like a Colt Single Action ( for the cowboy fans ) but in double action. Very inexpensively made and prone to breakage with no parts availability. Most were marked " For .38 Colt Special " which is nothing more than the S&W .38 Special but with a flat nose. Value, I saw one on G*B* go for 150. IN MO that is 75 dollars more than it is worth, but what the hey, I guess someone wanted it for some reason, I hope they were not laughed at too much by their friends. Best I can do, any one else.

[rintinglen]

Years ago I read Garry James write a short piece wherein he basically affirmed most of what is quoted above, save that he did not mention the Eibar 1929 model. Another site says: "Texas Ranger was a trade name on copies of the Colt Single Action and made by Fabrique d' Armes Reunies of Liege, Belgium in the 1920's. These revolvers were mediocre quality." The only one I've ever personally seen was a 32-20. While it may have externally resembled a Colt Single Action, they were double action. These revolvers were reportedly sold by Montgomery Wards, during the 20's.

I doubt very strongly the notation that refers to it being a copy of a 1929 Spanish revolver. They were supposed to be for sale years before 1929, and most of the Belgian copies were of popular High Dollar guns, such as Brownings, S&W's, Webleys and of course, Colts.