Smith & Wesson .38
S&W CTG |
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The Victory model was so named for the "V" prefix which was placed
before the serial number and represented "Victory" against the Axis
powers in World War II. The revolver shown here was manufactured in late
1943 and accepts the .38 S&W cartridge. The acceptance mark of Ordnance
officer Guy H. Drewry was on the left top strap from about V300000 to
end of production, prior to the period of July 1942 to about May 1943 it
was found on the butt. The property mark was shortened to "U.S.
Property" at about serial number V300000 to make room for the acceptance
mark that was relocated. Just to the left of the property mark is a
ordnance bomb mark. On the left side of the frame, cylinder, and
underneath the barrel is a "P" mark which indicates this revolver has passed military
proof testing, this practice has been observed since approximately
V450000. There were over 571,629 of these models produced between
October 1941 and May 1945 for the British Common wealth countries.
This revolver was part of the United States Government Lend Lease contract and shipped December 20th, 1943 to the Hartford Depot in Springfield, MA. The Hartford Depot was the operations center for the lend lease program. See details from S&W in the letter below. This revolver was also used by the Austrian Police, notice mark on left of frame below hammer. After the war a lot of these revolvers remained in the U.S. Army inventory primarily for issue to foreign military and security personnel. |
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![]() Left Profile |
![]() Right Profile |
![]() Letter from S&W on this revolver |
![]() Caliber mark |
![]() Butt Serial number |
![]() Page 2 |
![]() Cylinder serial number and proof mark |
![]() Barrel Serial Number and Proof mark |
![]() Frame Proof mark |
![]() Austrian Police mark |
![]() S&W Logo |
![]() Ordnance mark (The Bomb), U.S. property mark and Guy H. Drewry acceptance mark |
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Click on images for larger image |
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All revolvers on the page are from the Moore collection |