Sometimes revolvers could be assembled and shipped out the door very quickly when necessary.

According to Charlie Pate, early in the war there was a U.S. Navy request for 3,000 revolvers that were to be issued to the U.S. Naval Civilian Police Corps. The formal request for this purchase is dated January 4, 1941, and specifies that the backstrap of the gun is to be marked U.S.N.C.P.C. S&W company records reveal that all of the requested guns were delivered in ten shipments beginning on March 14 and ending on May 10, 1941.

By early February 1942, the Navy was again in communication with S&W to purchase 20,000 .38 Special revolvers with 4″ barrels. A letter from the factory representative to the Navy Department, dated February 10, 1942, acknowledges the company’s ability and willingness to deliver these arms to Norfolk, VA, at the rate of 100 per day as soon as a contract was in place. The contract was delivered on March 2, 1942, and production began within two weeks.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318