Hello Again-
In a recent post, forum members helped identify my recent gun show purchase as a 38 special 4" barrel Victory. All serial numbers match (V361xxx) under barrel, base of butt, and on cylinder. After reading a lot of previous posts in this forum, I still have some questions about my Victory:

Does a vertical instead of rounded front sight indicate a replacement?

This pistol is blued and shows no signs of parkerizing anywhere. There are no government markings of any kind. Were any of the ones sent to defense plants blued?

The hammer is case-hardened, but the trigger is shiny like chrome. Does this indicate a replaced trigger?

There is no lanyard swivel or hole for one, but there is a circle stamped in the butt where it should be. What does this indicate?

Thanks in advance for assistance.

IMO.............
yes
yes
yes
lanyard ring / assembly removed and hole plugged

How about some pictures?

The front sight may have been filed or milled to get a better sight picture.

S&W didn't parkerize victories but used a dull bluing finish called midnight black or something like that.

The hammer sounds correct and even a replacement trigger should have been case hardened.

The round circle in the butt is likely a plug put there to fill the hole left by the removal of the swivel.

Pull the grips and see if the right one has the serial number stamped on the inside. You can also look at the swivel hole and see if that is indeed a plug put there.

I agree with OFT regarding the front sight. I have seen several lately with the front half of the Half Moon sight missing, having been milled/ground off to leave a 1/4 moon with the vertical surface facing the shooter. There was a pre-22 on one of the auctions a couple of weeks back with that feature.
Ed

Hi Texasjarhead;

Sure wish you could post a photo or two. We'd like to see it.

Thanks to all who have responded! This forum is incredibly interesting and helpful.

I apparently do not have photo uploading priveleges, or else do not understand the instructions. Is there some kind of button on the "reply" toolbar for this?

How to Post Pictures on This Forum

Okay- This is what came up when I tried Photobucket. Hope this works!

Texas:

Thanks for posting the pic. That makes diagnosing your revolver much, much easier.

These are my conclusions: Your revolver has been reblued. The original half moon front sight has been cut down to its present shape. The stocks are replacements. The trigger may be original and simply have been polished so much that the case hardening colors have disappeared.

If you will post here or email me your complete serial number I will be able to give you a good estimate of the ship date. Also, are there any markings on the butt or left top strap?

HTH.

Regards,
Charlie Flick
S&WCA #729
NRA Life

Hello Texas:

Thanks for your email providing me with the complete serial number. With that we can estimate from the Victory Model Database that your revolver was likely shipped from the factory in the July, 1943 time frame. Since you indicated that there are no markings evident on the revolver's left top strap or butt I can't really offer much on the likely shipping destination.

Hope this information is helpful to you.

Regards,
Charlie Flick

Thanks very much to all who replied! This forum makes owning a Smith and Wesson very interesting.