Just picked this up.
V109885







Not marked on the top-strap.

Hello Wicked:

That is a very handsome Victory Model you picked up there. The stocks are especially nice. It is also interesting to see that it has had its original lanyard ring replaced with a British style lanyard ring. That would be easy to change if you were so inclined.

From the Victory Model Database it looks like your Victory was likely shipped from the factory in the late September-early October, 1942 time frame.

Thanks very much for contributing your data to the Database. My collaborator LWCmdr45 and I appreciate it. Every bit helps.

Regards,
Charlie Flick
S&WCA #729
NRA Life

Thanks Charlie!

As far as I can tell, this has not been refinished. It's pretty darn nice.

When I took the grips off of it, I could not find any serial number markings on them. Should there be? I thought I read that the grips were numbered on these. Maybe the grips have been replaced?

Is it possilbe at all that this gun came from S&W with the lanyard ring you see in the picture?

quote:

Originally posted by WickedSharp:

When I took the grips off of it, I could not find any serial number markings on them. Should there be? Maybe the grips have been replaced?

Is it possible at all that this gun came from S&W with the lanyard ring you see in the picture?

Hello Wicked:

The stocks have likely been replaced. Inside of the right stock panel the factory marked the serial number as the stocks were hand fitted to the Victory before the frame was sent to be finished. After finishing the stocks were reunited with the serialized frame. Is it "possible" that the stocks were not numbered and that they are original to the gun? I suppose anything is possible, but when looking at how the factory operated and what the probabilities are the chances, in my opinion, are very low.

The same is true with the lanyard ring. That style of circular lanyard ring was popular on British and Commonwealth guns of various make, but was not a style used by S&W through the end of Victory production in 1945. I have to go with the probabilities again here and say that it is a non-S&W replacement.

Hope that helps you.

Regards,
Charlie Flick
S&WCA #729
NRA Life