How many Victory's went to CT State Police

Ben Cartwright SASS · #1 02-09-2010, 12:42 PM

Is there anyway to tell, or does anyone have a ballpark figure of how many Victory revolvers where shipped to the Connecticut State Police during WWII?

I wouldn't have thought it would be that many, a few hundred, but a buddy of mine claimed it would have been well up into the thousands.

I am trying to figure out how rare is the Victory I have

opoefc · #2 02-09-2010, 02:08 PM

The only way to tell would be to letter the thousands of guns that went to the Defense Supply Comm during WW2 to see how many letter to the CSP. If you could afford that, you still wouldn't have the answer, as guns sent to DSC as contract orders, rather than direct orders, will only letter to the DSC and not the agency that received the gun. You could do an archival search of the CSP staffing numbers in WW2 to see how many sworn officers were employed, that might have been issued a Victory Model. I doubt that there were more than a couple hundred officers on active duty there in WW2, and most of them already had side arms, so the few that were hired in WW2 may have been issued a Victory Model. "Rare" is a relative term. All DSC guns are "Rare" in the sense that only a few were usually sent to any one war plant or LE agency. I wouldn't value a LE sent gun as more valuable, or rare, than any other DSC shipped gun. Ed #15

Ben Cartwright SASS · #3 02-09-2010, 09:59 PM

as far as value goes I agree, it is not worth more than a regular Victory. But having been born in Hartford, I just really like the gun. It is just kind of neat feeling that I have a gun that was among a potentially relative few to go the the State Police.

flagman1776 · #4 02-10-2010, 12:59 PM

I imagine that there would have been some patriotic pressure during the war to minimize purchases for Police use to actual needs... though there was conciderable concern about spys & saboteurs. U boats were certainly along shore & local lore has some clandistine landings. (U853 remains on the bottom East of Block Island, RI while her last victim, the ship Black Point, is off Point Judith. I have scuba dived the latter in about 60 feet of water.
Russ

Ben Cartwright SASS · #5 02-10-2010, 01:54 PM

I have a VHS Video of the U853, got it when my son took up scuba, but I never got around to it, too many hobbies.
I really like guns with history, especially WWII, which is why I have 3 Enfield #4's a #5, a Garand, 2 M1 Carbines a 1917 Enfield, a 98 Mauser and P38 both with Nazi markings and on the Smiths 2 38/200's and 4 Victories. and shoot them all.