I recently picked up this U.S. Navy & Civil Defense marked Victory model. The numbers all match except for the grips, although they are in the same number range. The serial number is V 246XXX. There is a picture of one marked just like this one on page 148 of Pates book (not the same gun).

Lobo,
Is the Civil Defense etched into the finish or is the finish just discolored from whatever they used to write on the side plate?
Larry

Hey Lobo, I saw a red-paint Navy, that also had a Seattle Police stamping and I swear the same position/handscript CD marking. Not a week ago.

Waidmann

I'd say etched as you can feel the writing.

Sounds like that one has alot of history!!

The caption under the picture of the Navy/Civil Defense marked gun in Pates book on pg 148, says that it ended up at the Tacoma, WA PD. I hadn't thought about it until now, but I got this one out of WA state. Small world,

Oddly this thread has been referenced by someone on another forum That has a member who is selling a Victory with a nearly exact same Civil Defense etching in the same location. Is it possible a number of Victory revolvers wound up in the same location and etched with the same CD marking?

Sure. Nobody would have gotten just one. And most had the scratched or etched crude writing in that location. Since there are only so many ways you can do this improvised marking (the triangle CD is a variant), “nearly exactly same” also is a matter of perception

If you do a search, you’ll find longer and more detailed threads where we’ve discussed these and their possible background.

Cool old gun ,the markings just make it that much better to me anyway but I like history as well as guns so when you put em both together you have a winning combination .Thanks for posting.