Old Victory Model

[SW victory]

I inherited this revolver from my father, his brother gave it to him shortly before I was born. My uncle told me that it was a british service pistol and it has several proof marks. I'm not really interested in selling it but I'd like to know more specifically what the deal is with this guy.
I can say this for sure, it has been modified by Cogswell&...something. I'm pretty sure that they converted it to fire .38spl ammo and perhaps changed the grips?
All in all, anything you could tell me and any ideas on value would be really appreciated. Like I said I have no intentions on selling mainly because this is my go to target practice pistol. It pulls slightly left. Serial# V56**
Thanks a ton!
-Gabriel

[SW victory]

2 more pics

[Hondo44]

Welcome to the forum!
As well as converted to 38 Special your gun had the barrel shortened. This is the week for Victory models! Rather than rehash, these threads will tell you everything you could want to know about yours:
.38 S&W reamed to .38 Special?
What is it?
New old revolver ID?
what is my gun worth
Victory data base

[Waidmann]

If it was reamed C&H did not do it. My C&H is London proofed .38" (caliber) 1.15" (Special length), 4 Tons. Yours is Birmingham proofed for the lower pressured, shorter length .38 S&W (.767")under the 1955 rules. Odd also is your C&H markings are chiseled, most including mine seem to be done with a rotary pen.

Also although my grips are replacements they are round top, no logo.

[SW victory]

Thanks, that clears up nearly everything but the mystery of when it became able to fire 38spl rounds. Thanks for the help!
-Gabriel

[Art Doc]

Cogswell & Harrison. They make fine sporting arms and after the war they cut up a bunch of these revolvers. Shooting 38 Specials may be OK or it may not as cases can bulge or split. You can still shoot proper 38 S&W ammo but it's pricey.

[Waidmann]

Gabriel,
I would assume your piece was altered on arrival by or for the importer. Oddly yours is also the first I have seen that apparrently was not re-blued. I do not know of a C&H or Parker-Hale not altered to accept Specials. One outfit stamped a very neat ".38 SPECIAL" just below the cylinder release. Those and the two aforementioned are the only commonly encountered markings. With over a half million British service Revolvers to play with almost everything turns up.

Bill

[Green Frog]

One point, I don't thing C&H would have put those magna style grips on it and covered up part of the logo they just engraved. Also, the fact that it is not restamped as a 38 Special would suggest that it went through at least 2 phases of alteration. As for the reboring... if you take a factory 38 Spl round and insert it about a third of the way in, is it pretty loose radially? Then does it seem to tighten up as it gets almost all the way into the chamber? If the chamber is very clean, you will probably see two rings, one at the mouth of the 38 S&W case and a second at the mouth of the 38 Spl.

As a matter of curiosity, you might look to see whether there is a serial number stamped on the bottom of the barrel (visible when the cylinder is swung out) and the same on the rear face of the cylinder. These should both match the one on the bottom of the butt, indicating that it was altered by the simplest means possible, cylinder reboring. Numbers on the back of the right grip panel, if present, will of course be different.

As has been stated, there were boatloads of this model made, and after they were no longer needed to fight the Axis, many of them were bored to accept the 38 Spl round to make them more salable on the surplus market. While not that valuable monetarily, you have found the perfect use for it... enjoy it for casual target shooting. Enjoy!

Froggie