Good day Gents, I'm happy to be a new member here. I've recently caught the 22 revolver bug after years of semi automatic life. I have the chance to buy an old Smith 22 revolver that's described as an M&P 22. No model number given, but the SN is 9663** with no letter prefix. It has an adjustable rear sight, BNP stampings on it, and a faint, uneven Smith and Wesson logo stamped on the right side of the frame. Some tooling marks are also visible. Would this be a wartime contract gun? Can anyone give me some details on this? I do have a few pictures of it I can forward or attach once I figure out how from my phone.
Thanks in advance.

I believe you have a WW2 surplus Pre-Victory Model, originally in .38S&W caliber ( not .38 Special ) shipped to Britain as a Lend Lease or British purchase gun, that was later converted to .22RF after WW2 by various British gun makers. Parker-Hale was the largest converter of these guns. The British proofs (BNP=Birmingham Proof house ) were required by law to be done for any surplus military firearms sold to the public in England after WW2. The conversion vary as to whether new barrels & cylinders were used, or just linings of barrel & cylinder to.22 cal. Ed.

Unless it's priced very reasonably, I think most would suggest that you not buy it. Basically it's a makeshift converted gun with no collectible value. Not to say that it won't shoot well, but there are many better choices in a .22 revolver. It's really more a curio than anything else.

There was/is a purpose-built factory .22 Military & Police, later called the model 45, sold as a training gun to the US Post Office and a few police departments from the '50s to the '70s. Surviving examples are quite expensive collector's items today.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

But yours is not one of them.

Thanks for the great info fellas! It's priced at $500 CDN which after reading the conversion story, I'm reluctant to accept. I've seen some British post war conversion rifles, and was far less than impressed with any aspect of them. If it was $250-300 I'd be tempted to take the gamble and at worst, have an early vintage action as a potential donor.

If the S&W logo is faint and uneven, that indicates a crudely done refinish on top of every else that's been said. Avoid.

I would buy a VM converted to 22 LR to play with. But I wouldn't pay over $225 for it.

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No life story has happy end.

I'd think a serious Victory/pre-Victory collector might want a few representative specimens of the postwar-modified BSRs in his collection just to illustrate what happened to so many of them, but he probably would not pay much.

Wouldn't a Victory have a V letter prefix? OP says this one has none. Pics would be interesting.

Prior to early 1942, there were no V prefixes. They are usually called pre-Victories.

50260 sent photo's along.
Stu