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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 08-15-2017, 06:08 PM
Hootch34 Hootch34 is offline
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Just picked this up today and I was wondering if someone could give me a little more information. Serial is V412914. Minor wear but it's in pretty good shape overall. All matching numbers in 38 special.There is no "US PROPERTY" stamp?
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Old 08-15-2017, 06:13 PM
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Looks to be in good shape. One of my Victory's is V4501xx and it shipped in 11/43.

It is a 5 inch barrel.



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Old 08-15-2017, 06:58 PM
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Welcome aboard from Wyoming.

My V467553 shipped to Navy Norfolk on December 15, 1943. No US Property stamp. It wound up doing municipal police duty in Germany after the war, and an Air Force civilian employee bought it at a U.S. Army gun club in Bavaria in 1965 and brought it back to the states.
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Old 08-15-2017, 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by two-bit cowboy View Post
Welcome aboard from Wyoming.

My V467553 shipped to Navy Norfolk on December 15, 1943. No US Property stamp. It wound up doing municipal police duty in Germany after the war, and an Air Force civilian employee bought it at a U.S. Army gun club in Bavaria in 1965 and brought it back to the states.
Interesting! I've read that some of the pistols with no property stamps went to defence contractors to guard facilities or to other government agencies. I would love to find out the history on mine.
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Old 08-15-2017, 07:22 PM
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If you letter the gun it will probably reveal the agency or company it went to.
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Old 08-15-2017, 07:44 PM
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It more than likely shipped in 9/43. I list five just on either side of it which did, between V3939xx and V4189xx.

Without the property stampings on the topstrap, it is probably a Defense Supplies Corporation (DSC) revolver. DSC was a government agency which existed during WWII, one of their responsibilities being as an intermediary between a war-essential purchaser and S&W. Essential purchasers were entities such as law enforcement and security guards for defense plants. They are not unusual. The normal practice was for the purchaser to order the revolver(s) through DSC and S&W shipped the revolvers directly to the essential purchaser. There are other possible reasons for there being no property stamp, but you would have to order a letter to find out.
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Old 08-15-2017, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by DWalt View Post
It more than likely shipped in 9/43. I list five just on either side of it which did, between V3939xx and V4189xx.

Without the property stampings on the topstrap, it is probably a Defense Supplies Corporation (DSC) revolver. DSC was a government agency which existed during WWII, one of their responsibilities being as an intermediary between a war-essential purchaser and S&W. Essential purchasers were entities such as law enforcement and security guards for defense plants. They are not unusual. The normal practice was for the purchaser to order the revolver(s) through DSC and S&W shipped the revolvers directly to the essential purchaser. There are other possible reasons for there being no property stamp, but you would have to order a letter to find out.

Thanks for the info!
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Old 08-15-2017, 09:07 PM
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The lack of a topstrap stamp does indeed usually indicate a DSC-contract gun. The US Maritime Commission, which equipped merchant ships including the Liberty ships, was another customer for a significant number of unmarked revolvers. Having a military-shipped gun, like two-bit cowboy described above, without the property stamping is rather unusual (if it can be excluded that the stamping was removed at some point; that did happen, and the stamp wasn't very deep).

The nice thing about the DSC guns is that, as DWalt mentioned, getting a letter will generally reveal the end recipient, since except for a few months in early 1942, before the V prefix even started, guns were not shipped through the DSC, but directly to the user, like a police agency or defense plant, and even (my favorite letter I've seen so far) the Hershey Chocolate Company.
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Old 08-16-2017, 12:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hootch34 View Post
Interesting! I've read that some of the pistols with no property stamps went to defence contractors to guard facilities or to other government agencies. I would love to find out the history on mine.
Here's page two of Roy's letter and a few photos that confirm the property stamp wasn't ground off. The gun is immaculate.

I know its history from the Army gun club thanks to the purchaser saving the paper copies of the transaction records, which I still have.

For $75 you can get the S&W shipping info (letter) on your gun, but I hesitate to recommend that since the letter will tell you no more than where the factory shipped the gun. Without receipts or other documentation after that initial shipment that history is lost.

Cheers,

Bob
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File Type: jpg Victory top.jpg (67.7 KB, 21 views)
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Old 08-16-2017, 02:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by two-bit cowboy View Post
Here's page two of Roy's letter and a few photos that confirm the property stamp wasn't ground off. The gun is immaculate.

I know its history from the Army gun club thanks to the purchaser saving the paper copies of the transaction records, which I still have.
...
Yep, that looks like a normal bulk delivery to a Navy yard for further distribution, and they should all have had the US PROPERTY GHD and flaming bomb at that date. I think yours just slipped through. It does indeed look almost pristine and the topstrap untouched.
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