Does Mr. Jinks include factory repair history when researching the data base? The reason I ask is that I have a pre Victory and a Victory with replacement parts and the S service department stamp. I was thinking that if the repairs were done after initial delivery they may have been returned to the end user. I have 1 lettered Colt that includes repair history and am hoping that S&W provides the same information.

No, not in the history letters. And Roy and Don don’t have a database as far as I know, they dig through the actual records.

But we have great hopes for the records which the SW Historical Foundation is currently working on. Once they are digitized and accessible for research, exactly that info will hopefully be available.

The years of the Victorys are supposed to be done soon, within the year or so.

Lots of Victorys have the S on parts, by the way. These may have failed initial inspection and been repaired before shipping. That would be unlikely to be recorded.

Thanks for the response. One has a replacement barrel and the other the cylinder. Fortunately both are numbered to the respective revolvers.

The S&WHF can search the records of S&W for the years 1920-1966. Some repair records are included, but not many.

Bill Cross
S&WHF

That’s good to know, Bill. When I checked last year, the word was end of 2018 for the 1940s.

I have two odd Victorys also that I’d like to get looked into, both lettered. What would be the most effective way to proceed?

The letter for my 1941 M&P (shipped along with 99 others to Buick's 125-acre factory on North Avenue in Melrose Park (Chicago, practically) which made nearly 75,000 Pratt & Whitney engines for the B-24 Liberator bomber) indicated it was returned to the factory a few years later and reblued.

Now, to be fair, I did indicate that the serial number was followed by a star and also the letters stamped on the frame under the grips--so S&W knew that it had returned to them----but they were able to tell me the reason for the return.

YMMV