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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 05-21-2018, 08:52 AM
ridecontrol ridecontrol is offline
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Default Need help with Victory Marking ID

I have a Victory. Has "GHD" and US Property marked.
It is also stamped I assume by hand ".38 Special" on the frame.
Barrel is marked 38 SW. Barrel SN matches frame. See photos.

What puzzles me is that it is marked "AF" with a broad arrow. SEE PHOTO.

Not a Victory guy. I just want to know what I have. I know about the Lithgow "FTR" part.
SN on grip does not match any other number.

Ken in Ohio
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Old 05-21-2018, 08:53 AM
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Default More photos

Here are more
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Old 05-21-2018, 09:02 AM
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Looks to be in nice shape. Some experts will be along shortly to help with the markings. Do a couple of searches on Victory and you'll have days of reading from this forum.
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Old 05-21-2018, 09:02 AM
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...and welcome to the forum.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:16 AM
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welcome01 to the forums from the Wiregrass! Would you post a picture of the cylinder face and make sure the chambers are in focus so we can see into the chambers. It appears that British Service Revolver has either had the cylinder reamed for .38 Special or the cylinder was replaced. If the SN on the cylinder matches the barrel and butt, it is all original and the cylinder was likely reamed to accept .38 Special.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:29 AM
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Default Cylinder photos

Here they are
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:47 AM
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Try and get a shot like this one.

greenshot

You can easily see it has been reamed to accept the longer .38 special cartridge.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:48 AM
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It’s a bit unusual to see Lithgow-FTR’d guns with converted cylinders, since these guns generally didn’t come into the country until after 1986. The conversion-mania had passed by then, and most Aussie BSR’s remained unmolested. This one also does not have the VEGA stamp where it usually is. Is the importer’s mark elsewhere?

The finish also does not look like Lithgow’s and it looks like it covers the FTR stamps and the additional converted caliber stamp, so the gun was likely refinished again after import and conversion.

The A^F applied instead of the usual D^D means “Australian Forces” according to the Lithgow museum’s stampings chart and as far as we know was applied interchangeably with D^D for no particular reason.
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Old 05-21-2018, 11:27 AM
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No import stamp anywhere I could find
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Old 05-21-2018, 01:00 PM
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Can't really tell if the cylinder has been reamed. It's original to the gun. Have you tried inserting a .38 Special cartridge? It's also interesting that the gun has been FTR'd but the ejector rod is blued. That was typical of original finish but I'd expect the whole thing to be Parkerized. The current finish extends into the Australian stamps so, apparently, it was refinished.
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Old 05-21-2018, 01:26 PM
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Yes...38 special fits
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Old 05-21-2018, 02:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wiregrassguy View Post
..... It's also interesting that the gun has been FTR'd but the ejector rod is blued. That was typical of original finish but I'd expect the whole thing to be Parkerized....
Guy:
It’s actually characteristic for the Lithgow FTR refinish to be minimally invasive. They only did the “right” parts; the blued ejector rod and case-colored trigger and hammer were left alone.

The Lithgow finish also is quite thin and was done with minimal buffing, so the factory stampings are crisp and the overall impression often leads folks unfamiliar with the FTR stamps to take them as original.
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Old 05-21-2018, 04:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridecontrol View Post
Yes...38 special fits
What this may mean is that any 38 Special cartridge fired in the gun may well split. The diameter of the 38 S&W is larger than that of the 38 Special. This was the "quick and dirty" method of converting them. I have one that was first reamed and then sleeved for 38 Special, so no splitting as the cartridge fits perfectly. Just try to slide a 38 S&W case into the cylinder, I bet it will fit, as all that was done was to remove the "shelf" in the cylinder. Dave_n
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