Hey everyone. I'm new to the forum I did my best to read the sticky. Unfortunately the gun is in my storage so I may leave out a few things requested but I will give pictures and hopefully someone can help me out. I have done a lot of research and cant find anything like the serial number I have. I do believe it is a 38/44 from the 1940s but could be wrong. If anyone could help that would be great. No model number just an assembly number. Serial number starts with a 7 NO prefix. Any feedback would be great as well as a rough estimate price. Thanks in advanced

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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! That is a British service revolver made for the British Commonwealth in World War II. It originally had a blue finish and it has been nickel since the war. The barrel has been shortened . The grips are also much newer than the gun. Original grips would have been Roundtop Walnut with a silver medallion. As it says on the barrel, it shoots 38 S&W cartridges. Perhaps someone that tracks these guns will come along and give you a closer date, but my guesstimate is 1940 for manufacture date.

Guy

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Hey thanks Guy. Appreciate the quick response. Just doing some more digging...would that make this a victory?

Your SN would likely have shipped in May 1941. It is nothing like a .38/44, which is built on a larger frame. It is entirely possible that the chambers have been bored longer to accept .38 Special cartridges. If so, .38 S&W cartridges can still be used. It has no collector value, but will still serve as a shooter. The .38 S&W revolvers supplied to the British at that time are often called pre-Victories. All victories have a V-prefix to their serial numbers.

Thanks for the knowledge my friend. Good to know.

DWalt:

Just a little thing that caught my attention: Obviously by that time/serial they had ceased to stamp the underbarrel B, but did you notice the strange C or partial O or zero stamped in its place? It was clearly there before the refinish. Any ideas?

The official name for this is a .38/200 (.38 S & W, 200 gr bullet) British Service Revolver. The standard WW II service load used a 173 gr jacketed bullet.

By the time SN 999999 was made it would have looked like a "Victory Model" (dull gray finish, smooth wood stocks) and would have been called a "pre-Victory".

From the location of the barrel marking it may have started out with a 6", but it has been shortened to about 4".

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Or referred to as a "Lend lease"?

Quite a bit too early for that. The Lend-lease guns did not start until the upper 800-thousand serials in late 1941.

I think Alan is correct and the position of the barrel inscription makes this a 6-incher (see attached comparison to a 5-incher). I believe it was originally a direct-contract Canadian gun; they got a lot of 6-inch guns, and it would explain the absence of any other markings. Of course any could have been srcubbed during the refinish, but a single Canadian C/arrow is easier than multiple British stampings to erase, and it could be under those magnas.

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Those started shipping somewhat later in 1941, even though the Lend-Lease Act was enacted earlier in 1941. L-L revolvers will have a "UNITED STATES PROPERTY," or later, "U. S. PROPERTY" stampings on the topstrap, as at least legally they were U. S. Property, more or less on permanent loan to the British Commonwealth and several other countries, even the Soviet Union. The purpose of the L-L Act was to allow the USA to provide weapons of every kind and all types of war materiel to the allies fighting the Germans.

Not until you mentioned it. I do not know what it is.

Is there any mark on the side of the butt under the grips? The barrel appears to have been cut short--but that may not have been done by the S&W factory. The caliber designation of 38S&W CTG may or may not be on the right side of the barre

As noted in a post above, the British used a 200-gtrain lead bullet but the cartridge CASE is the same as the .38S&W (loaded in the USA with a 146-gr lead bullet). The Brits changed to the 173-gr jacketed bullet to comply with Hague Convention requirements due to German complaints that lead bullets were "against the rules."

The gun is interesting & I hope the OP gets a chance to shoot it, though the point of impact may not agree with the sights due to our lighter bullet If the stub for the lanyard ring has just been ground down, it would be possible to remove the grips, drive out the retaining pin and install a new lanyatrd ring assembly as those parts are available.