WWII 38 M&P Commercial Shipments

[chiefdave]

How many of these 38 M&P's in pre war configuration were shipped during WWII to a non military/DSC destination? I've heard 10 were shipped to an individual in NJ. Maybe Charlie knows how many are documented in his data base.

[murphydog]

I doubt anyone knows an exact number or percentage. I have seen more than a few 900,000 SN range .38 M & Ps ship to a law enforcement or defense related destination, but my impression is this became very rare after the V prefix guns of April 1942 until late in the war.

[Absalom]

Legally, there shouldn‘t have been any. I think we‘ve discussed Chiefdave‘s gun before. All non-military, “commercial” production was supposed to be sold through the DSC, if it didn’t have a separate contract like the Maritime Commission. I don‘t think there were enough such exceptions to even calculate a percentage. But lots of unexplained things happened especially in early 1942. Recently there was an M&P on Gunbroker, 927625, shipped on a DSC order in April, still with polish blue finish and checkered wood stocks. That shouldn‘t be, but it was lettered as such. Go figure.

PS: It sold, so I can post the link to the closed auction:

VERY RARE S&W PRE-VICTORY .38SPL M&P REVOLVER MFG 1942 W/ROY JINKS LETTER - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 875310375

[DWalt]

This is from a thread early this year, and also seems to have been a 1942 commercial shipment to Tryon:

"I have s/n 912361 that is identical in configuration and letters as a commercial shipment on 2/2/42."

My feeling is there may have been a few outstanding commercial orders dating from pre-Pearl Harbor that were shipped in the early months of 1942.