I have a friend who is a very eclectic collector, he has a little of everything. I just recently found out that he has a Victory. The SN is V348872 and the finish could be Black Magic. It has a 5 inch barrel which is marked 38 S&W Ctg on the right side. The left side is marked S&W. The topstrap has the bomb, US property and GHD. The grips are numbered to the gun. It is also marked S&W Springfield, Mass, USA on the top of the barrel.

I can get pictures in a couple of days. This forum has really piqued my interest in Victories. What can you tell me about this one?

It's a British Service revolver, part of the US Lend Lease program to Britain & the Colonies in WW2. Probably imported to the US after the war as a surplus purchase by a US dealer. Many of these were converted to .38 Special caliber by reaming out the chambers. Ed

As we just discussed about one like this in another thread, from your description the gun sounds like it might still be in original barrel length, finish, and condition.

That would give it some collector value. The serial places its production in later 1943.

Many of these were shortened, refinished, and converted as Ed described.

Is it possible it was never sent to England? He states it is in excellent condition.

Folks often wonder about that when a well-preserved example with no post-factory markings shows up. But it’s highly unlikely. There were supposedly a few that shipped domestically, but they are rare. Of course someone could have “diverted” one from a shipment, but that’s unprovable.

A gun right in the middle of the serial range with standard markings for a Lend-Lease gun probably went overseas, and just ended up “retiring from service” and returning here in a way other than regular surplus sale by the British or another Allied government, most commonly as a private bring-back.

Max, look carefully for import stamps, they are often very small and faint. Look particularly on the frame below the barrel and check the cylinder to see if it will chamber a 38 SPL I had an almost identical gun and no import marks were found.Also, the converted guns were usually covered in stamps by the mad-hatter British inspectors. I assumed mine was a covert bring back. You might want to PM ordnanceguy and see what Charlie thinks.

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John. SWCA #1586

A BSR without the typical proof stampings indicates that it probably came back to the USA in some GI's duffelbag.

Keep in mind that with a few exceptions, such as the late 1980s Vega Arms Australian imports, the ex-BSR’s all came back before 1968 and there needed to be nothing covert about it; no import marks were required.

You are absolutely right. But, all of the Australian guns I have owned or seen have had the arsenal rebuild FTR markings on them. The New Zealand guns had the NZ markings, the Canadian guns the broad arrow stamps and English guns British proof marks. I did own a South African gun without any markings, according to Charles Pate it was probably originally destined to South Africa but was diverted to England due to the loss of arms at Dunkirk and escaped the various markings but lettered as a South Africa gun. Another Victory I owned was lettered as shipped to the OSS and had German postwar Hesse markings, Israel markings and no re-import markings. Victories are fascinating guns.

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John. SWCA #1586

Indeed. I’ve looked into that one, or presumably those unless it was a fluke, to figure out how it got from Germany to Israel, which must have happened in the 50s. But no luck so far.

A friend of my dads was Army Air Corps during WW2 and I remember him mentioning spending time N Africa and Italy. A couple times he showed me an unmodified BRR which he said he carried and brought home. When I asked why he chose that sidearm he said: I could shoot the revolver better than a 1911, I liked the 5" barrel better than the 4", unbeknownst to me when it came time to return home they didn't want me to turn in the BSR. It was not a US issue firearm so they treated it like any other war trophy.

During the late 1940s, the Israelis ware gathering guns from around the world, most of WWII vintage. The Black Market was a major source of small arms, but many were supplied by the Russians, via Czechoslovakia, mostly captured German guns. Another source of arms was from Israelis who had served in the British Army during the war, who had their ways of acquiring guns. Israel is known to have manufactured knockoffs of the S&W M&P revolver during that time, but those are few and far between. Here is a little more information about Israeli revolvers:
The Mystery of the IMI 9mm Revolver | The Hebrew Hammer