My wife inherited a .38 Spcl revolver when her father passed away this year. The only thing we know about its history is that he used it when he was a sheriff's deputy in a very small town. It's a great little revolver - just needs to be cleaned thoroughly.

The serial number is V200xxx. Somebody at some point chopped the barrel down to about 2 7/8" inches. It's marked "United States Property" but doesn't show a recognizable model number under the crane that I can see. It appears to have had a lanyard loop at one time, or at least has a hole for one.

Any help with an ID would be greatly appreciated. Just looking for any interesting background and enough info to find an appropriately sized holster for her so she can pair it up with her 686+.

Many thanks!

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It's a cut down Victory made during WWII. it's pretty common to see these models that have had this treatment.

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SWHF #595

Welcome! It's a shortened (from 5") wartime British Service Revolver in .38 S & W. They are usually referred to as the K-200 (for the frame size and original bullet weight).

Many of these were altered to fire the longer .38 Special, but .38 S & W cases are also larger in diameter so the Special cases will bulge or split with firing. The stocks are from after WW II and were probably added on when the gun was "on duty".

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Wow! Pretty fast service guys.

Thanks a cylinder full for the great background info.

Yes, BUT . . .
Fortunately, on this one, the barrel was only cut to right in front of the locking lug, retaining the forward lockup of the extractor rod, and thus the cylinder. That is much better than cutting it to 2" and eliminating that lug (if one must cut it down to begin with).

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

As for holsters, your wife's revolver is a K frame. Any holster that would fit a 3" S&W K frame will work fine. A Google search yields multiple choices.

Hey Sixgun,
If you get a chance, add a pic of the muzzle end (EDIT: and sight). I always like to see the chop job.
That's a cool gun. I'm a sucker for a little history, and the fact it was her Dads, is just icing on the cake as they say!

A question I"ve been meaning to ask for awhile now about British Service Revolvers reamed to accept .38 Special rounds....... Does the change adversely affect in anyway their shoot ability with the .38 Smith and Wesson cartridge? 146 grain vs. the 178 or 200 grain of the BSR loading would change point of impact a bit, but any other negatives? Seems like it would be similar to shooting a .38 special in a .357 cylinder?

OZ

Welcome to the forum, Sixgun17!
Despite being shortened, I like it.

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass!

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Welcome from Bastrop, Texas

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Dogs are better than people.