I recently saw for sale what appears to be a World War II Smith and Wesson converted to European military standards by Cogswell & Harris - London. Any one have any knowledge of these Smiths. It was about 85%, some wear from holster.

I recently saw for sale what appears to be a World War II Smith and Wesson converted to European military standards by Cogswell & Harris - London. Any one have any knowledge of these Smiths. It was about 85%, some wear from holster.

The conversion by C&H may actually be to 22 rimfire.

Hello Rob, This ad and others much like it were run in American Rifleman in the 1950s. I would imagine "finest English gunsmiths" would be a firm like Cogswell & Harris. I've never come across one for sale and don't think collectors have any interest in guns like this, if I had to guess as to price, probably in the 175.00 to 225.00 range. IMO this is just a parts gun and would be priced as such. Maybe some interest from WW2 collectors as I think these were made from lend lease revolvers,but this is just a guess. Hope this helps, and post a picture if you get it as we would enjoy seeing one.


Keith

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kbgrips.com

The firm would be Cogswell & Harrison.

It ain't the 16 bits down standing in my way.
The month shy of half a year @ $1.97 a week is the kicker.
The low down is enticing, yet when compared to the devilish four cents shy of a fin w/four-bits back interest over the twenty-two week period then it's all too clear that the rates are lowdown.
Easy payments to the poor house...

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Caveat venditor.

Rob......Did it have the caliber stamped on the barrel? Does it have a lanyard ring on the bottom? Does the serial number start with a "V"??? It might be an S&W Victory sent to England. Is it blue or Parkerized???

I have a S&W Victory rebuilt by C&H and it is my constant companion. After the War, C&H rebuilt a lot of the Victory's that were in England.

This a typical "Victory" model Cogswell & Harrison conversion done after WW II and returned to the American market. The gun had been previously parkerized but during the conversion there was an attempt to remove it by polishing and re-bluing...

I have one of Klein's $39.88 beauties in my Victory Model collection, in .22RF caliber. It's a nice conversion job, with a new 6 in. barrel as installed by C&H. A poor man's K22. I occasionally see them at gun shows, usually at around $200 asking, or so. Parker-Hale, Birmingham & London, also did the same conversions to Victory Models.

I would like to find one in the $200 range just as a curiosity. I attended a show this weekend and there was one with maybe 20% finish remaining. Asking price was $500

Typical 2 1/2 X the value gunshow askin' price.
After glancing more than two seconds did they encourage you to make an offer?

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Caveat venditor.

Watch it: some of those were "converted" to .38 Special. The chambers are too wide for the case, and it sometimes splits on firing. I sure wouldn't fire any Plus P in one.

The polish job on the pictured gun looks pretty rough, but these were turned out by the bushel for US importers, and they probably didn't spend too much time at it.

No, and I even walked by it a couple times before I left the show. I think he was more of a "shower" than a "seller". Between him and his friends there were probably 30 S&W revolvers at that table and at least one of them was an OGCA member. That is why I kept walking by, kept thinking there was something I was missing that made it a $500 revolver. This was in 22lr but still. I still see decent K22's for that price range.

I often like to grill sellers who have $200 guns with $500 asking prices to see what their rational is for the price. I've never found one who knew much about what he was trying to sell you, so after a few trial lawyer questions like "When did you quit beating your wife?" they usually retreat in embarassment in front of their gun show buddies! ( I don't suffer fools gently) -- Good British .22RF conversions of Victory Models are not real common guns at gun shows, or auctions, however collectors who care about them, as Victory Model variations, are also uncommon, so supply probably equals demand and market values are not driven sky high. Ed.

I can see where a scarce variation has more financial appeal. Once upon a gunshow, I looked @ a nice N frame and was informed, Tout de suite, that it displayed a tourist price...

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Caveat venditor.

Curious about the price of a new K22 when Klein's was looking for 39.88 for these reworked war guns?

I have some Gun Digest and Shooters Bibles from the late 40's and early 50's. If I remember I'll check when I get home on the price of a K22. The kicker may have been availability. I think most of us can remember a time when N frames sold for a premium over suggested retail.

OK, My 1949 Gun Digest has a suggested retail on all the target K frames of $65.90 and the 1952 of $71.50. So these conversions were roughly 2/3rd the cost of a new revolver.