I was gifted a butchered Victory Model in 38 S&W. It is one of the thousands of Victory 38 S&W revolvers that was reamed to accept 38 spcl cartridges and the barrel lopped off to 2 inches losing the support added to the ejector rod. And I know you all are tired of reading about them

This old piece I call my LHO Special has great timing, great trigger both DA and SA, no excessive end shake and is accurate enough for what it is.

My question is would you have any concerns about shooting a 20 or so more robust Buffalo Bore 38 S&W rounds through it to test reliability, and then gifting it to a friend that needs a defense gun, along with a box or two of the aforementioned ammo ?

Without having the Revolver in front of me I'd caution against shooting any hot ammo through it - especially since it has been altered! The Victory's were not heat treated (AFAIK) and would be best left as a collectible maybe shot on occasion with mild S&W 38 ammunition.

While it sure would beat a knife in a fight, I'd surely not push the old War-horse beyond it's age, condition and capability.

Not saying it would blow up with a few stout loads (just don't know for sure - from here), but I would not think they would help much either. If you are a really close friend I'd recommend giving a better defense weapon to him or her and leave this one as a curio. Err on the side of caution!!

Point of clarification is needed here. Is the pistol rechambered for .38 S&W or .38 Special? They are not the same!

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

It was originally a 38 S&W and has had a reamer run through the chambers so that it will accept a 38 Special round.

Chief you have a good point, about letting my friend have something better.

Truthfully it is probably only good for parts or as a curiosity.

The Victory is plenty strong enough to handle BB .38 S&W loads. The revolvers which should not be used with BB ammo are the old top breaks in .38 S&W - any brand. As a general purpose utility shooter, the chopped and bored Victories are usually pretty good. I wouldn't be ashamed to gift it to a friend who needs a handgun for defensive purposes.

I wouldn't shoot any +P in it and personally I wouldn't trust my life to it in .38 Special.

These were excellent quality, strong and durable guns, but all that was compromised when the importer roughly ran a chambering reamer through it and converted it to .38 Special.

These are notorious for splitting cases, and cases sticking in the chamber.
All this was done long before the +P loads were developed so no one ever thought what might happen with hot loads in a gun with an over-sized chamber without the correct case support.

There are millions of inexpensive revolvers around that are in good, original shape and in the chambering they were made for.
Personally I wouldn't want to feel responsible for giving a friend such a botched up gun for him to trust his life to.

Thank you all for your sound advice, I appreciate it.