My New Zealand Victory Model journey finally completed

Everyone likes a good visual S&W story, right?

Alright, I see folks on here that very occasionally will show their New Zealand Victory models, and I admit that I have been a little covetous because I don't have one and I never see any decent ones for sale anyway...I think because the NZ Victories were sparsely encountered and basically a flash in the pan that were offered for a short period of time in the US 20+ years ago by Navy Arms.

So a few months ago, I am in a semi-local gun store that had featured an estate sale from Texas... Within this eclectic group of firearms, I noticed that a commonwealth five inch Victory was in the auction, but I just figured it was a standard UK model and it would end up bringing more than I wanted to pay anyway... I didn't bother to look at it so I didn't bid on it...Fast forward about a month, and I was going through his town to pick up another gun and his prior estate auction got brought up, he mentioned that someone bid on that "old Smith and Wesson", but the buyer refused to pay for it, probably because the auction had listed it as .38 Special instead of .38 S&W...So I then asked to see it.

When he brought it out, I ended up making a deal on it sub-$300...The gun looked honest and clean and had the right amount of wear for what it was.. Action was very smooth for a military issued gun, and had original finish on the grips too with hardly any dings...When I got it home and really looked at it, I noticed the NZ markings and the journey began....Serial number is 909563 with no or pre- "V"... United States Property marked, Ordnance bomb and WP inspection...Matching number grips, crane, and cylinder and "NZ 1065" on upper backstrap...No UK tattoos on the gun anywhere. I don't think the grips have been off in 75 years.

Through several months and other auctions, I sourced the best non-repro Commonwealth gear I could find a piece at a time to put her back as close as she would have been carried back in 1940 or so...There are so many P37 repro web belts around, that I wanted to go something that was used more in the colonies and definitely original, so I went with a Pattern 39 leather belt that was only used for about a year and a half just around the start of WW2...The New Zealand marked lanyard was a little gem too. The holster was new-old-stock and the P37 pouches already had the suspender strap removed and are broad arrow 1943 marked.

As always, there is a moral to every story...Always look at the fine print and never assume anything.

More importantly, a certain rock band of the 70's and 80's once said "On the eighth day God created rock and roll"....I submit to you, that they were incorrect...On the eighth day, God created K-frames.

Thanks for sharing! Fun story and great pictures.

Really nice assembly. It is always fun to search out and acquire the accessories to match; Military or LEO. Congrats on putting it together. Sometimes amazing things happent (blind hog orrolary). I acquired a 7.5" fixed sight tripl lock... figured I'd be years-if ever- searching for an original era correct holster. Amazingly, I stumble across one within 3 months... and at a very fair price.

I sent the link for your post to my friend from New Zealand. He thought it was pretty cool. He and his friends do WW II re-enactments, and they have the guns to pull it off. Lots of full auto stuff.

Hello Melvin:

Congrats on a great find. In my experience the NZ pre-Victory and Victory revolvers are very hard to find. The NZ pistol lanyard is an especially nice touch. It is the first example I have seen.

You might want to look on the underside of the barrel. It is often indistinct and hard to see but Navy Arms placed their importer's marking there. It is NA CO RIDGEFIELD, NJ. The great bulk of the NZ guns seen in the USA today were brought in by Navy Arms back in the 1990s and are so marked as required by law.

Regards,
Charlie

ordnanceguy said:

Hello Melvin:

Congrats on a great find. In my experience the NZ pre-Victory and Victory revolvers are very hard to find. The NZ pistol lanyard is an especially nice touch. It is the first example I have seen.

You might want to look on the underside of the barrel. It is often indistinct and hard to see but Navy Arms placed their importer's marking there. It is NA CO RIDGEFIELD, NJ. The great bulk of the NZ guns seen in the USA today were brought in by Navy Arms back in the 1990s and are so marked as required by law.

Regards,
Charlie

Click to expand...

Charlie, Yes the NA mark is there and I would never had noticed it until I found your old post on here about it... The mark is so tiny, it literally looks like a scratch. I had to get a loupe out to decipher what the last portion of it read.

As to the web gear, I know the colors don't match each other perfectly, but I scoured many auctions to find original gear and not repro. The lanyard is a darker green, but at least it came from NZ. It was from an estate auction as well. The buckle is made of copper and tarnished, but I left everything as-is because it seemed to match the patina of the gun and belt, although the belt has brass fittings.

I look forward to firing it, as it has a surprisingly nice action for a military revolver...It also probably hasn't had its legs stretched in decades.

Thanks again to your wisdom and knowledge about this... Oftentimes, you probably make a post and don't think much about it. However, forums like this don't forget and basically become an encyclopedia unto themselves, even years after your post was made.