S&W Victory model serial number lookup

4mrinsul8tor said:

5inch barrel,parkerized,smooth walnut.Bottom butt-380545.Left top strap-a symbol that looks like #8,U.S.Property GHD.Next to MADE IN U.S.A.marking D^D
L^^ FTR V^S^(this is not very clear)
19

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What looks like the number 8 is actually an ordnance bomb symbol. FTR stands for Factory Thorough Repair, and those guns, as the FTR implies were completely disassembled, repaired as required, and refinished in what Pate describes as sandblast "Black Magic" (Parkerized) prior to being shipped back to the U.S. I've had several but now I'm down to one (the best I ever seen) and it's staying in my collection. I will post some pictures of boxes in the A.M., but they are taken out of Charles Pate's book. Most I have seen had the original color case hardened hammer and trigger, and blued ejector rod. I highly recommend Pate's book for the serious student of those guns.

They are really fun guns to shoot. And thank you to the guys who maintain the Victory model data base. Great job!

It is interesting to see that the Victory may have gone to the Hercules Powder Co. My father was a chemical engineer at the Lawrence, Kansas plant during WWII making rocket powder for the war effort. He transferred to Hattiesburg,Miss. after the war and retired in 1977 after 38 years with the company.

Hello Gentlemen,

I'm currently researching a S&W Victory serial # V90005. That serial number is found on the barrel, frame (butt near the missing lanyard hole), and cylinder. The piece is hi luster blued with walnut checkered grips which are probablty not original to the gun. I believe the barrel is 5", may be 4" and marked; 38 S&W Special Ctg. The left top frame is stamped US Navy.

I believe the piece has been reblued as the trigger and hammer are also blued. The bore is immaculate and the gun appears to be fired sparingly.

Any information you could provide will be greatly appreciated.

-Rick

Ratherfish, The barrel is 4 inch, as measured from the front of the cylinder to the muzzle. See my answer to your other post on this gun. Ed.

Many thanks for your reply Ed.

I am also curious to get some information about my victory. The number reads v169728. There is also a symbol on the side of the barrel (4inch) that looks like 3 triangled shapes followed by 38. S&W. CTG closed by the shapes as well.

I have a S&W snubby revolver with serial # 917605. It has a chrome frame and barrel and what might be ivory grips. Can anyone decode that serial number for me? I'd like to know when it was manufactured and such. Thanks.

Goose2001 said:

I am also curious to get some information about my victory. The number reads v169728. There is also a symbol on the side of the barrel (4inch) that looks like 3 triangled shapes followed by 38. S&W. CTG closed by the shapes as well.

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Based on your description, I believe you have a .38 Smith & Wesson (not .38 Special) caliber British Service Revolver with a five inch barrel. (Measure the barrel length from the front of the cylinder to the muzzle. If the caliber marking is as described and the barrel length is only four inches, then it's been cut.) These were provided by the thousands to Britain, her Commonwealth nations and other Allies. It probably shipped out of the S&W factory in late November or December of 1942. It originally would have had a "UNITED STATES PROPERTY" marking on the left top strap (but they're sometimes ground off) with a military finish and plain (uncheckered) wood stocks. If you want more info, try posting some detailed pics and we'll see what we can see.

HTH!

Steve

egcz71 said:

I have a S&W snubby revolver with serial # 917605. It has a chrome frame and barrel and what might be ivory grips. Can anyone decode that serial number for me? I'd like to know when it was manufactured and such. Thanks.

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SN 917605 would have shipped from the S&W factory early in 1942 (probably February). Smith was making *very* few snubbies at that point in time AND they never "chromed" guns; even a nickel finish coming from the factory during the war would have been *very* unusual. Most likely you have a post-war modified pre-Victory Model that has had it barrel shortened and a refinishing job/stock replacement. Posting some detailed pictures may allow more comments.

HTH!

Steve

Info on Inherited Victory Model

The gun in question has serial number V549201 with what may be ivory (or maybe bone) grips. It is inscribed with the following inscriptions:

U. S. PROPERTY G. H. D.

NP 38 767

My questions are as follows:

1. When was this gun manufactured?
2. Who was it shipped to from factory?
3. Are the grips likely original and if not, what kind of grips would it have been manufactured with?

Thanks for any help.

[*]When was this gun manufactured?
S&W records their guns based on their shipping, rather than production, dates. Based on information collected by my database collaborator, "ordnanceguy," and me, your gun would probably have shipped about March, 1944.

[*]Who was it shipped to from factory?
Virtually all guns chambered for the .38 Smith & Wesson cartridge were destined for Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations, but were shipped from the S&W factory to the Hartford Ordnance District in Springfield, just over the Connecticut/Massachusetts border. (Actually, by this time it had been renamed the "Springfield Ordnance District," but S&W records always seem to refer to it by the earlier name.)

[*]Are the grips likely original and if not, what kind of grips would it have been manufactured with?
Defintely not. Victory Models of this era would have worn plain (uncheckered) walnut stocks (with a matching SN inside the right panel).

HTH!

Steve

LWCmdr45 said:

SN 917605 would have shipped from the S&W factory early in 1942 (probably February). Smith was making *very* few snubbies at that point in time AND they never "chromed" guns; even a nickel finish coming from the factory during the war would have been *very* unusual. Most likely you have a post-war modified pre-Victory Model that has had it barrel shortened and a refinishing job/stock replacement. Posting some detailed pictures may allow more comments.

HTH!

Steve

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This is rather strange to me, but after further examination of the gun I found another serial number on the frame. It is N56499. Why would this gun have TWO different serial numbers and what does the "N" stand for? I will post some pictures soon.

Serial # N56499
&
Serial # 917605

Thanks yall.

I am new to the Forum and recently acquired a Victory model in .38 Special with the serial number V5094xx. The gun does have flying bomb ordinance mark on the heel near the "V" of the serial number but does not have other military marks. The major parts match by serial number and it has the appropriate smooth grips. Any ideas on date of production and who it was shipped to? I gather after reading this Forum for a while that it probably saw war plant guard duty.

egcz71 said:

This is rather strange to me, but after further examination of the gun I found another serial number on the frame. It is N56499. Why would this gun have TWO different serial numbers and what does the "N" stand for? I will post some pictures soon.

Serial # N56499
&
Serial # 917605

Thanks yall.

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The number that counts-- the legal serial number-- is the one found on the base of the butt. (The same number will usually be found on the rear face of the cylinder and the underside of the barrel.) The other number you see is probably just a factory assembly number.

Steve

powerplantpete said:

I am new to the Forum and recently acquired a Victory model in .38 Special with the serial number V5094xx. The gun does have flying bomb ordinance mark on the heel near the "V" of the serial number but does not have other military marks. The major parts match by serial number and it has the appropriate smooth grips. Any ideas on date of production and who it was shipped to? I gather after reading this Forum for a while that it probably saw war plant guard duty.

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Pete,

First, your gun shipped on the 1943-44 cusp, probably January of 1944. In addition to the mentioned Ordnance 'flaming bomb,' revolvers of this period commonly had "P" proofs found at the upper left frame, the rear face of the cylinder and the underside of the barrel.

Second, if you're assuming your gun was a DSC "guard gun" because of some known provenance, great. If you're making that assumption simply because it has no "U.S. PROPERTY" top strap markings ("military marks"), be advised that there are other possibilities of varying probability that may induce you to request a factory historical letter. At this point in the V.M. production, there were two interesting things going on: examples without any top strap markings were being shipped to the U.S. Navy *and* some few of them were earmarked for the OSS. Either of those would considerably effect the value. Even if it was a DSC gun, letters for guns of this period of the war will often list the specific end-user and not simply the generic "DSC" destination.

HTH!

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the quick comeback. I guess it is time for the "Jenks letter" to get a precise answer as to whom the gun was shipped to. It would be interesting to find an "exotic" use beyond possibly guarding some quite necessary "large grey building somewhere in a wartime US."

Steve,

I also went looking for "the three "P"'s you noted and found all three of them.

38 S&W Victory V753727

I have a 38 S&W Victory revolver that I'd like to get some information on. Date Manufactured, where shipped and any other info you may have.
5" barrel, 38 S. & W. CTG, left top strap says "U.S PROPERTY G.H.D." Serial number on butt and frame is V753727, smooth walnut stock, parkerized finish. On the left side states "POL.OLD.341" (but the 3 could be an 8). On the right side of the barrel has "??.38.767" and "3.5 TONS".
Thanks for any help.

Joe

Mr. Incredible said:

I have a 38 S&W Victory revolver that I'd like to get some information on. Date Manufactured, where shipped and any other info you may have.
5" barrel, 38 S. & W. CTG, left top strap says "U.S PROPERTY G.H.D." Serial number on butt and frame is V753727, smooth walnut stock, parkerized finish. On the left side states "POL.OLD.341" (but the 3 could be an 8). On the right side of the barrel has "??.38.767" and "3.5 TONS".
Thanks for any help.

Joe

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Joe

You have, since we're on the Smith & Wesson Forum, what is called a British Service Revolver, part of the wartime production of what had been known as the S&W .38 Hand Ejector "Military & Police" Model of 1905, 4th Change. If we were on a British military firearms forum, I might better refer to it as a Smith & Wesson Pistol No. 2, as that is how the Brits typically referred to it. The caliber is .38 S. & W. and not the .38 Special more normally encountered in this country.

Your BSR was of late-war production and would have been among the last of this caliber to be shipped (circa early 1945) during the war. Many of these later guns never saw service with the British troops, instead being issued straight out of the shipping crates to the disarmed police forces of occupied countries. Your revolver, based on the “POL.OLD.” marking, was issued to the Polizei of Oldenburg, or possibly Oldendorf, two cities in Lower Saxony, Germany. As both of these cities were within the British Occupation Zone, it makes sense that they would have been armed with a British-caliber sidearm. The “341” (or “841”) would have been a rack number or some other identifying inventory control number.

The markings on the barrel are postwar British civilian proofs necessary in order for a used/surplus gun to be marketed in Great Britain. I infer that the revolver, after seeing some years of service in Germany, was returned to the Brits, who sold it as surplus, necessitating the civilian proofing procedure. The “??” is probably the Crown/Nitro Proof marking; the “.38” is the caliber (Duh!); the “.767” is the length of the cartridge casing; and, the “3.5 TONS” is a measurement of the proof load. As noted above, it probably also has the "three Ps" U.S. proofmarks.

HTH!

Steve

My inherited Victory model info

Steve:

Thanks so much for your research and for giving me this information. I'm sorry I've been so long checking back here for responses.

I was doing research of my own yesterday on the grips and actually found some that claim to be original and indeed, they are smooth walnut. At some point, I would really like to get some originals.

Again, thank you for your help.

Keith