The Postwar Commercial Victory Model

For those of you who are not familiar with these, the Commercial Victory is an interesting variation of the Military & Police model.

Made up from surplus wartime Victory frames, these were the first M&P's to be released for civilian purchase after the cessation of hostilities. I know of at least one that is marked as being issued by the NYPD. Their key identifying characteristics are an "SV" prefixed serial number along with a plugged hole where the butt swivel would have been affixed. The accepted serial number range for these runs from about SV769000 up into the middlle of the SV812000 block. I don't know of any reliable estimate for how many were produced.

The blued finish (I don't believe any of these were factory nickeled) varies a bit, some guns being a bit more highly polished than others. I have seen only magna style original stocks, some of these being evidently prewar leftovers. I suppose service style stocks are a possibility but that would be atypical. 4 or 5 inch barrels are the norm, but I would not be too surprised if a 6 inch one turned up. I think it's unlikely that any 2 inch versions were made.

One thing I find curious is that all these Commercial Victory revolvers seem to have shipped in March 1946. It's as if Smith & Wesson was hoarding them for release all at the same time, perhaps to forestall any perception of favoritism as to who got them first. Their distribution was certainly shortlived, as I know that by April 1946, the company was already shipping the subsequent "S" prefixed M&P's.

As you can probably discern, there is a lot of extrapolation and even some conjecture in this account. There just isn't a lot of hard information on these to be had. I won't mind being proven wrong on any of this if it advances our collective knowledge regarding this intriguing chapter in S&W's history.

As for the two pictured here, #SV7702XX has a 5 inch barrel, with early postwar style (blued machined stock circle insert) magna stocks numbered with larger numerals in two lines. It is somewhat more highly polished than #SV8124XX, which has a 4 inch barrel and prewar type (unmarked machined stock insert in the white) magna stocks that are numbered with smaller numerals in a single line. These small differences are suggestive, albeit not conclusive, of the latter revolver having been completed before the former. Despite their disparities, though, both shipped in - you guessed it - March 1946.

I also have found the "SV" variant M&P very interesting. I found my first one about 6 years ago and have searched for them ever since. In that time I believe I have seen 12 or 13 for sale, including one 4 inch with the nickle finish that looked correct and had matching stocks in the SV812XXX range.

Here is a picture that I have posted before of one "S" prefix in front and four
"SV" prefix guns. I sold the one in the middle last year and found it for sale this week on one of the big online auctions by some "dog" guy. So there is a very nice condition "SV" gun out there for sale right now.

Thanks for this informative thread. Filled in some blank spots for me.

I have an "S" prefix revolver S8139xx with all of the characteristics of an "SV", except that it has a nicely polished satin finish. That is, it has the plugged lanyand hole, pre-war style stocks, and a small "s" stamped on the side plate. Why does it not have an "SV" serial number?

swca1000 said:

I have an "S" prefix revolver S8139xx with all of the characteristics of an "SV", except that it has a nicely polished satin finish. That is, it has the plugged lanyand hole, pre-war style stocks, and a small "s" stamped on the side plate. Why does it not have an "SV" serial number?

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Well, that is a very low "S" prefix serial number in the M&P series. The plugged swivel hole suggests that it was a Victory frame, perhaps one that had not yet been finished or numbered, in other words, even less ready for the commercial conversion than those that preceded it. Very interesting indeed. Do you have a shipping date for it?

Fascinating information. My SV793339 has the standard Victory finish and shipped to the US Navy in Oakland in May of 1945. It sounds like some earlier serial numbered guns came out of the big safe in Springfield later, and were then given Commercial finishes for the civilian market. I wonder how many of the SV guns were Military vs. Commercial?

Thanks for the great post,

Jerry

I don't have a shipping date, but your thread has motivated me to find out! I'll let you know.

Guy, Close serial numbers to your gun in the SV data base are all SV guns, shipped in March & April 1946. Somebody went to lunch early one day and your gun got by without the V stamp. SV guns came in dull blue finish as well as high polish blue. S&Ws are famous for having little things that don't compute, one of which is where are all the VS stamped guns? I've seen maybe 3 or 4 in 60 yrs. Ed.

opoefc said:

Guy, Close serial numbers to your gun in the SV data base are all SV guns, shipped in March & April 1946. Somebody went to lunch early one day and your gun got by without the V stamp. SV guns came in dull blue finish as well as high polish blue. S&Ws are famous for having little things that don't compute, one of which is where are all the VS stamped guns? I've seen maybe 3 or 4 in 60 yrs. Ed.

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Ed, can you reveal what's the highest SV prefix serial number you have in the database?

Also, have any been reported to you with other than the 4 or 5 inch barrel?

I have a 4" that's been refinished in blue that has the swivel. It was shipped in 1945. It is SV7727xx. It had ivory grips when I bought it.

Great threat!!

Ive got SV81272X

I havent lettered it but I know it was sold through the NYPD to an officer. I would have to dig out the paper work but I think it was June or July of 46'

Its got the flat blue finish , plugged hole and a few spots that have machining marks under the blue. The stocks are numbered and have (I think) blue machined disks.

Great information here! My thanks to the OP and all who followed with their own comments. This thread has definitely sharpened my knowledge on an interesting subset of the SV revolvers.

Five stars and a "like" from me.

Goony, Charlie Flick has a better data base than mine, I think, so maybe he will post an answer to your question about the highest numbered SV gun. My records record SV813132 shipped April 4, 1946, with a 5 in. barrel. I also recorded a VS gun , VS813414, ship date unknown. Hope that helps! Ed.

I have SV 813132, 5" blue in 38 spl. It lettered as shipped
April 4th, 1946 to Clapp & Treat co., Hartford, CT

Note: S&W invoices on the SV guns do not call them Victory Models, but they are listed as .38 M&Ps. Ed.

opoefc said:

Goony, Charlie Flick has a better data base than mine, I think, so maybe he will post an answer to your question about the highest numbered SV gun. My records record SV813132 shipped April 4, 1946, with a 5 in. barrel. I also recorded a VS gun , VS813414, ship date unknown. Hope that helps! Ed.

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That certainly extends the upper limit on the SV prefix guns significantly beyond what I had stated (based on my limited information) at the start of this thread. And, I'd note, SV813132 exceeds what is published in SCSW as the highest number "Victory" (paying attention to the terminology per your most recent post) - which is given there as SV811832 - by (doing the math) 1,300! And the VS prefixed gun stretches the envelope further yet. Thank you, Ed.

PS - Looking at the progression here, I think S8139XX reported earlier in this thread may not be just a case of a dropped "V" - I think the argument can be made that it is an extremely early "S" prefix gun. But I think both your perspective and mine on that one are plausible enough to say the jury's still out pending some additional evidence one way or another - ideally consisting of some more documented pieces in that high 813000 number range.

The SV 813132 gun has of course magna grips and has the lanyard hole plugged off and blued. All parts are matching. The finish is typical of other late 40s K frames that i have, not the high gloss finish.
The main reason I had Roy letter it was because the number was higher than what was published in the SCOS&W.

xray97 said:

I have a 4" that's been refinished in blue that has the swivel. It was shipped in 1945. It is SV7727xx. It had ivory grips when I bought it.

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I'm supposing that this was originally a military spec gun, not a factory commercialized Victory.

Goony, As you note, there's a 1300 number range between the serial number SV 811832 used in SCSW and Mike's # SV813132, however I think the mention in the SCSW is regarding the highest numbered nickel gun. I have noted several dozen SV numbers, over the years, that are higher than SV 811832. I recently sold SV812307, 4 in. blue, Magnas and plugged hole, NIB, shipped Feb. 1946. Ed

opoefc said:

Goony, As you note, there's a 1300 number range between the serial number SV 811832 used in SCSW and Mike's # SV813132, however I think the mention in the SCSW is regarding the highest numbered nickel gun. I have noted several dozen SV numbers, over the years, that are higher than SV 811832. I recently sold SV812307, 4 in. blue, Magnas and plugged hole, NIB, shipped Feb. 1946. Ed

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Now that I look again, I see that. Missed the "nickeled" reference. Plus I have been advised that at least a couple factory nickeled examples of "SV" prefixed guns are documented, so throw out the statement I made in my inital post about that, it's just erroneous.

Ed, I have been able to find information on another early "S" prefixed gun, this one #S8136XX shipped in March 1946 (same time frame as the "SV" prefixed ones). I am in the process of trying to find out if this one also has a plugged swivel hole.