Saw a Victory at a store, but I've never owned one. Questions:

- I've heard that most are .38 S&W and the conversions to .38 Special are sometimes suspect in quality. This one has .38 Special marked on the barrel - I presume that means it's NOT a conversion, right?

- Barrel and frame match serial numbers, but I don't see a serial number on the cylinder. Did they not put them on? I believe my 1948 M&P has a serial number on the cylinder. I asked him if it was an original cylinder, he said it was, but I don't know how he would know that. Finish looks consistent with the rest of the gun.

- Marked US property on frame above cylinder. Significant?

- Cylinder locks up vault tight - as tight as I've seen any S&W revolver, finish looks to be original (which I like) but with light wear and minor scratches. I've seen many others that weren't this nice, but I don't want to portray it as perfect. Bore looks very good/excellent. Would $400 be a fair price for this gun?

-Anything that keep these guns from being the great everyday shooters that late '70's model 10's are?

Thanks for any insight you can provide. - Jim

Jim, look carefully on the rear of the cylinder for the s/n, it is a fairly small stamping so it may be hard to see. The US property markings indicate that it was a government issue gun, a lack of markings would indicate the gun was sent to a civilian destination such as a PD, defense plant or similar. Since the barrel and frame have the same s/n and the barrel is marked as 38 Special I see no evidence of a conversion. Even though the Victory models had a rough finish I have always found them the equal of any other M&P in terms of function and accuracy. If all the numbers are matching including the grips and the finish is original $400 is not out of line.

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John. SWCA #1586

Thanks for the information, John.

I was very curious to see if all of the serial numbers matched, it was important to me, so I was surprised to see no serial number on the cylinder. I looked and looked again then triple checked. I'll look at it again when I go back, but I'm pretty sure there was no serial number. At least not where it is on my pre-model 10 (on the back face of the cylinder, where you load the ammo in.)

If it isn't an original cylinder, that might explain why the cylinder lock up is so snug for such an old gun (maybe recently fitted?) As I said, the finish on the cylinder looks consistent with the rest of the gun, but that doesn't mean it looks exactly the same, either. I suppose there would be harder finishes to simulate than a slightly worn Victory finish.

Hi Jim, sounds like you've gotten the bug. The markings UNITED STATES PROPERTY and U.S. Property GHD shifted about V300000 the full spelling will have a WB on the butt. Whether your cylinder slid through or this is a war era replacement is speculative. Many things happened with Victories.