I think everyone knows that in addition to the British and U. S. Military production of pre-Victory and Victory-model revolvers from 1940 to 1945, a sizable number went to non-military users. This includes those procured by the Defense Supply Corporation (DSC) for use by law enforcement and defense plant security guards, the U. S. Maritime Commission (USMC) for use by the Merchant Marine, OSS or other clandestine organizations, and possibly the Coast Guard (which is actually military in wartime). I don't remember seeing any production numbers or SN ranges for these. I do remember reading that the number of DSC revolvers produced were something close to 70,000, but I know nothing about USMC, OSS, and Coast Guard (or possibly other non-military organizations). I suspect most Coast Guard revolvers came from the Navy, but I have heard that a few were directly shipped to them. Likewise, those which went to OSS, etc., may well have come from military stores, but I don't know that for sure.

I have read that the USMC procured many Colt Commando revolvers, as well as some S&Ws.

Can anyone fill in the blanks about what the revolver supply situation was for these other organizations?

Hello DWalt:

I don't have my Victory Model research archives available to me here but I can tell you this much. The Victory Model Database reflects that the US Coast Guard received a number (total quantity unknown) which were shipped directly to the USCG at different locations, and this is reflected in the factory letters. They are not factory marked USCG and the shipments were not large enough to fall into identifiable serial number ranges, based on the info we have so far.

The OSS guns are a somewhat similar situation. They were shipped from the factory directly to OSS receiving destinations. Factory letters will show this. They are not factory marked OSS. The OSS shipped guns do fall into some rather broad serial ranges, too broad in my estimation to be useful to collectors as a sole determinant of identity.

A relatively large number of Victory Models shipped to the US Maritime Commission. They letter as going to a wide variety of destinations, most of which appear to be shipyards or warehouse facilities for the Maritime Commission. Once again, these guns do not fall into any identifiable serial number range. The factory did not mark these guns as US Maritime Commission guns either. An interesting sub-variant of the Maritime Commission guns are those that letter to the Commission but were designated for the Norwegian Navy which operated merchant ships during the War.

I trust that this information is helpful to you.

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Charlie Flick
SWCA 729 HF 215

It would be interesting to see the statistical percentage distributions of each of the various destinations from the data base. The few substantiated USMC revolvers I know of have all been SNed in the pre-Victory period, but there must have been as many, or more, numbered in the Victory series as well. Then there's the alleged issue of how many S&Ws vs. Colt Commandos went to USMC - maybe there weren't that many S&Ws taken by USMC later in the war as compared to Colts. Basically, as I said, I just don't know.

Thanks for the info. I would also be interested in any documented non-military procurements for for the 38/200 if any exist. I know that many were diverted from their original destinations, but that doesn't really explain why a lot of them ended up sans the usual military markings.

Hello:

I am not aware of any shipments of .38 S&W (.38-200) V-prefix Victory revolvers by the factory to any civilian destination during WW2. A quick search of the Victory Model Database does not reveal any either.

HTH.

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Charlie Flick
SWCA 729 HF 215

Thanks, Charlie.

The OSS was a military organization. Pate reports that only the DSC contracts were kept separate by Army Ordnance. The others (Navy, Army, OSS and L-L) were lumped together in the Army Supply Program after 1/43. The Navy did buy some directly prior to ASP coordinating all purchases and the Navy also furnished Victory Models to the Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208