Told 38 Victory converted to 22LR by English Armory. 6" BBL, blue, front part. w/McGovern? gold site, right side bbl has symbol - line - PV, *-S, crown-R, and 22C. Left side crown-BNP, 22LR 610", bomb? sym TONS PER sq sym ". Crown -BNP in front of cyl and on each chamber of cyl & back cyl is 996528 & M1. Under cyl left frame crossarms and W 2 B? Right frame S&W logo & Made in U.S.A. Bottom grip frame 996528 & WB. Inside crane top&bottom 41439 w/V over top one. Has adj site w/lg back adj screw. Grips walnut check w/gold med...no diamond. Any info would be appreciated.

Oh Sandra, Sandra, Sandra. You know how much we like pictures!

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Why, I aughta.....

Some of the British surplus Victory models were converted to .22 LR by Cogswell & Harrison. No idea how many, but they are not rare.

They didn't come from S&W that way, but it wouldn't be difficult to convert one to .22, and I imagine some were done, although I've not seen one.

First, SandraJean, welcome to the S&W Forum. There are a lot of folks here who love the Victory Models, both in original and in various "altered" states. I think we can safely say that your example is altered, but more info is needed to identify the "alter-et" if can be done at all. First, it would be helpful to know whether the barrel appears to have a sleeve or liner inside to reduce it, or whether it was made as a 22. Is the outside of the barrel marked S&W and does it perhaps have indications of a caliber marking having been present? With a 6" barrel, I will guess it probably does not, and this this is one of the more thoroughly done conversions with the barrel replaced and the cylinder as well, although they were also sometimes altered be sleeving, often with an eccentric bore to utilize the center fire hammer with the rim fire ammo. The description you gave of the front sight suggests that the rear sight may have received some attention too(?)

So, here's what we need next; get a sharp picture of both sides of the barrel, showing any markings and details of the front sight. Get a picture of the action of the gun on both sides, again giving special attention to details of the markings. The top of the gun, toward the rear comes next, then the rear of the open cylinder showing the chambers. These will give us a pretty good idea of what you have. Oh yes, the grips are probably a later style, added when the work was done, but a picture of one or both could narrow that down a bit as well.

Froggie

The proofs sound like those used from 1954 and on. The 'Tons /per sq in' marking was approved and first used in that 1954 Law change.

The .22lr is the caliber of course.
610" (.610") is the case length spec they used of the 22case (LR) the gun is prooved for.
'Tons per Sq sym' should be 'Tons Per Sq In'
Sometimes marked in different ways such as Tons per In Sq" or Tons per In [].

Should be a number preceding the Tons /per Sq In. That's the maximum mean pressure of the service load of the cartridge it's chambered for.
The Proof pressure in a rifle or pistol round is 30 to 40(?) % greater than that.
IIRC,,,1 (English) Ton/sq in is equal to 2240 psi

The Crown/BNP are Birmingham Proof House markings, of the 1954 type. They should be inside circles.
That indicates that the firearm is Not of English manufacture.
The older BV (view), BP (definitive proof) and NP (nitro proof) were all combined into the single BNP mark in 1954.
All these were with the Crown over/mark.

The bbl, frame and cylinder get proof marked. The old method was to proof mark each of the chambers as this gun was done. That gave way to a single proof mark on the back face of the cylinder in most cases. But the old way still found favor with some inspectors.

That's my best guess on the proof marks w/o seeing them.

Not uncommon for Victory Models to be converted to 22LR. Some as target sighted guns.
Any firearm that was surplused by the Gov't there and before being sold in commercial trade had to be Proofed at either the London or Birmingham Proof Houses.
Any firearm undergoing certain types of repair would need to undergo a re-proof before it could be returned to it's owner.

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4.jpgI have a 1917 that has been converted to 22 LR. It has no foreign proof marks and all the factory markings on the re-lined barrel are gone.

I got this revolver at a gun show a year or two ago and I thought I paid to much for it. At first I was going to have it re-blued but the more I shoot it the more I like the looks of it. I have 4 K-22's and none of them are more accurate than this old warhorse.

We had a local guy here in this area that had a converted Victory Model and I don't think I have ever seen a gun with more proof marks.

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NRA Range Safety Officer

Hah, I picked that gun up a few times, he had it at quite a few shows in his case if this is the gun I am thinking of. I wanted it but could never bring myself to pay what he was asking for. I was always curious how it shot, a huge part of my desire for it was to take it out to the range.

SixGun

We carried on the price negotiations for about 3 months. The owner was having some health problems and I didn't want to take advantage of that. We finally settled on $400. I still thought it was high but I just wanted it. I know I will never get my money out of this revolver but somethings are more important than money.

If you are ever up at Machies look me up and you can shoot it.



Jim R

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NRA Range Safety Officer

Here's one that was just listed.
http://www.gunsamerica.com/922743124...m?Action=Watch

Wanted to see that gun but all I'm getting is the login page. I guess I'll just have to log in to see if I get directed to the piece.

BNP would lead me in the Parker-Hale direction. The Cogswell & Harrison would tend towaqrd London, their home. The only one I've handled was a Belgian conversion.

My brother Louisiana Joe has the Parker Hale and it shoots very well.