"S" stamp on Victory cylinder

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BibleronKJV

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I have posted this question before, but thought I'd give it another go to see if any new responses come up. I have 4 Victory models (all 4 inch 38 spcl) that have a large "S" stamped on rear of cylinder, yoke and inside grip frame. Anyone know the significance of this stamping? It appears to be something more than just a simple factory inspection marking. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I love a good mystery, but also like to see them solved and this is a nagging mystery to me. Thanks, Ron
 
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If you are able to post a photo one of the Forum VM experts may have more information, but given their locations a fitter's or inspector's stamp is likely.
 
The question has been often asked here, but never answered, at least not that I have seen. As that S stamping is seen on Victories made well prior to the early 1945 changeover to the improved hammer safety, it's not because of that.
 
An "S" stamp in the places you indicate, usually was applied by the Service Dep't to mean the gun had some defect found during a inspection phase in the production cycle that was eliminated by a trip to the Service Dep't. Early in WW2, Victory Models were coming up with a large number of defects that caused the Army to install closer inspection standards to cut down on the problem. That is, I believe, the reason for the "S" stamps seen on Victory Models in places other than the different "S" stamp applied on the side of the frame to indicate the gun had the new Safety Block design, or had been converted to the new design. Ed.
 
Thanks, opoefc. That makes good sense. My only problem would be that the "S" markings on my Victories runs all the way from a pre-Vic (#975xxx) where the "S" is on the cylinder UNDER the star extractor to a late (V491xxx) where the "S" is on the rear face of the cylinder. Additionally, why would they uniformly mark cylinder, yoke and frame, but no other parts? Nonetheless, opoefc's answer makes good sense. Any additional thoughts? Thanks, Ron
 
The "S" stamp would indicate that the defective part, original to the gun, had been repaired and could stay with the gun. There would have been a inspection tag on the gun saying what needed repair or correction. For example: "Cylinder's chambers have tool marks They need to be polished out, etc." After that was done, the repairman would stamp the "S" and return the gun to the inspectors. The tag would tell the inspectors what the problem had been and what was corrected. If the defect was a bad hammer, for example, then it was replaced, however no "S" stamp needed as the old hammer was not repaired, just replaced. The repair tag would indicate " Hammer replaced" and the inspectors would know the gun had been to the Service Dep't, repaired by replacing the hammer, and returned to the inspectors. ed.
 
Thanks, opoefc. Your response is greatly appreciated and helps to explain the "S" marking quite well. I have noted the "S" marking on many 4 inch 38 spcls, but have not seen a 5 inch 38/200 with the "S" stamping. Was the inspection of the 38/200 more lax than the 38 spcl? Thanks again for providing an answer to my "mystery" marking.
 
Something else just occurred to me. All of my "S" marked guns are marked in the same places...rear face of cylinder, yoke flat and right grip frame. I wonder if this was the standard method of marking Service Dept. repaired guns regardless of the specific repair?
 
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