"Diamond" marking on Victory

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BibleronKJV

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One of the Victories in my collection has a "diamond" marking stamped on bottom barrel flat and also on the grip frame under the left grip. The gun is a 4 inch 38 spcl #V304970 with "U.S. Property" marking on topstrap. The gun is in pristine condition with over 90% of wartime finish. It has the numbers "1263" also stamped on grip frame under left grip. I think that I have read that the "diamond" marking designates a factory refinish, but that does not seem likely since this gun has a wartime finish rather than commercial finish. I am confused. Any ideas? Thanks, Ron
 
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The Gun was back to the Factory in December(12) of 1963(63).A diamond on the barrel can mean that the Barrel was replaced.Look very close and see if there is a small "B" inside the diamond,That would mean a refinish in Blue.
 
Nothing inside the barrel diamond, but the diamond on the grip frame has a "C" stamped below it. The barrel has the matching serial number. Would they have renumbered the barrel if they replaced it? The bore and mechanics look new and it looks virtually unfired as well. Would S&W have refinished the gun in wartime finish in 1963? Still a bit confused....Thanks, Ron
 
Generally, back in the days during which S&W SNed the cylinder and barrel of new production revolvers, it was factory practice to number replacement components to the frame. The phosphate finish is another question. I would suspect, but do not know, that S&W did not perform phosphating at that time. However, phosphate finishing is a simple procedure, and S&W could have mixed up a small batch of phosphate bath chemicals for such occasions. Another possibility is that they could have sent the revolver to a local outside shop which had phosphating capabilities. Phosphating is a common industrial metal finishing procedure for all kinds of metal items, not just guns.
 
This may or may not help:
"Diamonds/circles were stamped on replaced parts or heel of grip frame on left side for refinish followed by letters, sometimes in a rectangle or diamond, B (blue), N (nickel), or S (standard/blue) with an R (for refinish), on 'heel' of left side of grip frame. A circle under the barrel indicates that the barrel was replaced."
 
Thanks for the input thus far. I have noted in a previous thread that the "U.S. Property" marking on the topstrap and the S&W logo on the side plate appear to be lightly stamped whereas the other markings seem to be normal with respect to the depth of their stamping. This might indicate possible refinish, but all the edges on the gun are very sharp and show no evidence of any buffing. I have also noted that this gun has the "S" stamp on cylinder, yoke and grip frame which I have been told may mean a trip to the Service Dept. for some reason. Overall this is a very puzzling example of a Victory. Thanks again, Ron
 
The prevailing opinion is that the "S" stampings meant that something about the assembled revolver did not pass factory inspection and it was tagged with a description of the deficiency and sent to another department for correction prior to shipment. This was often something of a relatively minor nature. It is not that unusual to see faint or light stampings. I believe that little if any external buffing was used by S&W on Victories. Metal prep was normally just bead blasting prior to phosphating.
 
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