S&W Victory operator manual

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BillsVictory

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Hello, I am brand new in here. Just paid for a Smith & Wesson Victory (revolver), and wonder if there was any operators manual with it, how to take care of it, maybe parts list, and such things. It comes with absolutely nothing, not even an empty shell casing in the barrel.
 
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Welcome to the forum Gunparts corporation will have a parts list. There were no owners manual shipped with these that I am aware of commercial pre war had the instructions on the inside of the box top the revolver was shipped in. I do believe these were shipped in plain boxes, but I have not seen one myself.
 
There was no specific manual for the Victory model since it was identical in every way to the pre-war .38 Military & Police except for grip style and finish.

According to Charles Pate’s book, the standard kraft boxes contained the same “single-sheet instructions as provided with commercial revolvers” (p. 147). I don’t have one, but maybe somebody here has a boxed period commercial specimen and can post a picture of the sheet.

For detailed instructions, there are plenty of Youtube videos on the M&P/Model 10. From the practical viewpoint of the owner/operator, not much changed over time.
 
You might not be aware that "Victory" was never an official model designation used by anyone, but that name has stuck to those having a V prefix to the serial number. They are identical to every M&P made by S&W since 1914. But corners were cut cosmetically to manufacture them faster and cheaper under wartime conditions. Here is a primer on the Victory for you: http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/victory_model_smith_and_wesson.htm
 
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DWalt said:
You might not be aware that "Victory" was never an official model designation used by anyone, but that name has stuck to those having a V prefix to the serial number....
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Yes, but...it depends on the meaning of "official." S&W apparently picked the V prefix and referred to the gun as the Victory Model deliberately. They made up employee sashes for parades with the Morse symbol for V. They also used the term in advertising. If S&W counts as "anyone" then I think the term is pretty "official." :-)
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fm5mx2l.jpg
 
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BillsVictory said:
Hello, I am brand new in here. Just paid for a Smith & Wesson Victory (revolver), ....
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You didn’t mention which type of Victory you are getting, the US variant in .38 Special (4” barrel) or the British Service variant in .38 S&W (5” barrel).

Functionally, they are identical except for the caliber.

Below a snip from a photo borrowed from Pate. It shows a 1944 British model. It’s no use to you because the sheet is covered, but at least for historical purposes you know what it looked like ;)


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Whoa, my friends ! There's several versions of the Victory model owners & operators manuals, that tell you all there is to know, and more, from assembly, disassembly, parts lists, care & cleaning, shooting , etc , etc. I'm looking at one right now - US War Dep't Field Manual "Pistols and Revolvers" ( FM 23-35 dtd June 1946.) There are earlier printings of the manual also. Any serious Victory collector has all printings on the shelf in their gun room ! Back in the "Big War" when I got issued a Victory, the manual came with it, so I took my copy home when I was discharged. ( Don't tell Uncle Sam ! ) I believe reprints are available on line at Cornell Publications, as I furnished them my original to make repos. Ed
 
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opoefc said:
Whoa, my friends ! There's several versions of the Victory model owners & operators manuals, that tell you all there is to know, and more, from assembly, disassembly, parts lists, care & cleaning, shooting , etc , etc. I'm looking at one right now - US War Dep't Field Manual "Pistols and Revolvers" ( FM 23-35 dtd June 1946.) There are earlier printings of the manual also. Any serious Victory collector has all printings on the shelf in their gun room ! Back in the "Big War" when I got issued a Victory, the manual came with it, so I took my copy home when I was discharged. ( Don't tell Uncle Sam ! ) I believe reprints are available on line. Ed
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Forgot the military produced their own I should have known that as I have one for my M1 Carbine, and I have a Garand one around here somewhere...
 
opoefc said:
Whoa, my friends ! There's several versions of the Victory model owners & operators manuals, that tell you all there is to know, and more, from assembly, disassembly, parts lists, care & cleaning, shooting , etc , etc. I'm looking at one right now - US War Dep't Field Manual "Pistols and Revolvers" ( FM 23-35 dtd June 1946.) There are earlier printings of the manual also. Any serious Victory collector has all printings on the shelf in their gun room ! Back in the "Big War" when I got issued a Victory, the manual came with it, so I took my copy home when I was discharged. ( Don't tell Uncle Sam ! ) I believe reprints are available on line. Ed
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Duh. Yes, it looks like we missed the obvious :)

The British probably produced their own field manuals too.

If any of you go looking for downloadable copies of FM 23-35, make sure you find one early enough. Most are post-war editions that have been adjusted; I just found a 1960 version which only covers the Colt Detective Special (in addition to the 1911).
 
Absalom said:
You didn’t mention which type of Victory you are getting, the US variant in .38 Special (4” barrel) or the British Service variant in .38 S&W (5” barrel).

Functionally, they are identical except for the caliber.

Below a snip from a photo borrowed from Pate. It shows a 1944 British model. It’s no use to you because the sheet is covered, but at least for historical purposes you know what it looked like ;)






attachment.php
Click to expand...


No, I did not mention much about it. I am not a handgun person period, never had one in my entire life. Rifle and shotgun is what I know. But, wanted a handgun for a long time. Now, getting a handgun these days is very hard around here. Almost impossible, been looking for a long time, went to the grocery store today, popped into a gun shop, and they had gotten this S&W in on consignment yesterday. I did not want to spend too much time there, considering the times we are in, so I said, I'll take that one, and pointed at the gun, paid, and left. I saw it was what I wanted, but did not take time to look at details. So, no idea what is written here and there around it. The serial number is on the tab I got when I paid it. That is more or less all. The gun looks like the one in the link I am posting, except it has a matte military kind of finish, the finish to prevent the sun from blinking in it, and give away the soldier.


Smith & Wesson Model 10, Cal. .38 Special, 4 Inch Pinned Barrel, Blue Finishe


So, now I have to wait until the middle of August before I go in and do the paperwork, and then wait until I can go and get it. But, I thought, maybe I can find some information about it. I also need a lockable box, and the gun shop could not provide that at all, they told me to go and get something myself, and bring it to the store.


The serial number for it is V459xxx, and from what I read in the forum in other posts I figured out it much be something like 1943, perhaps a bit late in the year.
 
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BillsVictory said:
The serial number for it is V459xxx, and from what I read in the forum in other posts I figured out it much be something like 1943, perhaps a bit late in the year.
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Yes, likely a late 1943 shipment, possibly even early 1944. On my list is V457689 which shipped on 12/15/43. So is it a 38 S&W (5") or a .38 S&W Special (4")? Or a .38 S&W converted to .38 Special? That is somewhat important.
 
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opoefc said:
Whoa, my friends ! There's several versions of the Victory model owners & operators manuals, that tell you all there is to know, and more, from assembly, disassembly, parts lists, care & cleaning, shooting , etc , etc. I'm looking at one right now - US War Dep't Field Manual "Pistols and Revolvers" ( FM 23-35 dtd June 1946.) There are earlier printings of the manual also. Any serious Victory collector has all printings on the shelf in their gun room ! Back in the "Big War" when I got issued a Victory, the manual came with it, so I took my copy home when I was discharged. ( Don't tell Uncle Sam ! ) I believe reprints are available on line. Ed
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If someone has a line on an authentic WWII dated military FM manual detailing the Victory model I would be interested.

I have a WWII'ish dated manual for the M1917 revolver examples (FM 23-36 with looseleaf page changes) and would love to add an authentic Victory/M&P specific FM manual as well.
 

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I have the 1940 edition of FM23-35 which covers the M1911 and M1911A1. FM 23-36 covers both S&W and Colt M1917 revolvers (also dated 1940). These were combined in the 1946 edition of FM23-35. The 1953 edition adds the Colt Detective Special. The 1960 edition drops the M1917 but still includes the M1911, M1911A1 and Detective Special. Perhaps there is an edition between 1940 and 1946 that includes the Victory Model but I've never seen one.
 
kwill1911 said:
I have the 1940 edition of FM23-35 which covers the M1911 and M1911A1. FM 23-36 covers both S&W and Colt M1917 revolvers (also dated 1940). These were combined in the 1946 edition of FM23-35. The 1953 edition adds the Colt Detective Special. The 1960 edition drops the M1917 but still includes the M1911, M1911A1 and Detective Special. Perhaps there is an edition between 1940 and 1946 that includes the Victory Model but I've never seen one.
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You would think the U.S. Navy would have a document/manual for the Victory revolver. I'll try to dig a little deeper.....
 
tenntex32, The Navy & other branches of the Armed forces did not have their own manuals for the Victory models. The War Dep't wrote & issued the same manuals to all branches. Ed.
 
BillsVictory
As you are new to Victorys spend a good deal of time researching 38 S&W versus 38 special chambered guns . Huge difference. That will lead to learning about converted guns and how to detect and avoid them .
Learn about the converted guns BEFORE you take possession ,, It could save some grief.
 
opoefc said:
tenntex32, The Navy & other branches of the Armed forces did not have their own manuals for the Victory models. The War Dep't wrote & issued the same manuals to all branches. Ed.
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Yeah I didn't have any luck at all finding any government manual specific to the Victory revolver. I was hopeful though.

You would think that with several hundred thousand of them in use there would be.

I did get my hopes up for a second or two though! :rolleyes:

Please let me know if any of you have ran across specific Victory revolver information and/or pics in any of the government manuals you have had the privilege of reading.

Ed, just to clarify did the 1946 dated FM manual detail the Victory revolver specifically by name or in pics? Is there a WWII dated version that would detail the Victory? I have not seen one yet.

Dale
 
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