Another OSS victory?

[Arisaka99]

I picked this up today at auction (after someone else who knew what it was bid it up quite a bit yesterday). All the indicators of a Rosslyn OSS Victory pending a letter. Post war OMGUS issue to the Hessen Stadtpolizei (HE-M with a sideways J substituting for a dash stamp). No markings on top strap. A lot of personal meaning for me; my family is from Hessen via my G-G-Grandfather, I served there in Friedberg as a young Lieutenant in the 80s, and I worked in Rosslyn, VA as a contractor after retirement for the DoD. Observations and comments welcome! Thanks to Charlie Flick and others for their research and posts here and elsewhere on similar pistols!

 

[DWalt]

Lack of a topstrap stamp, the German police stamp, and the W stamp on the butt do suggest that it could be an OSS. A letter would confirm it. I can’t make out the barrel caliber stamp, assume it is .38 Special.

 

[Arisaka99]

Lack of a topstrap stamp, the German police stamp, and the W stamp on the butt do suggest that it could be an OSS. A letter would confirm it. I can’t make out the barrel caliber stamp, assume it is .38 Special.

It’s a 4” .38 special; thanks for asking.

 

[Retired W4]

I have a Victory with the sideways M and hoped it was OSS. The letter shows it was shipped to the IL State AG ANG. Oh well. Of course, mine does not have those markings on the back strap.

Edit: sideways W, not M..

 

[DWalt]

The W (M?) butt stamp is somewhat of a mystery. Seems it is common on OSS revolvers but either present or absent on other Victories. I remember someone saying it meant “War Department” acceptance, but that makes little sense. Does anyone know its meaning for sure?

 

[Arisaka99]

Thank DWalt you for weighing in! I have several of your threads saved as reference for my hungry novice self-education! A member on another forum got a deep dive letter that also came with an OSS contract document where the contract number started with the letter W; possibly a coincidence but also the potential answer? Another commonality from every Rosslyn-lettered example I could find on forum and web searches was the W without an ordnance bomb inspection stamp on the butt which would indicate Army inspection. Charlie Flick (ordnanceguy) is completing an article/talk on the topic with new research and observations per one of his posts last week. Exciting things to come!

 

[ordnanceguy]

Hello Arisaka:

I congratulate you on a nice catch. Your new Victory will indeed letter as having shipped to the OSS at Rosslyn VA.

I am happy to hear that my research allowed you to recognize this one for what it is. Knowledge is power, as they say. It took me many, many years of work, maintaining the Victory Database, sorting through serials, fuzzy photos, hundreds of factory letters, and countless eyeball examinations to discover the keys to the .38 Special OSS guns. Those factors were revealed to the members of the S&WCA who attended last year's Symposium and heard my hour long presentation on the Victory. The subject of the OSS guns will be addressed in a forthcoming article to be published in the S&WCA's Journal.

Regards,
Charlie

 

[Arisaka99]

Hello Arisaka:

I congratulate you on a nice catch. Your new Victory will indeed letter as having shipped to the OSS at Rosslyn VA.

I am happy to hear that my research allowed you to recognize this one for what it is. Knowledge is power, as they say. It took me many, many years of work, maintaining the Victory Database, sorting through serials, fuzzy photos, hundreds of factory letters, and countless eyeball examinations to discover the keys to the .38 Special OSS guns. Those factors were revealed to the members of the S&WCA who attended last year's Symposium and heard my hour long presentation on the Victory. The subject of the OSS guns will be addressed in a forthcoming article to be published in the S&WCA's Journal.

Regards,
Charlie

Thanks for the learning and diligent study Charlie; you are awesome!

 

[Tom Doniphon]

Thanks for the learning and diligent study Charlie; you are awesome!

The factory letters for these W marked Victory Models do not always state they were shipped to the OSS. I have V498607 with the W mark on the butt and no US Property marks other than the P proof marks. It's the Victory model depicted on page 150 of Pate's book on secondary handguns of WWII. It letters as being shipped to the USN in Rosslyn. But it likely went to the OSS.

 

[Arisaka99]

Rosslyn was the facility used for OSS deliveries as you know; for practical and OPSEC reasons. I’m good with that. I actually knew a couple WWII OSS veterans and talked with one at length. He was an Ordnance Officer and wasn’t even told what he was volunteering for until after he passed the selection. He was scheduled to jump into China after training with a team but the war ended. Instead he went back to Ordnance and deployed to Japan where he wrote the Tech Intel report on Japanese small arms. 1LT Edward B. Bruderlin. Gorgeous pistol; that appears to be GECO logo stamp on the butt? Well known German dealer of arms and ammunition. Any other post-war commercial or police markings? I have Pate’s book but it’s in storage right now. Thanks for posting!

 

[Tom Doniphon]

Yes, it is the GECO mark. It also has German proof marks.

 

[Arisaka99]

I would love to find the documentation or requisition that sent so many Rosslyn guns to Germany; I think that would answer a lot of the attribution discussion. The Navy wasn't much of a player in ETO occupation or infrastructure. Awesome to own the reference book example of anything; I have some Japanese items in a couple books.