Another Victory

[CI_SeaWolf]

I visited the local gun show yesterday. I saw a few Victories. The first table I looked at, there was a 5" barrelled .38 S & W. No V prefix on the Serial. It had a blued finish and checkered grips. I looked it over hard, it looked nice. I discovered that the grips were not numbered to the gun, and there were no proof marks on the frame. More looking seemed to dictate that the gun had been re blued at some time, the logo and most lettering that was on the gun was not crisp. It was expensive, even for my location's standards. I passed on buying it. The second Victory that I found was a 4" 38 special. The serial # is V414485. It has the correct grips, lanyard ring, but is a bit rough in finish. The top strap is marked with the normal U.S. Property GHD and the flaming bomb. No other marks except for some tiny lettering that included the letters sac. I think this was done by the surplus exporter as I have seen it on other Victories. I got it for $ 280. Not bad considering the only other two that I saw there were asking $450. The last one I saw was the same as the one that I had purchased, same kind of condition with a serial # in the 245xxx range. Most things out here are going through the roof and you have to act quickly to get even a fair price (high by other state's standards)....I'd love to hear the stories that these revolvers could tell

 

[CI_SeaWolf]

I visited the local gun show yesterday. I saw a few Victories. The first table I looked at, there was a 5" barrelled .38 S & W. No V prefix on the Serial. It had a blued finish and checkered grips. I looked it over hard, it looked nice. I discovered that the grips were not numbered to the gun, and there were no proof marks on the frame. More looking seemed to dictate that the gun had been re blued at some time, the logo and most lettering that was on the gun was not crisp. It was expensive, even for my location's standards. I passed on buying it. The second Victory that I found was a 4" 38 special. The serial # is V414485. It has the correct grips, lanyard ring, but is a bit rough in finish. The top strap is marked with the normal U.S. Property GHD and the flaming bomb. No other marks except for some tiny lettering that included the letters sac. I think this was done by the surplus exporter as I have seen it on other Victories. I got it for $ 280. Not bad considering the only other two that I saw there were asking $450. The last one I saw was the same as the one that I had purchased, same kind of condition with a serial # in the 245xxx range. Most things out here are going through the roof and you have to act quickly to get even a fair price (high by other state's standards)....I'd love to hear the stories that these revolvers could tell

 

[opoefc]

yes, the SAC stamp is the importer in Sacramento, CA., Close serial numbers to yours were shipped in Oct 1943 and it sounds like you got it for a fair price, compared to what else was available, as you say. Victory models are coming into their own as great collectables but still can be found for little money compared to other S&Ws. Tracing their history and service units can be a lot of fun. Ed.