Finally Added A Victory

[Bacon]

Another Victory to add to the list.
Serial#V616551
Flaming Bomb
US PROPERTY GHD
Serial numbers in all the right places.
A few small dings and some finish missing but in very good condition.
Can anybody give me a ship date?

 

[Absalom]

Maybe June/July 1944.

The summer of 1944 is a bit funky with ship date/serial correlations. Serials as low as 604- and as high as 657- have been recorded for May 1944, and as low as 604- and as high as 660- for August.

Is yours a 5” in .38 S&W or a 4” in .38 Special?

 

[Targets Guy]

Mine is a tad younger than yours. V6500xx shipped 8/44.

V635xxx shipped 7/44.

 

[Bacon]

Thanks. It's 38 Special and 4 inch barrel.

 

[DWalt]

Closest on my list is V6225xx which shipped in 6/44. With the topstrap property stamping and in .38 Special, it almost certainly went to the U. S. Navy.

 

[tenntex32]

Bacon,

I have a 4" Victory s/n V617176 that I paid $15 for at a local gunshow just a few years ago. Supposedly it came from a Navy base near the Great Lakes according to the seller...…..and specifically a Marine unit at that. Of course I have no way to verify and the seller had no actual proof so I bought the "gun" and not the story.

Just googling around I did find a factory letter for a s/n V618253 that shipped to the Navy, Norfolk Va., on June 16, 1944.

Your V61xxxx s/n range example most likely looks much better than mine, and I'll doubt I'll be needing a factory letter or holster for my example. It should buff right out though after a little soaking in "Ed's Red".

Dale

 

[mh51]

Bacon,

I have a 4" Victory s/n V617176 that I paid $15 for at a local gunshow just a few years ago. Supposedly it came from a Navy base near the Great Lakes according to the seller...…..and specifically a Marine unit at that. Of course I have no way to verify and the seller had no actual proof so I bought the "gun" and not the story.

Just googling around I did find a factory letter for a s/n V618253 that shipped to the Navy, Norfolk Va., on June 16, 1944.

Your V61xxxx s/n range example most likely looks much better than mine, and I'll doubt I'll be needing a factory letter or holster for my example. It should buff right out though after a little soaking in "Ed's Red".

Dale

If that was a Zippo lighter, they'd send you a new one.

 

[Bacon]

tenntex32 - You can still use that Victory as a hammer. Just make sure it's unloaded. Now you're the proud owner of a hammer with a serial number.

Another thing about my Victory is it has the 3 P's. Under the barrel, back of cylinder and in front of the hammer on the left side. Would that give an idea of who it shipped to?

 

[tenntex32]

tenntex32 - You can still use that Victory as a hammer. Just make sure it's unloaded. Now you're the proud owner of a hammer with a serial number.

Bacon,

It's kind of funny, it's the one Victory of mine I see the most as I keep it on top of the safe instead of in it like I do all of the others! It has grown on me quite a bit over the last few years I've owned it.

At one time I even placed a spare set of Victory grips on it, but those grips eventually found a home on my post WWII snubbie M&P that someone parkerized. I call that snubbie my "poor man's Victory snubbie wannabe", as I doubt I'll find a decently priced real Victory snubbie any time soon!

Dale

 

[Absalom]

...
Another thing about my Victory is it has the 3 P's. Under the barrel, back of cylinder and in front of the hammer on the left side. Would that give an idea of who it shipped to?

Nope. The original single P proof on the butt up to 1943 is only found on military-shipped guns including Lend-lease. But starting in about late 1943/early 1944 (I don’t think anyone has identified a specific serial or point in time), all Victorys, regardless whether military or DSC, received the P proof in the new triple locations where yours has them.

 

[KEN L]

Bacon,

I have a 4" Victory s/n V617176 that I paid $15 for at a local gunshow just a few years ago. Supposedly it came from a Navy base near the Great Lakes according to the seller...…..and specifically a Marine unit at that. Of course I have no way to verify and the seller had no actual proof so I bought the "gun" and not the story.

Just googling around I did find a factory letter for a s/n V618253 that shipped to the Navy, Norfolk Va., on June 16, 1944.

Your V61xxxx s/n range example most likely looks much better than mine, and I'll doubt I'll be needing a factory letter or holster for my example. It should buff right out though after a little soaking in "Ed's Red".

Dale

Didn't think I'd ever see one worse than mine, but you win! Mine has actually been crushed in two different directions. Side to side & top to bottom. It is also a Navy that shipped in January of 1943. I added the grips, but otherwise it is as I found it. All matching!

 

[tenntex32]

Didn't think I'd ever see one worse than mine, but you win! Mine has actually been crushed in two different directions. Side to side & top to bottom. It is also a Navy that shipped in January of 1943. I added the grips, but otherwise it is as I found it. All matching!

Ken,

I have read where the requirement was to ensure the frame, cylinder, and barrel were rendered completely un-reusable after deactivation. Thus why your example might have got a little more attention around the trigger guard area, just to be safe.

My example had the frame not only bent but cracked at the topstrap. I think they felt it got a good enough treatment on the first pressing.

Thanks for sharing your example as I've only seen a few pics of them that were deactivated in this manner. Most certainly there were many deactivated in this fashion and most probably wound up in the scrap metal heap somewhere.

Mine looks like it spent some time exposed to the elements after deactivation. I wonder if someone did find it in a scrap metal heap and knew some poor idiot like myself would pay considerably more for it than scrap metal prices?

I often wonder if many were deactivated simply to comply with S&W and the Government contractual agreement to not flood the civilian market with cheap surplus Victory revolvers after the war was over. (Or so I've read it was a contractual agreement anyways.)

Then again maybe they had something legitimately wrong with them and the Gov/Military felt it not worth the time/money/effort to repair them? (Seems odd to me with all of the good parts on them that could be repurposed elsewhere if need be.)

Who knows for sure and maybe one of the more astute members with regards to Victory revolvers will chime up and correct me on any wrong points/theories I may have.

Dale

 

[KEN L]

Actually, mine still has quite a few good usable parts in it. I would never strip it for those parts though. It's worth much more to me in the condition it is in. Interestingly, when crushed, the cylinder is in a position where you can still read the serial number!

 

[tenntex32]

Actually, mine still has quite a few good usable parts in it. I would never strip it for those parts though. It's worth much more to me in the condition it is in. Interestingly, when crushed, the cylinder is in a position where you can still read the serial number!

Yes it looks as though someone wanted the thumb latch, mainspring, lanyard swivel, and upper side plate screw on my example. Or maybe they were just broken during deactivation.

Now go ahead and tell me that you paid less than I did for your more complete better condition deactivated Victory.

Dale

 

[KEN L]

No, actually I paid more for mine, but then again it's in MUCH better condition that yours!
I bought it several years ago at one of the Atlanta shows. I just had to have it. $50 was the best I could do. He had bought it several years prior at a Birmingham show, but didn't have any further information on it. I'm sure it didn't cost the previous owner much more than a couple of bucks at scrap value.
I always wanted a 43 dated Navy model, unfortunately it had to be this one!

 

[tenntex32]

I always wanted a 43 dated Navy model, unfortunately it had to be this one!

You mean something like my old "HDL" marked Navy?

(This is assuming, as I have read elsewhere, that sn V210,000 is really the cut-off for the last s/n of 1942, and maybe someone with comprehensive Victory database info can give us their opinion?)


I like to joke that the "HDL" means "handle" so those goobers in the Navy would know where to hold it.

This was my very first "U.S. NAVY" marked Victory example to acquire. Funny enough it was found somewhat locally to me in a small town gunshop. Unfortunately no provenance or info as to previous owner could be/would be provided by the shop.

(I don't know why it is posting the last pic of the HDL marked grip upside down.)

Dale