Help identifying U.S. Propertry marked .38 Special

[JSR III]

OK, so I get that with a barrel replacement, there is no cut out in the barrel flat under the barrel. Still does not explain why the extractor rod tip is not knurled or checked at the end. Is it possible that it had the larger tip commonly referred to as a LERK that was filed down or run through a lathe to make it the same diameter as the rod since there was no barrel cut???????

 

[robesetz]

The Cylinder is exactly 1-1/2" in length and .38 SPL fits no problem.

 

[Absalom]

The Cylinder is exactly 1-1/2" in length and .38 SPL fits no problem.

On the Victory models, the identical frame and cylinder were used for both the .38 S&W and .38 Special versions; the chambers were just bored out differently. So the length of the cylinder itself does not help us here.

The two ways to tell whether this is an original .38 Special cylinder are to closely examine the chambers for "ghost rings", the remnants of the chamber shoulders for the shorter .38 S&W cartridge which reaming never completely removed, and trying out an actual .38 S&W live round. The latter by itself is not 100% reliable since there are reports of standard .38 Special revolvers where chambers were bored so sloppy that the slightly fatter ,38 S&W loads will actually go in.

 

[Muley Gil]

Welcome to the Forum.

"I thought it was a Liberty model gun..." By now, I presume you realize the correct term is Victory model, not Liberty model. Keep reading this forum and you will learn A LOT about S&Ws.

"Some additional info that may help........I just spoke with a buddy of mine who is also a Garand Collector and he and I were discussing S & W Victories and he said he had forgotten all about the one his father-in-law gave him years ago. So he pulls it out of the old nightstand where it has resided for years and he gave me the following info (pictures coming over the weekend). 38 S&W Ctg on barrel (38-200), s/n V 337660, top strap U.S. Property GHD, butt, cylinder, barrel all matching, NO British Proofs anywhere, 5 inch, Black Magic finish. Known for a fact that it was not ever sent to England because his father-in-law was US Navy and departed as Captain of a Navy Vessel taking part in D-Day in late 1943. Carried this Victory to the end of the war, brought it home, set in the house ever since."

It seems a bit odd to me that a US Naval officer would be issued a .38 S&W revolver, as opposed to receiving a 4" .38 special.

 

[cmansguns]

additional comments on 38 S&W Victory from WWII

I see Muley Gil commented on my last post about my discussing Victories with a buddy of mine who's father-in-law was a Navy man and made the D-Day landings and came home with a 38S&W Victory with no British Proofs. I got some pictures over the weekend and will attach to this post. As to whether the Navy man was acvtually issued this weapon or acquired it some other way we(my buddy and me) certainly do not know. All that is known is that he came home with the revolver and it has sat in a drawer since 1945 until now. The only other thing known is that he left in late 1943. I apologize if I left confusion over officially issued or not.

Pics below..........more pics.....next post in a few minutes

 

[cmansguns]

more pics on 38S&W 5 inch Victory with no British Proofs

 

[cmansguns]

last pic of Victory I commented about

 

[Absalom]

I see Muley Gil commented on my last post about my discussing Victories with a buddy of mine who's father-in-law was a Navy man and made the D-Day landings and came home with a 38S&W Victory with no British Proofs. I got some pictures over the weekend and will attach to this post. As to whether the Navy man was acvtually issued this weapon or acquired it some other way we(my buddy and me) certainly do not know. All that is known is that he came home with the revolver and it has sat in a drawer since 1945 until now. The only other thing known is that he left in late 1943. I apologize if I left confusion over officially issued or not.

Pics below..........more pics.....next post in a few minutes

Cmansguns:

Thanks for the pictures. That is without doubt a British Service version of the Victory. It is also without doubt a Lend-lease gun. The U.S. PROPERTY stamping was required by the L-L Act, and this gun looks like all British Service Revolvers looked that were carried by British forces throughout the war. Contrary to popular belief, no British proof or service marks were applied to any guns in British service (in contrast to ones in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand service). The British proofs we find on BSR's today are ALL post-war commercial.

That BSR was most certainly not formally "issued" by the Navy. As far as I know, shipboard officers in the Navy did never carry a personal sidearm anyways; a gun locker and a complement of sidearms for officers in case of need came with the ship. But if any Navy veteran here knows differently, I'll be happy to be corrected on this.

So your US captain likely picked this one up at some time during the war in Britain. That it made its way back here without being commercially proofed in Britain supports that story.

 

[cmansguns]

Thanks to Absalom for clearing this up about Navy "issue". You are most certainly correct that it was never "issued" to anyone in particular, and probably the possibilities are endless and of course my buddy and I will never know as the main players have all passed on........so we leave it at that.

It is still a neat revolver that I am informed will stay "in the family" and reside in his son's gun safe someday, but at least he now has some expert opinions on the revolver whereas before......it just stayed in a nightstand, unloaded, gathering dust with no interest by anyone till he and I happened to start talking Victories instead of Garands.

This forum is simply amazing as to what one finds every single time I log on at least. I'm thinking now that maybe I ought to take another look at my 1933 (I think) Outdoorsman and see what all has been generated in the past on these guys.

Thanks again for clearing up the British proof story.

 

[Absalom]

Come to think of it, and of course this is all conjecture, but since D-Day figures so prominently in the story of your friend's father-in-law, he may well have gotten the gun by way of a British officer who hitched a ride on his ship. In the days and weeks after the landings, many Allied warships were employed shuttling troops and the wounded back and forth across the Channel. Just a thought.