late war 38/200 victory for the data base

[K.38]

I found a neat old Victory today that seems to be one of the last of the 38/200s shipped.

It is 38/200 US property marked with the GHD stamp, lanyard ring and matching grips. Serial number is V765746 shipped 3 April 1945. The revolver in excellent condition. About the only damage is a very light marking on the bottom of the grip that reads RA 6-15-76 and someone engraved B and last 4 of their SSN under the grip on the frame.

According to Mr Pate and the SCSW the last shipment was Mar 1945. There are no overseas markings at all. I assume this revolver stayed stateside doing what who knows.

The old girl was delivered to the US gov Hartford Ordnance Depot, Springfield MA, Eastern regional distribution center for lend least products.

Anyone know the last 38/200 built? How many would have been in the April shipment?

 

[ordnanceguy]

According to Mr Pate and the SCSW the last shipment was Mar 1945......Anyone know the last 38/200 built? How many would have been in the April shipment?

K.38:

Thanks for posting the data on your revolver for inclusion in the Victory Model Database.

I suspect that only the factory shipping ledgers, maintained by historian Roy Jinks, would reveal for certain when the last 38-200 was shipped in WW2 and how many were in the April shipment. However, I can tell you that the last shipments were definitely later than March, 1945.

From the Victory Model Database, which my pal LWCmdr45 and I maintain, I can tell you that the highest serial number we have recorded for a .38-200 with shipping info is V775163. It shipped in May, 1945, more than two months after the last shipment date stated in the Pate and SCSW books you mentioned. (We do show one .38-200 with a higher serial number but because the barrel on it was replaced, and other factors, I question whether it should be part of this discussion.)

 

[opoefc]

Charlie, this is a quickie off the top of my head - What was the date & serial number of the "last" 39-200 that was presented to the British Ambassador to the US, by Carl Hellstrom? Ed.

 

[ordnanceguy]

Good question, Ed. I don't know that info from memory but remember hearing about it somewhere, maybe from you. The only Carl Hellstrom presentation guns in the Database are those in the V1, V2 etc range, the early guns.

 

[opoefc]

Charlie, It took awhile to dig it out of my ancient filing system, but here's the info. on the last 38-200. It was shipped on April 16, 1947 ( That's not a typo! It's 1947 ! ) Almost two years after WW2 ended. It was shipped on a memo. account ( VIP presentation) to Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador in Wash. DC. It has a special serial number " 0775885 " and was high polish blue, 5 in. barrel and smooth military stocks. My guess is that it was made up in the service dep't on Hellstrom's orders from surplus parts, for the gift, but we will probably never know for sure, as Hellstrom's papers were destroyed. Hellstrom's presentation of Victory Model serial number V 1 was by letter to President Truman on July 23, 1947. There was some earlier correspondence with Congressman Cecil King, close friend of President Truman and NRA Board Member, about the proposed presentation of V 1. So I would imagine that V 1 and 0775885 probably got put together side by side in the service dep't as a public relations event. The opposite thought to that, is there are no records of a photo op for either presentation, which would have been a requirement for any public relations program. Ed.