LGS has a .38 special, K frame, five screw, square butt, 2 inch with what appears to be a plug in the frame where the lanyard would belong. s/n 516366. There is a, "P" above the cylinder release and a faded cross with markings on the left side of the frame. What is this? Thanks in advance.
Need info on pre-10
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DWalt
Member
A little more information is necessary. Could the SN be V516366? My guess is that it is a chopped and re-chambered Victory British service revolver (BSR). This is a gun you should avoid unless you know exactly what it is. I will say that it is highly unlikely to be original and will not be worth anywhere near what the price tag says.
OP
Did lend lease guns lack the V? What is the price at your LGS?
I will defer to Dwalt on this one.
Well, it must be right at home there. I'd let it stay.
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
No. With that serial number, a lanyard hole, and the P proof on the frame, it has to be a V-prefix gun. If the V is not on the butt, check on the cylinder face or underneath what's left of the barrel. An earlier M&P with that numeral without prefix from the 1920s is not a realistic option.
PS: Just a wild guess, but does the "faded cross with markings" look like the attached picture?
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OP
Absalom, The cross does like similar to the one you post. While at the LGS I looked under the barrel and there wasn't a s/n, maybe barrel was replaced. The barrel is marked .38 special not S&W. I looked for a V on the butt and didn't see it, maybe it is faded and I didn't see it.
Does the 2" barrel have a locking lug for the extractor rod? If so the barrel was changed, if no locking lug the barrel was cut.
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
That mark is a Birmingham view mark, so the frame was definitely surplused in Britain post-war.
If the 2" barrel actually shows a .38 Special factory caliber stamping, it has to have the barrel lug that H. Richard asked about and be a post-war replacement; on a cut barrel, the caliber stamp would be cut off. The absence of an underbarrel serial would fit with that. There were no British versions with original 2" barrels.
DWalt
Member
Seems like it is an earlier frame with a 2" barrel added on later. A K-frame with SN 516366 would have shipped in 1925, long before S&W made their first 2" M&P. The lack of the SN on the barrel confirms that it was not a factory barrel replacement. How the Birmingham mark got there is anyone's guess, but evidently it was in Britain at some time, maybe one of the guns sent to the British or bought by the BPC in 1940-41.
Did lend lease guns lack the V?
Some early ones did. SN 879xxx (late 1941) is the earliest on my list with the US property stamp. This one could not have been a Lend-Lease gun.
Did lend lease guns lack the V?
Some early ones did. SN 879xxx (late 1941) is the earliest on my list with the US property stamp. This one could not have been a Lend-Lease gun.
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I considered that until I realized that the P proof on the frame above the cylinder release eliminates that possibility. The P did not move to that location (and the barrel/cylinder) from the butt until 1943.
OP
I checked with the LGS and there is a V prefix, very faded.
DWalt
Member
Well, that really doesn't change things much other than it answers how it got the British stamp. A Victory from early 1944 probably with a replacement barrel. Worth maybe half the asking price as a shooter.
