Pre-Victory and Victory Model Timeline

[Slippery98]

There was no USAF during WWII. It was called the Army Air Corps. Victory revolvers were issued to a wide range of military, security/law enforcement and civilian offices as well as Allied forces. After the USAF was created, the Aircrewman and Model 15 were purchased by the USAF, but this was long after Victory revolvers went away.

Copy, I apologize for the inaccuracy, I have been AF for some time and typed USAF because it was quicker than US Army Air Corps but thanks for the info. USAF model 15s seem relatively scarce and of course Aircrewman revolvers more so! I will keep looking into Model 15s (predates my career, it was 9mm Berettas when I came in) so thanks!

 

[Slippery98]

I doubt that many, if any, Victories were issued by the USAAF during WWII. I know of none at that time. Virtually all of them went to the British, the U. S. Navy, and for use on the home front by law enforcement and defense plant guards. The Combat Masterpiece (Model 15) was the standard USAF handgun for ground service from the early 1960s until the M9 Beretta was adopted in the late 1980s.

Thanks, that mirrors what I have seen and heard. I would love to have a USAF Model 15 but may hold off until I learn enough to distinguish fakes from real weapons!

 

[kwill1911]

The USAF adopted the Model 15 in 1962 but also ordered over 15,000 Model 56 revolvers. There were small purchases of other special purpose handguns.

All of this is pretty serious drift from Victory Model revolvers but a search will turn up a lot more information on USAF guns.

 

[rchall]

I have #SV 809411 with 5 inch barrel and pre-war magna grips.

 

[JP@AK]

There was no USAF during WWII. It was called the Army Air Corps.

That actually is incorrect. The Army Air Corps ceased to exist on June 20, 1941 (before the Japanese attack on Hawaii). It became the U.S. Army Air Forces on that date. It remained under the Army at the higher echelons, but with some separation of management. It then became the U.S. Air Force, a completely separate branch, on September 18, 1947.

My dad received three Hs; one from the U.S. Army, one from the U.S. Army Air Forces after WWII, and one from the USAF after Korea. I have all three of them in my files.

 

[Major 2]

I was led here in looking for a hard date when S&W returned from Victory model production to the earliest post war S prefix models.

 

[DWalt]

I was led here in looking for a hard date when S&W returned from Victory model production to the earliest post war S prefix models.

You won’t find a hard date. The final SV prefixes occurred around SN SV 811xxx, some sources indicate a little higher serial number, into the SV813xxx range. It is unknown exactly when the first S-series revolver was made or what its SN was, but it picked up at or very close to where the SV series stopped. Regardless, civilian sales after the war did not resume until around March 1946, and some SV revolvers were built up from frames and components remaining in wartime inventory and finished for civilian sales at that time. So at least some SVs and all Ss could not have been sold into the postwar commercial market until around March or April 1946. SV production ceased on or close to VJ Day but of course some finished SV revolvers and parts would have remained in factory inventory after that time. It is unknown exactly when S prefix production began, but certainly not earlier than VJ Day and most probably not until some months later. Just how many leftover SVs were sold to civilians beginning in early 1946 is unknown, at least to me. I have understood that the early 1946 sales went largely to law enforcement agencies, do not know the truth of that.

 

[Major 2]

Thank you very much,
I have S 8687xx I believe dates to Nov 1946.
So, if March or April 1946 was the date on the first S Prefix(s)
my gun was in the first 8 months .

 

[DWalt]

A reasonable assumption. If you want a more precise shipping date for yours, you could have it lettered. Many here would identify yours as a “postwar M&P.” A civilian M&P with the improved hammer drop safety and long throw action. Some will call it a “Transitional” M&P but I personally prefer to avoid the use of that imprecise term. It applies to M&Ps up to SN ca. S990xxx, at which point the short action (high-speed hammer) was incorporated.

 

[JP@AK]

I have S 8687xx I believe dates to Nov 1946.
View attachment 764339

I have a number of M&P units in the S868000 range that show up in my database. The earliest of them shipped in January 1947. The latest shipped in September 1947. Most of the earlier shipments in this serial range were of units with the 2" barrel. Hence, I suspect yours likely went out the door in the summer, rather than the winter or spring. Only a letter can tell you for certain.

 

[JP@AK]

I have #SV 809411 with 5 inch barrel and pre-war magna grips.

Yours almost certainly shipped in March or April 1946. When I saw a photo of this gun some time ago, it was wearing postwar Magna stocks, according to my notes. Could you please post a photo of it with the prewar style? Is the right panel stamped with the corresponding serial number on the inside?

 

[Major 2]

I have a number of M&P units in the S868000 range that show up in my database. The earliest of them shipped in January 1947. The latest shipped in September 1947. Most of the earlier shipments in this serial range were of units with the 2" barrel. Hence, I suspect yours likely went out the door in the summer, rather than the winter or spring. Only a letter can tell you for certain.

Thank you...

 

[MelvinWalker]

There was no USAF during WWII. It was called the Army Air Corps. Victory revolvers were issued to a wide range of military, security/law enforcement and civilian offices as well as Allied forces. After the USAF was created, the Aircrewman and Model 15 were purchased by the USAF, but this was long after Victory revolvers went away.

Without getting an exact date, the USAF was not formally called "Air Corps" during WW2...That was more of a slang term left over from the pre-WW2 days...It was "United States Army Air Forces" or USAAF.