Smith & Wesson Victory

[DWalt]

The Brits used a 200 grain bullet. Many decades ago Western had a 200 grain 38 special round they called the Super Police. Peter's had the same load but they did not have the fancy name on theirs. But I digress.

There were US-made 200 grain "Super Police" lead bullet loads in both .38 Special and .38 S&W. Unless loaded by some of the boutique ammo companies, they have not been loaded in the USA for many years, probably not since the 1960s-70s. I would have to look them up to know. The idea behind both was use of unstable bullets that did more tissue damage. I believe the US .38 S&W Super Police loading was much the same as the British .380 Mk I military cartridge. I gather that many think that the .38 Special Super Police load is the same as the .38-44, but it is entirely different. For sure, Remington made the .38 Special Super Police. I have some, probably from the early 1970s.

 

[Mk VII]

ICI continued to make this load commercially for many years; I have found the usual 145gn loadings to print more near the aiming mark.

 

[campbellvdk]

I found another mark on my revolver

I did some more looking and found another mark on my revolver I hadn't seen before. I checked the backstrap and only said "HKP" and 0305 with no other marks. I assume HKP is the Hong Kong Police, probably given to them by Britain while Hong Kong was under development. However, the new mark I see is in the photo. I am unsure what the top number is, but it looks like a 3 and a 05. The number below is 97188, which I do not know what matches up to.

 

[Muley Gil]

I did some more looking and found another mark on my revolver I hadn't seen before. I checked the backstrap and only said "HKP" and 0305 with no other marks. I assume HKP is the Hong Kong Police, probably given to them by Britain while Hong Kong was under development. However, the new mark I see is in the photo. I am unsure what the top number is, but it looks like a 3 and a 05. The number below is 97188, which I do not know what matches up to.

That is an assembly number, used to keep the pieces together while the revolver is being built.

 

[Igiveup]

I had a Cogswell & Harrison conversion to .38 spl. and, I think, 3 inch barrel. I bought it for my collection of victories as an example of changes it went through. After shooting it i couldn't sell it fast enough. Every round had split brass. I reload and would have nothing to do with it after that. Felt like I had been conned.

 

[Com 45acp]

I had a Cogswell & Harrison conversion to .38 spl. and, I think, 3 inch barrel. I bought it for my collection of victories as an example of changes it went through. After shooting it i couldn't sell it fast enough. Every round had split brass. I reload and would have nothing to do with it after that. Felt like I had been conned.

I have one of these with a 5" barrel. Haven't shot it yet but what do you think is the cause of split brass. I thought only thing they did is ream the chambers of the cylinder a little deeper to allow for the .38 spl case length.
Now you have me a bit concerned.

 

[desi2358]

I have shot a few of the converted BSR's over the years. Bulging of the brass was common though it varied as to just how much it bulged. Probably due to the plus/minus tolerance of the original 38S&W chambers since the diameter is slightly larger than a 38 Special. Can't recall ever having any split cases except for a few cracked case mouths in some old (many times reloaded) rounds I was using. Maybe Igiveup had some reloaded rounds or some factory rounds with thin or brittle brass? The modification for 38 Special was a simple use of a chamber reamer to lengthen the chamber and wouldn't affect the diameter of the original 38S&W part of the chamber.

 

[Igiveup]

Mine had the barrel cut back and front sight added. The brass was mostly split at mouth, nothing I would reload. New or reloads, I would say 95% of brass was split. I bot it as an example of victory for my collection, I don't miss it. My shooter is a mix-match serial number revolver that went thru military refurbishment. "Parts is parts" with the military. I don't worry about matching as it gives me a revolver I can shoot and not worry about ruining collectibility.