Struck Out on My SV 38 M&P

[Retired W4]

I was hoping SV812256 went to a notable user but the letter indicate it was part of 2 shipments of 171 units each to Edward K. Tryon in Philly. Tryon was probably one of the largest dealers around at the time, March 7, 1946. The letter also confirms that these guns were completed using left over war time parts (Victory models) with commercial blue finish and plugged lanyard loop hole. Still, a nice piece of post war history.

 

[murphydog]

Um, struck out in what way exactly? The factory had 4 + years of backorders so not totally surprising they were filling very large requests to distributors, and not taking single gun orders. Enjoy!

 

[Truckman]

Um, struck out in what way exactly?...Enjoy!

Indeed!...That one would ring the bell at the top of my enjoyment scale any day!......Ben

 

[DWalt]

I was hoping SV812256 went to a notable user but the letter indicate it was part of 2 shipments of 171 units each to Edward K. Tryon in Philly. Tryon was probably one of the largest dealers around at the time, March 7, 1946. The letter also confirms that these guns were completed using left over war time parts (Victory models) with commercial blue finish and plugged lanyard loop hole. Still, a nice piece of post war history.

Some of the SV series revolvers went into US military service late in the war but I have not seen any information as to how many that might have been. Their main distinction was having the improved hammer drop safety.

 

[JP@AK]

The factory had 4 + years of backorders so not totally surprising they were filling very large requests to distributors

Alan
This is true. Another example is 800 units shipped to J.F. Galef, NY, NY, on March 3, 1946. Half of those had 4" barrels and the other 400 had 5" barrels.

 

[panamajack310]

Dude who cares if it was a gun owned by someone special. These guns are a great piece of history. No this was now a weapon of war. But that gun is beautiful and deserves to be carried and shot. Way cool gun thanks for letting us see her.

 

[JP@AK]

Some of the SV series revolvers went into US military service late in the war but I have not seen any information as to how many that might have been.

I don't believe the total number has been tallied. However, we can be certain it ran to the dozens of thousands. Shipments began in January, 1945. I have documented one shipment of 1200 units to the Oakland Navy Yard on February 23, 1945.

I have recorded lots of others in my research. The lowest serial numbers are in the SV730000 range. It is commonly reported that the earliest SV serialized revolvers were in the SV769000 range, but many of them have been discovered with serial number below that range. This is probably because, as we know, units were not assembled in serial order.

The highest recorded number on a Navy shipped unit is SV802722. That one shipped to Norfolk on the noteworthy day of August 13, 1945.

I have also documented several of the early Navy guns that were sent back to Springfield in 1945 for the safety upgrade. The lowest number of those in my database is V23541, which was restamped by adding the S in front of the V. Hence, it now bears serial number SV23541.

 

[Retired W4]

Even with it's ho-hum pedigree I still like this M&P.