Turned Victory Barrels

[hardscrabble]

I have this .38 S&W Victory British Service Revolver below, SN V181992.

Note what appear to be different turn marks (they are hard to see) on the barrel "shoulder" ahead of the frame where it is contoured. I have seen at least 3 Victory Models that show the same or similar treatment. One was a 4" 38 Special in better condition than is normally found (a 90%+ gun), probably not an import, one was another BSR in 38S&W and I don't remember specifics about the third. I'm seriously doubting my original assumption that this was done to remove a mark of some kind.

Any ideas as to why these small number of barrels were altered?

 

[El Biblioitecario]

I would suggest that you have answered your question with the first and last sentences of your post.

 

[gwpercle]

War time production, that's it!
Whatever you do, do not obtain a WWII , cyq production P38, the level of roughness and lack of detail would send anyone afflicted with OCD screaming into the night. The S&W looks great in contrast!
Gary

 

[iwanna]

Take the beautiful Browning Hi Power for example: Some of the worst ever made were made for the Germans by slave-type labor. Some were purposely sabotaged.

What I've always heard about the Victory's is this: Only rough on the outside. The inside workings are just as carefully done as anything else S&W ever made.

 

[hardscrabble]

I provided way too much detail.

Some very limited number Victory models (both BSR's and US service) exhibit an atypical machined ring around the frame end of the barrel.

Has anyone else noticed this, and does anybody have a theory as to the reason?

Thanks, and sorry I created confusion with the long post.

 

[DWalt]

War time production, that's it!
Whatever you do, do not obtain a WWII , cyq production P38, the level of roughness and lack of detail would send anyone afflicted with OCD screaming into the night. The S&W looks great in contrast!
Gary

Actually, the CYQ (Spreewerke) P-38s are fairly desirable. The machining was rough because Allied bombs were falling all around the factory at the time, and every shortcut possible was being taken to speed up production. If it shot, it shipped. The interesting thing about all of the intensive Allied bombings of Germany during the later period of the war is that it actually did relatively little to slow war production. In fact production increased despite the bombings.

 

[gwpercle]

Actually, the CYQ (Spreewerke) P-38s are fairly desirable. The machining was rough because Allied bombs were falling all around the factory at the time, and every shortcut possible was being taken to speed up production. If it shot, it shipped. The interesting thing about all of the intensive Allied bombings of Germany during the later period of the war is that it actually did relatively little to slow war production. In fact production increased despite the bombings.

Funny thing is mine feeds fires and ejects everything I have put in the magazine, including cast lead semi-wadcutter's designed for 38 special. Accurate to boot. Just looks like 5 miles of dirt road. I love the old war horse , we both kind of rough around the edges.
Gary

 

[Mk VII]

That was because there was so much inefficiency in the system Speer was able to boost production just by eliminating it (also Todt was a lousy manager)

The interesting thing about all of the intensive Allied bombings of Germany during the later period of the war is that it actually did relatively little to slow war production. In fact production increased despite the bombings.

 

[DWalt]

Aside from the inefficiencies of the production system, a huge portion of German industry (especially aircraft-related production) was moved underground and essentially became immune from air attack. About the only strategic industry which could not be hidden was oil related, and the late war bomber attacks concentrated mainly on oil production and refining facilities. In the end, Hitler simply ran out of fuel, which played a very major role in Germany's 1945 defeat. It's not a widely known story, but at the Battle of the Bulge, the German planners counted on capturing Allied fuel depots to keep their tanks running. Of course, that didn't happen. That's a sign of true desperation when your battle plan depends mainly upon capturing essential materials from the enemy.

 

[hardscrabble]

In case you aren't aware, the army Center for Military History has an excellent history of Hitler's Ardennes offensive, which extensively discusses the resource mgt., the effectiveness of the allied air campaign and the critical shortages affecting German defensive capabilities.

It is here: CMH Publications Catalog - THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE

It is free and downloadable as a PDF.

 

[Skeetr57]

To get back on topic: I have two or three unfinished S&W barrels that I got from Numrich years ago. They are rifled, threaded, and have the caliber stamps, but are not polished at all. They show indications of having been partly turned and partly contour milled, and the transition between the turned portion and the milled portion is very obvious and uneven. These are not Victory barrels, but a .38-44 HD and a .38-44 Outdoors man, post war, as well as a .22-.32 HFT. The machining marks and unevenness would have been removed during polishing before bluing or plating. It is understandable that Victory models would not have had the same polishing effort put into them, since it is only cosmetic and has no effect on functioning.

 

[hardscrabble]

Thanks, Tom. That's what I was looking for. As long as I've had this one, I thought one of the importers had worked on the barrel in an attempt to remove some sort of mark. Now, I'm fairly sure the gun left the factory with a cosmetic defect, and there were others that left the same way.