Victory hammer

[Alpo]

I put my Victory in the ultrasonic cleaner tonight (man, I could not believe the junk that came out of that gun), and as I was wiping it down, I saw some stamping on the back of the hammer. REG US PAT OFF

Never seen that on a Smith before, so checked the few that were nearby. 65-5, 1903 HE 32 Long, Nickel 1905 HE 32/20, 1917 and a 34-1. None of them have anything on the back of the hammer.

Was this just a "Victory" thing, or it is super rare and valuable?

 

[murphydog]

I have seen this stamping on several guns from the late 1930s, but not on several VMs I have seen; perhaps this was a leftover pre-war part put on the Victory? Interested to hear from the experts on this.

 

[opoefc]

It's a nice little extra to have on a Victory, but it's an older hammer that was in stock and then got used in a Victory Model. S&W never threw away anything, so ever so often you see guns with a part that was left over from earlier production runs and then got applied to a later gun. Ed #15