Victory in Italy

[Andrea]

Hello to all friends of the forum,
I write from Italy and I love history and old weapons: especially American ones
I have a Smith and Wesson Victory marked U.S. PROPERTY and G.H.D in caliber 38 S&W; with serial numbers V356529.
could you tell me what year it was manufactured?
The gun is blued finished and shows the marks of acceptance Italian than American ones...
Thanks in advance!

 

[Waidmann]

Hi, middle of 1943. Colonel Guy H.Drewry accepted it for service. The proof was p. No Proof country accepts these, so finding ones with post war British, German and Austrian proofs is not unusual. Italian too I suppose. If it is .38 S&W (not .38 S&W Special), it was Lend-Lease to Britain or a Commonwealth nation. It was shipped with a dull finish and smooth walnut grips (no checkering or medallions).

Certainly someone can expand on my limited knowledge.

 

[Andrea]

thank you very much for the good information! I knew that these pistols in .38 S & W (.380 British) were allocated to countries of Commonwelth, but it is normal that there are no marks on the gun acceptance of any other nation except the Americans? add photos as soon as possible of..
see you soon!
Andrea

 

[Andrea]

I think I've made it!
Note the brands of the Italian test, but what does the "XXXY" on the barrel?

 

[Andrea]

Add some shots of the gun: could you help me to identify the various written and brands?

 

[Andrea]

close to serial numbers you can see a " P ", while on the side of the grip there is a " h "; do you know what could it mean?

 

[Andrea]

think it's been scratched and re blued after the war? or some were delivered so?

 

[opoefc]

Andrea, V356529 was shipped from S&W to the British Purchasing Comm. in July 1943, as a "Lend Lease" gun. It has been refinished from it's original dull wartime finish, probably done after the gun was sold surplus to gun dealers after WW2. The "XXXY" stamping on the barrel was done to obliterate an earlier inspection mark, probably British, and add new marks that look like possibly post war German proofs. The gun's other small stamps you have outlined in the photos, are fitters and inspectors stamps applied during manufacture by S&W employees. The exception is the small "P" stamp on the butt. My guess is that was applied by someone in the re-inspection processes the gun went through after WW2 when it entered the civilian market via the British & German gun dealers. Ed.

 

[Andrea]

DWalt, the gun is fortunately still in caliber 38 S&W (before buying, it I tried to put a .38 special but can not fully).

Too bad it's been re-finished and have been removed the grips and the ring :-(
You think you can still find on market the grip and the ring?
I'd like to give back her old look.

 

[DWalt]

Yes, the lanyard swivel is available, and a pair of original grips can be found. I believe there are even replica wooden grips available. Looking around on the internet should get some results, especially on eBay or the gun auction sites, such as GunBroker and Auction Arms. Also, some of the US gun parts dealers may have what you need.

The fact that the chambers have not been modified to accept .38 S&W Special ammunition makes it worth considerably more, at least it would in the USA. It is probably worth a little restoration expense. At the time your revolver was manufactured, the normal finish would have been Parkerized (a phosphate finish), not blued, so yours is likely to have been refinished. Personally, I would leave the blued finish alone. I have no idea about .38 S&W ammunition availability in Italy. It is loaded and available in the US, but as it is not very popular here, most stores do not stock factory ammunition, and when found, it is expensive. Most fans of revolvers chambered in .38 S&W here load their own if shooting is a priority.

You might want to do some postings in the gunsmithing section of this forum to see if anyone might be able to supply parts and/or grips to you.

 

[Andrea]

thank you very much for the information!
about the bullets, I still have a box of those at the time (I think), but I will keep it for collection, I can try to load them by cutting .38 special

 

[Texas Star]

thank you very much for the information!
about the bullets, I still have a box of those at the time (I think), but I will keep it for collection, I can try to load them by cutting .38 special
View attachment 105563

View attachment 105564

Andrea-

.38 Special cases are too narrow. The .38 S&W is a wider cartridge. The .38 Special brass will expand and may crack in .38 S&W chambers.

See if Fiochhi (sp?) makes .38 S&W ammo.

Thanks for posting the Kynoch ammo photos.

You have excellent English! Your gun is rich in history.

 

[DWalt]

Those cartridges are correct. One can cut .38 Special cases to length for use in a .38 S&W, but it does involve considerable work to make up any quantity of them. Be aware that both the .38 S&W bullet and case diameters are slightly greater than those of the .38 S&W Special, so you can expect case expansion upon firing. .360-.361" bullets are of the proper size, but unless you are worried about good grouping performance, the standard .38 Special bullets of .357-.358" diameter will work satisfactorily for closer-range shooting. I do not know if lead hollow-base wadcutter .357 bullets are available in Italy, but if so, they would be ideal, as they will expand under the pressure of firing to fill the slightly-larger bore. But they should be seated out about halfway, not flush with the case mouth.

By the way, many years ago when I first started reloading I cut many .38 Special cases back to .38 S&W length using a Dremel tool with cutoff wheel followed by final trimming in a Forster case trimmer. They worked fine for me, and I never had a case failure. But I always used light loads. However, over the years, I have accumulated a large quantity of the proper .38 S&W brass, so I no longer use the old cut-off .38 Special cases. In fact, I don't even know where they are.