Victory Model Question

[Suncoast]

My LGS just got a Victory model in along with the original holster. Typical dull parkerized finish. The gun looks to be in excellent original condition. Grips are original with a fair amount of wear but no chips. Serial is 214xxx.

Here's my first question. The shop owner said that the gun had been sanitized by the removal of the Property of United States from the topstrap. Is this a common occurrence?

Second question... In the described condition... What would be a fair price?

 

[Absalom]

I assume it has a V before the serial? What is the barrel length? Is it .38 S&W or .38 Special?

Also, the question is whether it was really "sanitized" by buffing off the US Property stamp or whether it is an originally unmarked DSC gun. The former would significantly impact its collector value, the latter could actually increase it. Close inspection should tell which it is.

 

[Suncoast]

It does have the V. 4 inch barrel. 38 Special. I looked at it closely and it did not look buffed off. I was relying on the owners opinion.

What is a DSC gun? I'm not familiar with that term

 

[Absalom]

It does have the V. 4 inch barrel. 38 Special. I looked at it closely and it did not look buffed off. I was relying on the owners opinion.

What is a DSC gun? I'm not familiar with that term

Then it probably wasn't. It's unlikely someone bothered to re-finish the topstrap after removing the stamping. The ones I've seen were really obvious.

DSC = Defense Supply Corporation.
A public entity that handled sales of defense-related goods for the government during the war. Defense contractors and other war-essential civilian agencies or organizations could get stuff cheaper ordering through them. That included several ten thousand Victorys that went to guard defense plants etc. They were not top-stamped.

DWalt may be along to tell you when that gun shipped approx. based on the serial. He has a database.

Picture below shows an original unmarked Victory topstrap.

P.S. As for price, a complete .38 Special Victory in very good condition, all-matching serial in the five places that matter (butt, underside of barrel, face of cylinder, behind extractor star, and on one or both grip panels), complete with lanyard swivel, will go for $500 + these days. With an asking price of much over that, they tend to stick around a long time, at least based on my observations on Gunbroker. The US Navy-marked specimen, and for some collectors the unmarked DSC guns, command a premium over run-of-the-mill US Property-marked ones; the 5" barreled .38 S&W Commonwealth editions are usually least sought after.

 

[Suncoast]

That is virtually exactly what the top strap looks like.

 

[Suncoast]

I can supply the full serial number if needed. I would just prefer to do it by PM

 

[Absalom]

It'll likely be late 1942 or early 1943. If nobody shows up with a closer estimate, scroll down the subforum until you find the thread labeled "Victory Data Base". It's got 20 + pages, and if you browse long enough, you'll likely find a number pretty close by.

 

[Suncoast]

Other than the top strap, would any other markings be different from a standard Victory model?

 

[Absalom]

Other than the top strap, would any other markings be different from a standard Victory model?

If it is a DSC gun, it would most likely have only the flaming bomb mark on the butt and no other special marks besides the usual S&W stampings of the time.

 

[DWalt]

The closest Victory on my list is V2107xx which shipped on 1/8/43. It was a U. S. Navy marked revolver. Without a topstrap stamping (typically "UNITED STATES PROPERTY" or "U. S. NAVY" at that time period, it very likely would have been a Defense Supplies Corp. gun, procured for essential stateside services, law enforcement or defense plant guards. The general public could not buy them. Aside from the lack of a topstrap property stamping, they are the same as the miitary Victories. There were on the order of 70,000 made (don't remember the exact number), which is approximately the same number of those Navy-marked, but the survival rate of the DSC guns is probably somewhat greater. All the DSC guns had the 4" barrel (except for a small number with 2" barrels), and were chambered in .38 Special.

 

[Suncoast]

Well the price was right so I took a chance. I'll get pics up in a day or two on the database thread with a full serial number.

 

[Absalom]

Depending on your level of historical curiosity, and whether you've got $50 sitting around looking for a home, getting an archive letter for a DSC Victory can produce more interesting results than for others, since S&W usually shipped those directly to the end user rather than a military depot or Navy yard. That could be anything from well-known places like Boeing Aircraft or Ford Motor Co. to (more likely) a lot more mundane destinations like the Marion Steam Shovel Co. in Ohio (my favorite example), which made who-knows-what for the war effort.