Victory Models Marked "U.S.N. PROPERTY NOD. 1543"

[grendelbean]

NO d 1543

During my Navy career I have had occasion to observe (and perform) the short-cut of while making machine lettering not stopping to change letters and do another alignment and set up for one letter. Point being I think someone was using the machine engraver to letter these revolvers and did not stop to set up a lower case "d" and just kept going with the all caps NOD instead of NOd. Short cut, time saver, get the work out, measure. I do add my thought that the marking is as SPEEDO2 suggests. The shipbuilding company marked the revolvers with the Secretary of the Navy Contract Number NOd 1534 as an accounting tool. Great question, great discussion.

 

[ordnanceguy]

I have recently acquired V73 and will be ordering a letter for it. When I get it I'll post a copy of it. I'm curious about the marking.

We have not heard back from KHarms since his October 2020 post above. I hope that he has acquired a factory letter on V73 and will share it with the members here. I think we are all anxious to learn what it has revealed.

 

[ordnanceguy]

Gentlemen:

Another NOD.1543 marked Victory has surfaced. It is serial number V2603, which is in very close proximity to the other 4 known NOD. 1543 revolvers.

V2603 was sold recently in a Gunbroker auction. Since it is now a completed auction I don't think I am violating any Forum rules by posting a link to the auction. Here it is: US Navy Smith & Wesson Victory w/ OG US Holster - .38 Spl - WWII Revolver - Revolvers at GunBroker.com : 891709081

In case the auction listing disappears in the future I have saved the image of V2603 and am posting it here for the benefit of future collectors.



For those who were interested in the value to be assigned to these guns this completed auction provides one real world data point. It sold for $1050.

 

[Absalom]

Interesting price.

Given the overall less-than-exciting condition, and non-matching stocks, the two high bidders were either clueless and taken in by the Navy, or really knew what they went after in terms of a highly unusual marking.

 

[oger]

If anyone is interested #73 went to my friends son and from there who knows so it may show up some day.

 

[mathlen]

Great thread!

I am the one who purchased the Victory V2603 on gunbroker. I just picked it up on Friday. I sent in for a letter of authenticity on 2/20 as well. As soon as I get that back, I will send off for a S&WHF historical letter. I did pay a steep price as I lost out on several other Victories on gunbroker as well as have had a hard time locating one at a gun show. This is a birthday gift for my grandfather who served in the Navy. He has been talking about wanting one for years now.

 

[kwill1911]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on acquiring a rare variation of the Victory Model. I hope you'll report back here when you get the letter and SWHF documents.

 

[KHarms]

I'm still waiting for the letter on V73. It's been 15 weeks so it should be here soon. I'll post it as soon as it arrives.

 

[mathlen]

Thank you and I absolutely will share what I get back from the SWHF.

 

[mathlen]

A bit of both actually . I am no expert on the Victory model. Can you provide a bit more info on the mis-match stocks? They appear similar to me but I am sure I am missing something. Thanks!

 

[ordnanceguy]

I am no expert on the Victory model. Can you provide a bit more info on the mis-match stocks? They appear similar to me but I am sure I am missing something. Thanks!

Mathlen:

The NOD marked Victories are an interesting variant. Congrats on winning that auction. I am sure that your grandfather will be very pleased.

You asked about the significance of the "mismatched stocks". What Kwill is referring to there is this. In short, when manufactured the pre-Victory and Victory guns had stocks that were hand-fitted to each gun. That was done before the finish was applied. To ensure that upon final assembly the stocks ended up with the gun to which they had been fitted the inside of the right stock panel would have the serial number of the gun applied.

So, in collector parlance a gun with "mismatched stocks" refers not to their appearance but, rather, to a Victory which is wearing stocks that are not serial number matching to the revolver. That is a very common occurrence. Serial number matching stocks are preferred by collectors to guns with non-serial number matching stocks.

We will look forward to learning what your factory letter reveals. With this thread we have sort of "crowd-sourced" a plausible explanation as to the precise meaning of the NOD markings. The letter you will receive will be another piece of the puzzle that may help Victory collectors solve one of the many mysteries which this martial S&W revolver model provides.

HTH.

 

[mathlen]

Thank you Charlie for this information. This is very helpful and much appreciated!

 

[KHarms]

V73 Letter Arrived Today

Please see attached factory letter for V73. Seattle Tacoma Ship Building Co. was the recipient.

 

[ordnanceguy]

BINGO!

Thank you, KHarms, for posting the factory letter you obtained on V73. That closes the loop on this mystery. I think we can all agree now that the NOD. marking is a reference to the contract that Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding had for the construction of Navy destroyers in WW2.

When I started this thread 3 years ago this month I was hoping that together the combined wisdom and curiosity of the Forum members would ultimately lead us to the answers on this very interesting variant of the Victory Model. My hope has been realized. In addition to my thanks to KHarms for getting the confirmatory factory letter I also want to recognize Oger, Speedo2 and JH1951 for providing critical pieces of the evidence that led us to this conclusion.

I hope that Mathlen will also post his factory letter when it arrives so that our Database can be strengthened.

Well done, all!

 

[mathlen]

Yep I will absolutely post it. The check was cashed by SMHF on 3/5. Any ideas what the turn around is on the letter? Looks like at least 15 weeks.

 

[KHarms]

S&W Letter Turnaround

My check hit my bank on 12/21/20, 5 weeks after mailing. The letter arrived a couple of days ago.

 

[mathlen]

V2603 Letter

Got the letter today. Reads very similar to the other one posted. Do you think these were used by the US Navy?

 

[ordnanceguy]

Hello Mathlen:

Thank you for posting the letter you received on V2603.

To answer your question as to whether these guns were used by the U.S. Navy, my answer would be "probably not." They were purchased under DSC authorization and not by the Navy. My expectation is that once the War was over these guns continued on in service with the shipbuilding company until they were no longer needed, and were then disposed of via civilian channels. So, I would describe these guns as having a Navy connection. But notwithstanding the U.S.N. PROPERTY marking as civilian shipyard guns they should not really be classified as Navy property and in that sense were not "used by the Navy". Nonetheless, I find them to be a very interesting Victory variant.

The letter on V73 indicates that it was shipped on June 17, 1942 while your example did not ship for another 3 months. I wonder how many were ultimately bought by SeaTac Shipbuilding?

One minor point. The letter on V73 says the finish was "military finish" while your example is reported to have shipped with the customary "Black Magic" finish. Are those finishes one and the same? We have spent a lot of time on the Forum here discussing the various Victory finishes. My guess is that "military finish" was the same as Black Magic.

Neat guns all.