I’ve examined a few US Property Victorys over the years, and can’t recall ever seeing one with an arsenal rebuild stamp, similar to the stamps that are common on 1911s. Were Victorys not stamped ? They were surely rebuilt over their 40-50 year service life.
Victory Question
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Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
The simple answer is that they were not. At least there was no organized rebuild or refurbishment program for the US version of the Victory at any arsenal; I believe the last such effort was the Navy’s contract with S&W for a factory refurbishment and the hammer block upgrade for 40,000 Navy guns from May 1945.
While the Victory continued to serve in various capacities after WW II, through Korea and Vietnam, the US military really had too many of them coming out of WW II and started surplusing batches out fairly soon. There simply was no need to make a systematic effort to rejuvenate a marginal supplementary handgun of which enough were lying around military armories. Very unlike the 1911, which continued for another 40 years as the primary military sidearm without new quantities being purchased.
So never believe someone who tries to sell you an “arsenal-refinished” Victory
It’s a bit different with the Victory BSR’s. Both the Australians (at Lithgow) and the Indians (at Ishapore) had FTR programs for those, and there are some specimen with FTR markings in odd places that may have been FTR’d in Britain or another Commonwealth country.
While the Victory continued to serve in various capacities after WW II, through Korea and Vietnam, the US military really had too many of them coming out of WW II and started surplusing batches out fairly soon. There simply was no need to make a systematic effort to rejuvenate a marginal supplementary handgun of which enough were lying around military armories. Very unlike the 1911, which continued for another 40 years as the primary military sidearm without new quantities being purchased.
So never believe someone who tries to sell you an “arsenal-refinished” Victory
It’s a bit different with the Victory BSR’s. Both the Australians (at Lithgow) and the Indians (at Ishapore) had FTR programs for those, and there are some specimen with FTR markings in odd places that may have been FTR’d in Britain or another Commonwealth country.
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Arsenal rebuilds of 1917 Army .45s are also common.
Arsenal Rebuilds: If there’s an extra large stamped # up to 5 digits (sometimes preceded with an R and/or S) in the yoke, yoke cut out, under the barrel, or all three places, it’s an arsenal # indicating an arsenal rebuilt gun. The R may be found on the frame left side as well. Examples:
Photo credit: Doug4566
Arsenal Rebuilds: If there’s an extra large stamped # up to 5 digits (sometimes preceded with an R and/or S) in the yoke, yoke cut out, under the barrel, or all three places, it’s an arsenal # indicating an arsenal rebuilt gun. The R may be found on the frame left side as well. Examples:
Photo credit: Doug4566
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Indeed. In contrast to the Victory, the arsenal rebuild programs for the 1917s are well-documented. Charles Pate writes about them at length in his book since many of these revolvers were put back on duty in WW II.
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ordnanceguy
Member
Yes, agreed.
Even today , 70+ years later , there a lot of Victories floating around in sound mechanical condition. Heck , I have a couple M&Ps over 100 years old that are still sound.
Abundant numbers + durability = no arsenal rebuild program.
Abundant numbers + durability = no arsenal rebuild program.
