S&W Victory

[Greasemonkey]

This is the other revolver I bought with the non import Nagant.. a S&W Victory from '42-'44... and it was a lend lease weapon. It's still in the original chambering of .38 S&W.. a .38 Spl wont fit. These were used in many allied nations as police arms during and after the war. They were chambered in .38 S&W to work with the Brits .38/200 or .38/174 Webley ammo which was fairly common where these served. Some were rechambered later to .38 Spl...but beware on rechambers, there is a bullet size difference. the .38 S&W is a hair larger. This particular one, based off the grip markings, actually served in Wurttemberg-Baden Germany with the Landpolizei there.. which my father was stationed there during Vietnam. They had 4226 revolvers and pistols, 3743 carbines in inventory there... which is what the number is, 2071. And as I understand the stag horn grips were standard to that region.

Like I said in my Nagant post.... I gladly paid his asking price...................of 400 bucks for both

[Bob_The_Student]

Interesting story on these. Congrats, on your 2 recent adoptions!

[Phosphorus32]

That was a steal for those two pistols!

Really interesting variation with the German markings. Are there any US or British markings? Just curious if they were supplied to the Germans post-war from Allied stores or if they were purchased by the Germans.

[Greasemonkey]

That was a steal for those two pistols!

Really interesting variation with the German markings. Are there any US or British markings? Just curious if they were supplied to the Germans post-war from Allied stores or if they were purchased by the Germans.

There is a "P" on the left side at the rear of the cylinder on the top of the frame. I haven't looked to see what that is yet.

[Phosphorus32]

That is consistent with a US proof mark but I don’t know these revolvers or S&W practice well enough to say with 100% certainty.

[Greasemonkey]

That is consistent with a US proof mark but I don’t know these revolvers or S&W practice well enough to say with 100% certainty.

Ok... P32, after some study.. I wondered what these were.. sure enough.. Very faint, had to use sunlight and a magnifying glass to figure out what I was looking at... BUT....it's a Flaming bomb, U.S. Property G.H.D............Guy H. Drewry is the inspector who marked it.




The "P" stamp is the U.S. firing proof marking.. one on the rear of the cylinder too..

[Larry D.]

Nice!!!
Very nice indeed. I normally don't like stag grips, but those look great!

Here's a little something for you: http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/sw_1941ll/usarevpage_4041LL.htm

By the way, that ammo is a little pricey when you can find it, but that 38 S&W is a hoot to shoot.
It's pretty easy to load for, if that's something you're into.

[Greasemonkey]

Luckily......... .38 S&W is fairly common here.. plus I have 2 others in this caliber.  I'm slowly saving brass..maybe one day.

[Larry D.]

I had a few old pocket revolvers in 38 S&W until a buddy made me a really obscene trade offer.
Turns out he wanted them to make shadow box displays at his place. He got all the old original ammo I had for them, too.

I also had a Webley in the same caliber as well as one that was a converted 455 Ely. I loaded for the 45, and a buddy loaded for the 38 and we'd go out the the desert and chase golf balls and punch holes in paper for hours with them.
Those guns have a lot of life left in them, and deserve to be shown the light of day when you can.

Thanks for sharing your cool toys with us.

[Greasemonkey]

I had a few old pocket revolvers in 38 S&W until a buddy made me a really obscene trade offer.
Turns out he wanted them to make shadow box displays at his place. He got all the old original ammo I had for them, too.

I also had a Webley in the same caliber as well as one that was a converted 455 Ely. I loaded for the 45, and a buddy loaded for the 38 and we'd go out the the desert and chase golf balls and punch holes in paper for hours with them.
Those guns have a lot of life left in them, and deserve to be shown the light of day when you can.

Thanks for sharing your cool toys with us.

'ol 455 Webley.. thats a hoot to shoot I do have a .32 rimfire revolver I'm thinking...I may try too. I also do black power pistols anyway..so maybe.

[Larry D.]

'ol 455 Webley.. thats a hoot to shoot I do have a .32 rimfire revolver I'm thinking...I may try too. I also do black power pistols anyway..so maybe.

That one had the cylinder shaved for 45ACP on moon clips. That particular was originally a 455 Eley, which is generally considered interchangeable with 455 Webley and 455 Colt. By the way, I said it was a Webley, but it was actually an Enfield revolver. I had Webley on the brain, I guess.
Had it been left alone, it would have been worth some serious money.
But, alas, it had been "updated", so I worked up a load, and shot the hell out of it. Once we found the proper load, it was surprisingly accurate.

That 32 rimfire sounds like something I'd like to shoot, but I likely wouldn't want to pay for the ammo......

[Greasemonkey]

Thankfully, my Webley missed the shaving.

[Larry D.]

Very nice.
As I understand it, after WWII, a lot of these came into the surplus market in the U.S.
Since there was also a LOT of surplus 45ACP ammo, some genius decided to cut the cylinders for the moon clips. I also understand that there's a substantial pressure difference in 45ACP that should really be addressed before a person blows up a neat British pistol.
I've sorta gotten away from the older stuff these days since my kids all got their inheritance while I'm still around to see them enjoy it.

[Direct Connection]

Love the classics and that's a nice new little friend you added to the collection at a great price. Have you google searched Guy H. Drewry The inspector ?  

https://goordnance.army.mil/hof/1990/1996/drewry.html

Have you shot it ? And what is can we expect to swing into the Files on the January Monkey Vine ? 

[Phosphorus32]

That is consistent with a US proof mark but I don’t know these revolvers or S&W practice well enough to say with 100% certainty.

Ok... P32, after some study.. I wondered what these were.. sure enough.. Very faint, had to use sunlight and a magnifying glass to figure out what I was looking at... BUT....it's a Flaming bomb, U.S. Property G.H.D............Guy H. Drewry is the inspector who marked it.




The "P" stamp is the U.S. firing proof marking.. one on the rear of the cylinder too..

Nice! It makes sense that they would have come from US stores, like the Bavarian M1 Carbines.