S&W Victory Model

[GunnyUSMC]

A few weeks ago I stopped off at one of the local pawn shops and saw an old revolver in the case. At first I thought it was a Spanish copy of a Smith due to the grips on the gun. It was priced $199.95 which would have been ok for a Spanish copy if it was in good shape. So I had a look at it. To my supersize it was a Smith. When I looked at the butt my hart almost skipped a beat. I found a S&W Victory Model for less then half the market value. It was missing the lanyard loop and had aftermarket grips, but other then that the gun was in very good shape.
For those that know me, I always do my best to to get a better price no matter how good the marked price is. I asked for a lower price and was told I could have it for $200 out the door, I countered with $180, they came back with $190. I said sold. Hell, I would have paid the asking price plus the 10.5% sales tax.

[GunnyUSMC]

I had a Lanyard loop that I had picked up a while back when I thought about restoring a Parker Hale reworked Victory Model I picked up.
So I gave the gun a cleaning and went to looking for an original set of grips.



I contacted Mr. Dennis Fisher at C D's Clips & Grips and he's shipping me an original set of Victory grips for $39.


The grips were a little dirty so, I cleaned them up.




$190 for the gun.
$20 for the Lanyard loop.
$39 for the Grips.
For a total of $249 I have a Victory Model in my collection.

[DirtyRussianAmmo]

Congrats, great find. Love the old S&W revolvers.

[highpower]

Geeze, I thought I got a deal when I picked up a Victory for $350 last year........

Great find and you stole it.

[ccandgc]

Nicely done! Old girl cleaned up well!

[Mr. Beretta]

The S&W bible says;

V1 to V811119

1942 to 1945

I'd guess late 1943 & I'd bet it was issued.

I'd take take it over a new one any day of the week.

Congrats & enjoy!

P.S...............Don't shoot + P ammo in that gun...just stay with the standard 38 Spl rounds.

[omega]

it has nice character, nice honest wear, a real piece of history

I consider this a authentic restoration, using original parts, and wood finish, perfect.

[Heatseeker]

Nice find!
Maybe next time my wife and I are in La.(my folks own some properties in Slidell and we visit occasionally) you can give me some advice on shopping in the area��.

[mj1]

Is the top strap marked ?

[GunnyUSMC]

I don’t shoot 38+P through my 38’s, I have a Ruger Security Six for that.

The top is not marked. As I understand not all were marked.

[TRAP55]

Got one in about the same shape and price. Got it cleaned up and found the top strap marked "U.S. Navy". Belonged to a Navy pilot that brought it home with him after the war. I've got the black leather shoulder holster with it too.
Nice find Gunny, and nice save. Yours like mine escaped the crusher, or a parkerized refurb and then recycled to Korea and Viet Nam.
After WWI Colt and Smith were struggling, then the gubermint dumped thousands of Model 1917's on the market for pennies on the dollar. That put a serious financial hurt on both companies.
Fast forward to WWII, and the gubermint wanted to contract S&W for the Victory models. Smith stipulated in the contract that the guns could not be dumped on the civilian market like they had done before.
After the war, thousands went to the crushers, you use to see some for sale as paper weights. The rest got refurbed, and used in following conflicts. Majority of the ones you see on the market, are lend/lease guns that went to the Brits.

[GunnyUSMC]

Got one in about the same shape and price. Got it cleaned up and found the top strap marked "U.S. Navy". Belonged to a Navy pilot that brought it home with him after the war. I've got the black leather shoulder holster with it too.
Nice find Gunny, and nice save. Yours like mine escaped the crusher, or a parkerized refurb and then recycled to Korea and Viet Nam.
After WWI Colt and Smith were struggling, then the gubermint dumped thousands of Model 1917's on the market for pennies on the dollar. That put a serious financial hurt on both companies.
Fast forward to WWII, and the gubermint wanted to contract S&W for the Victory models. Smith stipulated in the contract that the guns could not be dumped on the civilian market like they had done before.
After the war, thousands went to the crushers, you use to see some for sale as paper weights. The rest got refurbed, and used in following conflicts. Majority of the ones you see on the market, are lend/lease guns that went to the Brits.

[mj1]

Good save.

[smle-man]

I picked up a Victory 4" .38 special from an auction last year that had some markings on the side plate electo-penciled out and Seattle PD stamped on it. I sold it to a Calgunner who researched it and the marking was probably a Cvil Defense stamp that was canceled out when it was released to the Seattle PD.

I like the Victory revolvers, You got a nice revolver at a great price. It sure would be nice to have pawn shops that sell firearms. None of those around here.

[Tere_Hanges]

Nice victory. I'll never pay more than $250 for one. There's too many nice M10s from the 60s that are C&R now. The commercial bluing was really something back then, they really dont make them like that anymore. Amazing triggers too.