38 S&W Special CTG

[bob walton]

I was hoping that someone might be able to give me some more information about this revolver, the information stamped on it is as follows:
SMITH & WESSON on barrel
38 S&W Special CTG on barrel
Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass. U.S.A. Patented Feb. 6. 06. Sept. 14. 09. Dec. 29. 14 on barrel
U.S. Property G.H.D. on frame
Made in U.S.A. on frame
Trade Mark Large S over W Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. on frame
s/n v 53xxxx p on barrel and cylinder
s/n v 53xxxx on butt which appears to be smooth walnut
4" barrel
6 chambered cylinder
condition very good or better, some slight wear marks on the cylinder from rotation
Thank you for your time,
Bob

 

[Radagast]

bob walton:
You have a S&W Victory Model manufactured between 1942 & late 1944 for the US government during WWII. It is basically a .38 Military & Police Model of 1905 4th change with a wartime finish, the predecessor of the modern Model 10 revolver.
Unless the gun has a small S stamped beside the serial number or on the top left rear of the frame then it lacks the modern hammer block safety introduced in late 1944 and retrofitted to some guns. It would be prudent to leave the chamber under the hammer unloaded, as the gun could fire if dropped.

The cylinder is heat treated and therefore the gun should be safe to fire with any factory ammo not stamped +P+. There is no industry standard for +P+ ammunition, so it could be in the .357 magnum pressure range. +P ammunition is only 10% higher than standard pressure ammo and should be safe to fire.

The victory model used the prewar 'long action', which gave a remarkable smooth and light double action trigger pull. Post war S&W changed to the 'short action' still in use today, not all parts are interchangeable between the long and short action guns, but if you ever need spares Numrich Arms can provide them.

Value in excellent condition would probably be around $350 - $450, the Standard Catalog of S&W lists higher values, but so far no one has claimed to have sold a gun for $600 on this forum.

GHD stands for, IIRC, Guy H Drewry, a govt. inspector.

One caveat, S&W also made the British Service Revolver in .38 S&W in the same serial range, many were converted to .38 Special after the war and sold back to the USA. Check the chambers, if they are bored straight through then you have a Victory model. If the chambers have a chamfer at the rear then it may be a converted gun, which should only be shot with standard pressure loads due to the risk of bulging / splitting brass. A converted gun will also have a much lower value.

 

[DickM]

You have a .38 Military & Police Victory Model. About 250,000 of them were manufactured between 1942 and 1945 for the war effort. This is basically the same gun that is still manufactured today as the Model 10. The G.H.D stamping refers to Guy H. Drewry, who was the inspector (for the Army, presumably) at the time.

Your revolver may or may not have been manufactured with the more modern "hammer block" safety device (note: not a "safety" in the sense of something the user operates to prevent the gun from firing) that was introduced in 1944 and is still used on S&W revolvers. Or, it may have been one of about 40,000 that were returned to S&W to be so modified after they were produced, in which case it should have an "s" stamped near the rear sideplate screw or an "S" stamped on the butt near the serial number. Lack of the newer safety device doesn't necessarily make the gun unsafe, but it's possible that it could fire if dropped.

ETA: I see Radagast beat me to it!

 

[bob walton]

Thank you for your quick responses. I found another p on the frame but no s. The chambers in the cylinder do not apear to be chamfered they look straight all the way through. A captain in the Air Force (Flying Tigers ground support) traded his service issue 45 for this revolver in hopes for a more accurate side arm. I believe the trade occurred in Burma.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Radagast]

It's almost certainly an original .38 special then. The vast majority of the British Service Revolvers were a five inch barrel and the conversions were all done post war.