S&W Victory - feeding & tuneup??

[Amish_Bill]

I just came into a Victory model in .38 S&W. It's had most of it's British enamel removed and is really ugly, so I'm starting from scratch.

Any good references or quick tips on how to clean up the nasty triggerpull?

It's chambered in an osolete caliber - Any tips on finding / reloading it's ammo? Any possibility of a conversion to a non-obsolete caliber?

Thanks,
AB

 

[Hutch]

I don't think the original finish is enamel. I think it was originally a matte blue or parkerized. It's not too hard to find .38 S&W ammo, it's still being made. Whatever you do, don't let a 'smith deepen the chambers for .38 Spl, 'cause the .38 S&W is a skosh wider, and you'll split .38 Spl cases quite often. If you are determined to convert it to Special, you'll drastically reduce any collector's interest. But a gun with an enamel finish on it is probably not going to get a lot of second looks from collectors, anyway. The best conversion would be to get a .38 Spl cylinder fitted. I've got an old Brit Victory model that was cut back to 3", and a Special cylinder fitted. I'd have never done it, but I bought it that way. It makes a handy little package. Wouldn't run much, if any, +P thru it, though.

 

[Amish_Bill]

As I was told by the previous owner, this was a Lend/Lease pistol that went to the Brits and got an enamel finish. Looking at the metal that was under the finish, I wonder if the need for a new finish came from a month or so spent sloching around in the channel?

OK... so a replacement cylinder might get me .38spc, but boring our the existing one is a Bad Idea, as would be using cut-down 38.spc brass as it's a smaller diameter.

Hmmm..... Maybe it's a Good Thing that it needs so much fix-up work before it goes to the range.

 

[BluesBear]

Actually you'll have no problem shooting cut down brass .38 special cases IF you reload it using .38S&W dies AFTER fire forming it with a light target load.

However .38S&W brass is still available from Starline, Remington and Winchester. It may cost a little more but there'll be no confusion as to what's what.

Also the last R-P & W-W .38S&W cases I saw were all nickeled. Only Starline makes it in unplated brass which will last through many more reloading cycles.

 

[unspellable]

Victory

I'd just shoot 38 S&W in it and be happy. By the time you get done modifying things you could have bought a nice used Model 10 in 38 Special. Most people would shoot it as a plinker anyway, so the ballistics are really not an issue.

 

[Amish_Bill]

It's definitely going to be a plinker & project fun gun. The only real question is between making/buying obsolete ammo for it or making it digest common ammo.

So far the best idea seems to be finding/making obsolete ammo.

Now to getting it dissasembled and running smooth....

 

[unspellable]

38 S&W ammo

I've seen 38 S&W ammo for sale at every gun show I've been at. Dies are available.

I have a Webley chambered for the 380-200 which is interchangeable with the 38 S&W. (The 380-200 was what the S&W Victory was intended to use.) So far I have been running on store bought 38 S&W ammo, haven't been shooting it enough to accumulate a lot of brass or justify buying the die set.

 

[Amish_Bill]

I haven't been to a show since I go this thing. If the prices are fair on what they have I'll pick some up. otherwise, Hello Mr. Lee Loader set.

 

[BluesBear]

Lyman makes a carbide combo set for .38S&W/.38 Super. (Yes, you can safely use .38 Super dies for .38 S&W.)
Midway has it for $29.89.

The older RCBS .38 Super die sets even had a roll crimp die.

And since it's a less popular caliber you can often find them on sale.

 

[Old Fuff]

Amish_Bill:

Your .38-200 Smith & Wesson has an interesting history, because in 1940 it saved the company from going into bankruptcy. In fact for a short period S&W turned down U.S. government orders because their total production was going into these U.K. revolvers. The earliest ones were made to commercial standards with checkered walnut grips and the famous high-gloss S&W blue. This shortly changed to wire-brush satin blue with plain uncheckered stocks, and finely the satin blue was discontinued in favor of Parkerizing.

The British phosphate coated and then black enameled their No. 4 SLME rifles, and many of these revolvers were enameled after they left the S&W factory. It was an ugly but effective finish.

These revolvers have S&W's pre-war "long" action, which if properly tuned will result in the smoothest double-action ever produced in a production revolver. However the springs are on the heavy side to insure positive primer ignition under battlefield conditions. It is also probable that the insides are filled with varnish and gunk. A through cleaning and lighter springs may result in a pleasing surprise.

You can buy refinishing kits (from www.brownells.com) and re-Parkerize the gun yourself if you can find a shop with a bead-blaster. Plug the bore and chambers first though before you do any "blasting,"and remove the plugs before going into the refinishing bath.

Post a partial serial number (found on the butt) and be sure to include any letters like "V" or "S" and I may be able to tell you more.

 

[LC '92]

I have a couple of points from my experience with .38/200 Victories:

The bore diameter is probably .360, a little large for most usual jacketed bullets. The .358 diameter casts works OK but try to find some .360's for best results.

You can use 9mm Par. dies to load the .38 S&W or .38/200.

If you'll note the front sight on the pistol, it is much higher than most others. This is to allow for the 200 gr. bullet at such a slow velocity. If you want to hit where the sights look, you'll need to shoot the 200 grain bullets.

The .38 S&W is a great plinker. I loaded mine with small amounts of Red Dot and the load was so mild that ear plugs were not needed.

 

[BluesBear]

You can use 9mm Par. dies to load the .38 S&W or .38/200.

Well, yes, you CAN but it's not something I'd advise anyone to do on a regular basis.


The 9mm is larger at the base so it won't resize the .38 S&W base enough. However, this shouldn't be a problem with plinking loads.
But since the 9mm has a smaller neck diameter you will overwork the brass in sizing. The 9mm enpanding stem won't open the case far enough for a .357 bullet. And you'll have to live with a taper crip die trying to put a .355" crimp on a .358" bullet.

The overworked cases will exhibit premature mouth cracks. So if you load .38S&W with 9mm dies you can expect case life to be shortened by about 75%.

 

[Old Fuff]

I agree with Blues Bear on this. If one is going to reload this or any other cartridge, using the wrong dies is asking for trouble. There are occasions when one can use a set of dies for different rounds (.38Special/.357 Magnum for example) but only if this is specified by the die maker.

Using mis-matched dies may work sometimes, but that doesn't mean it's right.