S&W Victory model????

[aimlesssoul]

I believe I have inherited a S&W Victory model. Serial # on the butt is V6589XX. I read up on it and everything indicates that it takes .38/200 which I was told is .38 S&W. Bought a box and they do not fit in the cyclinder. Reviewing the barrel which is heavily rusted on reverse of cyclinder release it says 38 S&W Spxciax Ctx. I believe that it would read Special Ctg. Does this mean .38 special round or special as in .38/200? Not really a gun afficianodo just looking to find out what type cartridge. Would .38 special be smaller dia?

Additional info on top strap is 8 US Property G.H.D. which I undedrstand to be an acceptance stamp. Hope this is enough info. Thanks in advance.

 

[Will5A1]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on inheriting a neat revolver. Generally speaking (there are exceptions) an unaltered Victory with a 4" barrel will be in .38 Special, the 5" barrel Victory (or BSR/British Service Revolver) will be in .38 S&W. Measure from the front face of the cylinder to the muzzle to determine barrel length. Post pack, and provide pictures if you can.

The .38 Special round is smaller in diameter but longer than the .38 S&W (aka .38/200), a .38 Special round should not fit into the cylinder of an unaltered .38 S&W as its too long, and the .38 S&W round should be too fat to fit into the cylinder of a .38 Special chambered gun.

 

[aimlesssoul]

Some other info,

based on a search I looked at the cyclinder face, it has the matching serial number and and the leters V, S, and P stamped on it. With serial number at 12 o'clock position the s is 2 o'clock, p is 7 o'clock, and v at 10 o'clock.

Thanks

 

[aimlesssoul]

The barrel...

measures 4" exactly

Thanks

 

[Walkalong]

I saw a very nice one the other day for $299. I went back to get it and it was gone.

 

[Will5A1]

Carefully remove the grips and see if the serial number is on the right one. THe same serial number that is on the butt of the revolver should also be on the flat (underside) of the barrel, the cylinder, the yoke (have to look thru a chamber to see it) and extractor.

 

[aimlesssoul]

some other info as requested

The same serial number is stamped under the barrel, opened the cyclinder and this number appears twice on the cyclinder swing arm and where the arm rests when in the closed position 44646, under the grip is 251425 (not original, checkered)

thanks

 

[SaxonPig]

If it has a 4" barrel (measured from face of cylinder to muzzle) then the odds are it is a gun made for America in 38 Special and not a gun made for Britain 38 S&W as these usually have a 5" barrel.

The exact caliber should be stamped on the barrel. If the word SPECIAL appears there then that's what you have. S&W likes to stamp ".38 S&W Special" which is confusing.

 

[Walkalong]

If it has .38 S&W AND .38 Special stamped on it it has been rebored to take .38 Special.

 

[Oro]

If it has .38 S&W AND .38 Special stamped on it it has been rebored to take .38 Special.

Going through all this, it just sounds like he's got a 4", us model .38 Special - all the numbers match except the grips (frame, barrel, cylinder).

The US models said ".38 S&W Special CTG" on them. Sounds like whoever told you it was a british service model (38/200) was wrong. Those rounds are slightly thicker than a .38 Special and should not fit in a .38 Special cylinder. If it were rebored from .38 S&W to .38 (S&W) Special, they'd go in just fine.

With all that rust, you have two options it seems - 1), use it as a paper weight, 2) find someone locally who can do a decent blue job under $200 and use it as a shooter - presuming the mechanicals are OK and it locks up, etc.

There were about 1/2 million british models and 1/4 million US models made, so they aren't scarce or particularly valuable. Since you got it for free, and it may have some family sentimentality to it, you might investigate a cheap but decent blue job. It will likely never be worth much more than the blue job price and cost of bringing it back, but you'd have a functional, historic gun of some interest - and they did shoot very nicely, you know. It's a S&W, not a junky old design.