FREE GUN!!!! - What is it?

seth said:
Virtually identical to your's Demented.

No CND Broad Arrow that I can see. I'll look harder in the morning.

It does however have a "P" stamped on the bottom of the handle, opposite of the serial #
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Any additional markings on the barrel? 38/200 marked anywhere? Or a BNP stamp?
The 1917 is an N frame, our M&P's are K frames which are quite a bit lighter.
 
So no more markings that I could find...

Anyone put a price on this thing?

I'd like to trade it for something alittle more modern.
 
After a long drawn out verification / transfer process I was finally allowed to take her home today.

Just to clarify, which did you take home? The gun, or the old girl...LOL JK

Very nice find :) Looks like the old MP model.
 
Its a .38/200 M&P British Service Revolver . Probly same serial number range as the M&P series 1905 4th Change 700,000 to 1,000,000 then they went with the V Prefix in front of the serial Numbers in 1942 to 1945 These were the true WWII Guns .Very nice find nice looking gun cool.That gun shoots .38 S&W not the .38 special the bullets wont fit.
 
It is a service revolver

I looked into one just like that for my mother inlaw they found theirs in the basement of an old home, don't quote me but It looks just like the one that i found was made for the military 1918 it was used by canadian soilders and i know I was offered $500 for it but thats not to say it wasn't worth more
 
Heres on for you guys.
Just pulled mine out.
Mine actualy has at least two seriel numbers.
I think it was a police gun at one time an they put their own number on it.
The other interesting thing is that the barrel has a 38/380 stamped on it.
I was told that is ws also used in WWII
Its got the C broadarrow

BTW I got mine via an old lady too!
 
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What a wonderful thing...you likely saved this fine handgun from being turned over to and disposed of by the "authorities". Also, wouldn't this lady likely have been disappointed to see this happen. Good on you, lad! :)
 
I'd keep it if I were you, Seth. There's a lot of history in that K frame.

2385214720_Bush_Revolverx.jpg

http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-07-18-2385214720_x.htm

CH2_0089.jpg

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/PressRoom/PressReleases/2007_07_18_17853.shtml

Above is (former USN Aviator) George H.W. Bush presenting his WWII M&P to the Smithsonian.

"...President George H.W. Bush Presents WWII Service Revolver to National Constitution Center INCLUDES LINK TO PHOTOS
July 18, 2007

Philadelphia, PA (July 18, 2007) – After a 60-year separation, a WWII Navy service revolver belonging to President George H.W. Bush, who is Chairman of the National Constitution Center, was returned to him today at the Center, by the son of WWII veteran and submarine mate of President Bush, Lt. J.G. Albert Brostrom. Bush received the revolver in a private meeting with the Brostrom family and then presented this important piece of history to Constitution Center President and CEO Joseph Torsella for display in the museum.

The revolver was used by then-Lieutenant Bush during his tour of duty in the Pacific Theater, and was with him on September 2, 1944, when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire while making a bombing run over the Bonin Island of Chichi Jima, 600 miles south of Japan. Although the plane was afire and severely damaged, he completed his strafing run on the targeted Japanese installation before flying towards sea to bail out. Bush parachuted to safety, but his crewmates, John Delaney and Ted White, were unable to escape, and perished. After floating for several hours in an inflatable lifeboat, Bush was rescued by the USS Finback, a Navy submarine.

Albert Brostrom was the sonar man on duty when Bush was rescued. As Bush stepped through the hatch into the Finback, Brostrom met him and took him to the infirmary. While Brostrom was on watch, Bush used his bunk. (This was called "hot bunking" because the bed never cooled off with constant use.) When Bush was leaving the ship, he gave his service revolver to Brostrom as a thank you. Since then, the revolver had been kept by Brostrom until his death in 1982, and then it was kept until today by his son, Ron Brostrom of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.

“I’ve always admired President Bush and his family and it felt like the right thing to do after all these years to give the revolver back to him,” said Ron Brostrom. “It wasn’t until 1980 when then-vice presidential candidate Bush was publicly looking for men who served on the Finback that my father realized he was the same George Bush they rescued in 1944. He always told us the story of that young man who gave him the revolver, and he had very fond memories of him – his kindness and great sense of humor. Dad told us, ‘He was a young man doing a good job at a very tough job.’ It’s a real honor for my family and me to be able to give it back to him today.”

“I’m proud to lend this memento from World War II to the National Constitution Center, and to share with its visitors my story of service in the Armed Forces – a story that is shared by millions of honorable service men and women nationwide,” said President Bush.

“One of the Constitution Center’s core values is the importance of active citizenship,” said Torsella. President Bush’s dedication to service developed long before he was elected to our nation’s highest office – it began with his heroic service as a young Navy combat pilot during World War II. We are elated that the National Constitution Center played a role in bringing together the Brostrom Family and President Bush, and we are honored to be able to share his remarkable story of that service with our visitors.”

President Bush presented the revolver, which will be on display in the section that highlights World War II in the Constitution Center’s main exhibition, The Story of We the People, to Torsella in a private ceremony in front of 30 children attending the Center’s American Adventure Summer Camp and 50 teachers attending one of the Center’s weeklong National Teacher Institutes, sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation. During the ceremony, which was held in the Center’s changing exhibit gallery where the traveling exhibition Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives is on display for the summer, President Bush told the attendees about his service as a Navy combat pilot, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals...

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/PressRoom/PressReleases/2007_07_18_17853.shtml
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cdngunner said:
Heres on for you guys.
Just pulled mine out.
Mine actualy has at least two seriel numbers.
I think it was a police gun at one time an they put their own number on it.
The other interesting thing is that the barrel has a 38/380 stamped on it.
I was told that is ws also used in WWII
Its got the C broadarrow

BTW I got mine via an old lady too!
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Here is a site with some info on these http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/victory_model_smith_and_wesson.htm
As for the s/n:
Serial numbers are located on the inside right grip, frame butt, Cylinder, extractor star, and bottom of grip. Serial numbers should be matching on all revolvers. Crane and Crane recess are also serial numbered to each other, but this is a different number then the revolvers serial number and is correct for Victory model revolvers.
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The 38/380 stamp seems weird, 38/200 was stamped on British service revolvers. It wasn't converted to 38sp was it?
 
#### I think I just answered my own question.

Time to get the old girl checked out by a gunsmith

Military .380 revolver ammunition was a rather anemic round by today's standards. The issue military load had a copper jacketed lead bullet weighing 200 grains, and was known as the .38/200. To avoid confusion with the longer and more powerful .38 Special cartridge then in common use in North America, the designation 38/380 will sometimes be found stamped on the barrels of American made revolvers.
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http://www.mpmuseum.org/provostweapon.html
 
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