new to me S&W victory revolver

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winchester12

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Chatham ontario
I just picked up a S&W victory revolver with a 5" barrel in 38 s&w. It's parkerized,has Checkered wooden grips with the medallion and a lanyard ring.I would say it is in very good condition. Is there any collector interest in these? What do these go for nowadays?
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$300 more or less...I'm not sure if we used any of the 5" models in WWII, I've only ever seen 6" versions with the C-broadarrow. What are the stampings on it? 38/200 anywhere?
 
Check the barrel, frame right by the barrel and the cylinder for the markings BNP. This stands for British Nitro Proof. The Model 10 in .38 S&W was part of the British lend lease program. As far as I can find they went to three places, Australia, New Zealand, and Britain. The former two are by far the rarest of the three. They were made in the US and shipped to the British where they were proofed by their respective governing bodies. The .38 S&W was the service revolver cartridge at the time for the British military. Those that were made for the US military were chambered in .38 Special. I understand several made it back to the states where they were converted to Special. And you cannot fire .38 special out of it unless the cylinder has been converted (ie. reamed out) because it just won't go in all the way, sticks out about 1/2 an inch.
 
Collector value? Not much really. The biggest drawback is the anemic 38S&W cartridge. These guns are just not worth converting to fire the 38 S&W special cartridge. In addition to changing/converting the cylinder, the barrel is designed to fire .360 sized bullets. Way to big for typical .358 .38special bullets. [even HBWC's]
Sentimental value, yes, of course. Actual value in my opinion, C$150.00.
 
winchester12 said:
I just picked up a S&W victory revolver with a 5" barrel in 38 s&w. It's parkerized,has plain wooden grips and a lanyard ring.I would say it is in very good condition. Is there any collector interest in these? In the absence of pics,what do these go for?
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I'd throw a value of $200-300 out there. The revolver may be a 38 S&W or 38 Special, depending on who tinkered with it. If a 38 Special cartridge goes in and stick out about half inch, it's 38 S&W. Now if the 38 Special cartridge drops all the way in, it's either been reamed out as is, or reamed out and sleeved. I didn't know the sleeved option existed until I ended up with one. Having a sleeved version is much better than just reamed out, for the brass.

In any event, a reloader will just load a fatter cast bullet in these and call it a day. I've shot undersize bullets and they work fine as well, just more clean up needed.
 
hatman1793 said:
Collector value? Not much really. The biggest drawback is the anemic 38S&W cartridge. These guns are just not worth converting to fire the 38 S&W special cartridge. In addition to changing/converting the cylinder, the barrel is designed to fire .360 sized bullets. Way to big for typical .358 .38special bullets. [even HBWC's]
Sentimental value, yes, of course. Actual value in my opinion, C$150.00.
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The last few I saw sell in nice shape were in the $350-400 range, so there is clearly some milsurp collector interest. 5 or 6 years ago, they could be had for $200-250 so they have gone up. $150 won't buy you a tanker Enfield with a bobbed hammer these days :(
 
I bought a pre-vic in sept or oct converted to 22rf by parker hale, original sleeved barrel, c broad arrow, shoots like a champ paid 300 or so and shipping because I was away at work when I bought it, shoots like a champ
 
Claven2 said:
The last few I saw sell in nice shape were in the $350-400 range, so there is clearly some milsurp collector interest. 5 or 6 years ago, they could be had for $200-250 so they have gone up. $150 won't buy you a tanker Enfield with a bobbed hammer these days :(
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+1

I was lucky to score this one awhile back when they could be had quite reasonable. Matte finish, US Property marked & "GHD" inspected. 5" barrel & in .38 S&W. I simply picked up a set of .38 S&W dies, and some brass at gunshows. Don't plan on shooting it much but nice to have some ammo handy for the occasional range session without breaking the bank.

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NAA.
 
The only 5 inch barreled units I've seen, are stamped 38/200 as well as 38 S&W on the barrel. The one I have now is so marked. The 38/200 has been stamped on after, not sure why.

The top strap is marked United States Property. The finish is crude to say the least. Lots of tool marks etc and it looks to be parkerized rather than blued. Other than the barrel, there are not stamps on the left side of the pistol. The only other marks are the S&W trademark, Made in USA and a very small crown over crossed flags under that. The cylinder has a tiny BNP mark between each flute, in line with the locking recesses.

The butt has the serial numbers stamped into it and the grips are dead plain walnut, that are oiled and unpolished. No checkering or bezels and they don't fit particularly well. It also has one of the oblong lanyard rings.

The bore is pristine, and it shoots heavy, lead bullets very well. Doesn't particularly shoot the 158 grain commercial offerings very well.

I did see a batch of them that came into Canada to Lever Arms in 1968, that were similarly marked but the finish was as good as any commercial S&W out there.

Anyone that thinks the 38/200 cartridge is anemic, hasn't seen one used on small game. I will admit, the 38 S&W 158 grain round leaves a lot to be desired though. When the pistols are loaded with their original weight bullets, that 200 grain, soft lead slug at 700fps had a lot of decent qualities in a firefight at normal pistol ranges. That long, heavy for caliber pistol bullet had a lot of penetration and impact force. They only went to copper jacketed and lighter weight 175 grain bullets because the UK signed the Geneva Convention, where lead bullets were banned for military use.

Just to get back on topic, I bought the pistol at a gun show for $200, three years ago. It retains about 90% of its original finish and there is no holster wear, so I don't think it was ever issued. There are no sold out of service stamps on the pistol either. I don't know if that is unusual or not.

The vendor I purchased the pistol from was getting a bit desperate. He had priced his stuff for Edmonton/Dawson Creek and Fort Mac. I think the pistol was the only thing he sold at the show and needed gas money to get home.

NAA our pistols are almost identical. Mine doesn't have the flaming bomb or GHD stamp on the top strap. Where you have the little proof stamp on the right side of the barrel, mine has been hand stamped 38/200.

Thx for posting the pics. Mine is in similar condition, in the 841### range and I just noticed a WB with a flaming bomb and a tiny capital R on the butt as well.
 
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I've also got another one but with 12(6) prohib 4" barrel length & in .38 Special. It has the pre Victory model checkered wood grips with S&W medallions.

This one is not US Property marked or having inspector cartouche on the top strap but has the flaming bomb proof on the butt. Does have the "V" serial number frame, too.

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Got this one well before acquiring the 5" model in .38 S&W pictured in my other post above.

Usually, the .38 S&W ones also crudely stamped .38/200 went overseas to the UK before making their way back to Canada again.

The 4" models in .38 Special more commonly were used in the USA for lighter duties like guarding plants & factories etc.

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Here is mine. My first handgun. Never did pay to get a letter from S W but my guess from reading stuff puts it around 1938. Only the grips are not matching numbers. Marked 38/200 as well as 38 SW

 
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Hitzy and cookie, your pistols are very much like the pistols Lever brought in during the late 60s. Thinking back, he offered them in 4in, 5in and 6in. versions. Some had plain grips and some had checkered grips. I don't remember but I seem to recall around $25 per pistol and a small, brown painted wooden UK marked crate of ammo, packed in small paper 12 round boxes with, a white band with green lettering describing the ammo. 320 rounds per box. I still have one of the boxes. They were $12 ea or 3 for $30 if memory serves.
 
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