A History of Victory Revolvers

In early 1939 Britain contracted with Smith and Wesson (S&W) to produce a new "Model 1940 Light Rifle". The British paid S&W a million dollars up front for the guns. However, when the guns were delivered, they were not approved due to their inability to function with European ammunition. The Brits demanded their money back, but S&W had already spent it.

By this time, Britain was at war and desperately short of firearms, so S&W offered to "repay" the million dollars to Britain by producing their M&P pistols to Brit specs (in the .38/200 cartridge), and delivering them in lieu of the Light Rifle. However, the U.S. was officially neutral at the time, and was prohibited from selling arms to the combatant nations. We cleverly got around this by marking the guns with a "U.S. Property" stamp, and then "Lend_Leaseing” them to the British. That's why, although these were British issue pistols, they have the U.S. markings on them. Later, after we entered the war, all firearm production was to be for Uncle Sam. These later guns were therefore "officially " produced for the U.S. Army, but were immediately turned over to the Brits for their use.

The British "Lend-Lease" Victory Models, chambered for the .38 S&W cartridge (technically the .38/200 cartridge), normally had 5" barrels. The gun that was issued to U.S. personnel normally had a 4" barrel and was chambered for the .38 Special. The Brit guns are the ones that are commonly available these days, and are more common than the USGI 4" barreled, .38 Special versions.

The S&W .38/200 cartridge is identical with the .38 S&W round (*NOT* the .38 S&W "Special"), except that it originally had a 200 gr. lead bullet (hence the "/200" designation) instead of the 148 or 156 gr. bullet of the normal .38 S&W. However, it was felt that the use of lead bullets was against the Hague convention, so the Brits adopted a jacketed bullet weighting 178 grains. For this reason, the fixed sight British Victory revolvers will always shoot several inches low when firing standard .38 S&W ammo (This sounds backward at first, but the heavier Brit bullet causes the gun to have greater recoil, and thus raises the point of impact). Commercial ammo is a little pricey, but at many gun shows near where I live I can buy reloaded .38 S&W ammo for <$10.00/50 rounds if I trade in my old brass.

By the way, don't expect any of these guns to have a really high quality finish. They were almost all produced under wartime expediency conditions, and most of them had either a "sandblast blue" finish or a sandblast "Black Magic" (parkerized) finish. Prior to 2/42 they were made with checkered grips, after that they were provided with smooth walnut.

Victory revolvers produced prior to the introduction of a safety hammer block will have a "V" prefix to the serial number. Guns produced after that time (1944) will have a "VS" prefix. Guns retrofitted with the safety will have the "S" added later, so it will read "SV". ("S" = Safety)

Proof marking is a "P" on the butt up until 5/43, and on the left top strap from then until production ceased in 5/45. Inspection marking was the U.S. ordinance "flaming bomb", in the same locations and during the same time frames. Acceptance marking will be "W.B." (Waldemar Broberg - Chief, Springfield Ordinance District) on the butt until 7/42, and "G.H.D." (Guy H. Drewry - Chief, Springfield Ordinance District) on the butt from 7/42 until 5/43. The "G.H.D." appears on the top strap after that time. That information should help you date your guns.

I have a couple of S&W Victorys, one in .38 Special and one in .38 S&W I've got a pretty decent collection of U.S. marked military revolvers, and the British Victory Model is hands-down the most accurate one of the bunch!! It will out group just about any other handgun that I own! The British must have liked them too, as it is reported that they preferred these S&W guns to their native Enfield and Webley Revolvers!!

Doug Miller (BTW - the Brit "Victory" was the very first firearm I ever bought with my brand new C&R license - $59.00 for a VG condition pistol from Gibbs in 1997!)