HELP! Old .38SW Identification

[rcm192]

My grandfather passed away in October of this past year. He gave me a old Smith and Wesson hand ejector chambered for .38 S&W a couple years back. I know im late to posting this, but I'm trying to identify exactly what model this is. Im very curious, it has an extreme amount of sentimental value to me so I'm eager to learn about it.

Its chambered for this caliber:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_S&W

Is this what I have?NVM thats a 38 special.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/02/ryan-finn/gun-review-194-smith-wesson-victory-revolver/

Here's some pics (best I could do with a cell)

 

[usmc-nav]

My thought is its a model 10. It made its way to Great Britian during WW2. The markings are British proof markings.

 

[bonewagon]

Some interesting info from the Firing Line. Hope it helps. Link is here http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354061

Here's some more information and a handful of corrections.

The .45 U.S. Army Model of 1917 was used, as the year would suggest, mainly in WWI. These guns were produced in fits and starts for several more decades for commercial sale, but all 1917s used by the U.S. military were built in WWI, and AFAIK very few of them saw service in WWII.

S&W revolvers were sold to the British well before the start of direct U.S. involvements in the war. Most were the K frame .38 Military & Police Model of 1905, 4th Change chambered in .38S&W, but the British also received a number of I frame (the predecessor of the modern J frame) .38 Regulation Police revolvers. Sales of the K frames started somewhere in the late 700,000 serial number range, but since the initial British contract guns were intermingled with U.S. civilian production, there's no definitive way to determine if a gun in this range was a military "pre-Victory" except by proofmarks and features. Early "pre-Victories" had an interesting mix of civilian and military features; many had civilian checkered stocks and high-polished bluing, and workmanship was generally better than the later Victory revolvers.

The British-contract guns had an interesting backstory. In 1939 and 1940, S&W won a contract to produce a lightweight semi-auto 9mm carbine for the British Army, called the Model of 1940 Light Rifle. Due to the urgency of the European war, the contract was awarded on a "fast track" basis; the rifle would go into production while the prototypes were still being evaluated. The project was an utter fiasco. S&W's engineers essentially knew nothing about semi-auto pistol-caliber carbine design, and the gun never even came close to meeting its durability and functionality goals, even after being almost totally redesigned in mid-development. Unfortunately, the British government had given S&W a US $1 million advance to redesign the weapon, and demanded their money back after the failure of the second version. S&Ws finances were shaky because of the Depression, and they would have gone bankrupt if they had to return the money, most of which had already been spent. (S&W had already delivered several thousand 1940 Light Rifles, almost all of which were dumped into the English Channel, most still packed in their shipping crates.) However, they were able to negotiate a settlement wherein the Brits would be paid back in revolvers... hence the .38/200.

Production of true Victory revolvers with the "V" prefix began when regular K frame serials numbers hit 999,999 in April of 1942. By this time, S&W had totally ceased production of I and N frame Hand Ejectors and all remaining top-break models. (The top-breaks would never be reintroduced.)

Early pre-Victories and Victories were a mishmash of 4", 5", and 6" barrel lengths, but most later U.S. models had 4" barrels and most later British models had 5" barrels. 2" barrels were also used by the U.S. but are quite rare, and I'm told that you shouldn't pay a premium for one without a factory letter because counterfeits exist.

Many Victories had their barrels cut for commercial resale after the war; these guns can often be identified by oddball brazed-on front sights, off-center barrel caliber stamps, a long-barrel ejector rod, and the lack of a front locking lug. Some of you are probably thinking- "wait, with no front locking lug, barrel-to-cylinder alignment would be poor, accuracy would suffer, and the gun may even be unsafe to fire". Bingo! Someone on the S&W forum once commented that such guns are best suited as trotline weights.

All post-1915 K frames have a hammer block; the difference is the design. The early hammer block pivots from a groove in the sideplate. It is cammed out of the way by the hand as the trigger is pulled, and it only partially blocks the face of the hammer. (There are two versions of this hammer block, but WWII-era guns all have the second version.) Unfortunately, the pivoting hammer block can jam in the retracted position if enough dirt accumulates in the groove. The new version was designed in September 1944 after a Navy sailor was killed when he dropped an earlier Victory with a jammed hammer block, and S&W was given one week to fix the problem! The new design, which is still used today, has a sliding hammer block linked to the rebound slide. The new design can still jam, but if it jams, the rebound slide also jams and the trigger won't return. This essentially locks up the revolver, alerting the shooter than something is wrong.

Late Victories with the new hammer block carry an "SV" (for "Safety") serial prefix. After the war, the "V" was dropped and the prefix became simply "S".
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[bonewagon]

Beautiful revolver. That caliber is hard to find ammo for. I reload my own for two Enfield No2 MK1* revolvers made in 1943. Again, beautiful revolver and great history.

 

[Blade70714]

Some current s&w revolvers have a model number stamped on the frame inside the hinge area. Swing open the cylinder and look to see if they have anything stamped there. Like 10-2 which would be model 10, second edition etc.

 

[rcm192]

Some current s&w revolvers have a model number stamped on the frame inside the hinge area. Swing open the cylinder and look to see if they have anything stamped there. Like 10-2 which would be model 10, second edition etc.

It predates that for sure.

 

[Tigerfish]

I have one that looks to be identical to that one. I'm too lazy to get it off of the safe right now, but if I'm correct then it's a Model 1905, 4th change issued to the British military.

 

[rcm192]

I have one that looks to be identical to that one. I'm too lazy to get it off of the safe right now, but if I'm correct then it's a Model 1905, 4th change issued to the British military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_&_Wesson_Model_1905

I think I've narrowed it down to the British .38/200 caliber Service Revolver (1940 - 1945)