36CCLLAASSSSIICC HHAANNDDGGUUNNSS:: TThhee SSmmiitthh && Wesson Victory Model RevolverBy John Marshall

The Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver,issued to aviators and others during World WarII, had its beginnings in the S&W Model 1899Hand Ejector Military & Police. The M&P was anow-conventional-looking revolver in which thecylinder swung out to the side for the cartridgesto be loaded, and ejected with a push on theejector rod. The M&P was the first revolver to bechambered for the famous .38 Special round.

In 1939, most of nations embroiled or aboutto be embroiled inWorld War IIfound them-selves shortof firearmsof almostevery kind,and accord-ingly adoptedmany “substi-tute standard” arms to fill thegaps. Smith & Wesson sought toprovide our British cousins with a lightsemiauto carbine chambered for the 9mmParabellum cartridge, and the British armyadvanced S&W $1million against a contract.But the M1940 Light Rifle was not found suit-able, and the British cancelled the contract afteronly about a thousand were delivered. In orderto make up for the money it lost, S&W offeredthe Brits another product, the .38 caliber HandEjector M&P. As Enfield Arsenal could not pro-duce enough revolvers to meet their needs, theBritish agreed to substitute the Americanrevolvers, providing they could be chamberedfor the .380 inch Mark I, which was nothingmore than the .38 S&W cartridge loaded with a200-grain bullet. Later these rounds wereloaded with a full-metal-jacketed 178-grain bul-let, which was more “civilized.”

Until late in 1941, British contract revolvershad a commercial blue finish, and had check-ered walnut stocks. When the U.S. entered thewar in 1941, however, we needed .38 Specialrevolvers, and in a hurry. In January 1942, tocut expenses and speed production, expensivepolishing and bluing and hand fitting gave wayto a rough non-polished exterior, Parkerizing,and smooth wooden grips. U.S. contract .38Specials were then mixed in with the Britishcontract guns. In April 1942, serial numbers ofthese revolvers were prefixed with a “V” forVictory, and the revolvers for both countrieswere henceforth known as Victory Models.Most U.S. guns were in .38 Special with four-inch barrels, and most British guns were in .38S&W with five-inch barrels. Most had lanyardrings installed on the butt. A few U.S. guns

were made with two-inch barrels for issue toMilitary Police investigators and special outfitssuch as the OSS (Office of Strategic Services,forerunner to the CIA).

The British used their Victory Models in com-bat units, while the U.S. primarily issued theirsto Navy, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, aircraftcrews, military police, civil defense and securityguards at defense installations.

The earliest WWII revolvers went to theUnion of South Africa, starting at approximatelyserial number 612000. “V” prefixed guns (April,1942) started with

serial # V1. Following a

well-publicizedincident in which asailor dropped hisVictory Model on itshammer, causing it todischarge and kill him,S&W began fitting theVictory Models in 1944 with asafety hammer block. This was a pos-itive prevention to this sort of thinghappening, and it is used on all Smith& Wesson revolvers even today.Improved revolvers were prefixed “VS” andmany older revolvers were retrofitted andgiven an “S” stamp in front of the “V”, makingthe prefix “SV.” The safety hammer block wasinitiated at approximately serial numberVS769000. Retrofitted revolvers will be foundwith an “S” stamped at the top of the coverplate. At the end of the war, serial numbers hadreached VS811119. Serial numbers for M&Prevolvers made after the war were stamped onlywith an “S” prefix to the serial number.

Revolvers that were returned to the factorylater to have the new hammer block incorporat-ed had an “S” stamped on the butt. S&W hadcontracts for these conversions, the first ofwhich was agreed to in May 1945 for convertingand refurbishing 40,000 Navy revolvers. Thecontract price was $9.50 for each conversion.

Military issue .38 Special ammunition includ-ed full-metal-jacket rounds and tracers. Manypilots considered the arm as a distress signaldevice when used with tracers.

The U.S. Navy contracted directly for 65,000Victory Models. Most of these have the coveted“U.S. Navy” stamping on the topstrap. Althoughthe Navy was the biggest user of the VictoryModels, records show many were purchased forArmy, Army Air Corps and the OSS.

Since WWII, thousands of Victory models werestill being used by the U.S. and many othernations. Many went to Japan to provide weaponsfor newly established police departments.

The Victory Models soldiered on throughKorea and Vietnam, with many being over-

hauled in theprocess.Many con-

tinued to beissued to pilots,

as only onehand

was need-ed to operate

the gun; the .451911A1 required two

hands to charge it from thestandard full magazine/empty chambercondition. I have a picture of one of myhigh school buddies, Army Lt. EdwardCribb, wearing a Victory Model in ashoulder holster during the Vietnam War.Ed was a Mohawk aircraft pilot, andsadly, perished due to enemy ground firein 1963. Such rebuilt revolvers also sawservice with the Australian and Indianarmies on into the 1980s.

While roughly finished, the S&W VictoryModels were strong and serviceablerevolvers, well suited to their role as defensivehandguns. Over 350,000 were purchased dur-ing the war. Often found on the collector’s mar-ket today, prices for good specimens continue toescalate. The ones marked “U.S. Navy” on thetopstrap are considered particularly valuable.They are truly classic handguns.

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