S&W Victory Model

[Fry]

Guys,

If any of you shoot the .38 S&W S&W Victory Model revolver, I was wondering what kind of lead do you cast for it? Some tell me ww's, others tell me pure, some say 1:1 ratio...

[9.3X62AL]

Fry--

Welcome to the board, sir!

I think any of the above alloys/metals you mention would work well in the application. Boolits should be at or .001" over the largest throat diameter, but I suspect that unalloyed lead might "bump-up" under the influence of the pressure impulse a bit. I use air-cooled WW in my 38 S&Ws, since I just punch holes in paper or jackrabbits with my revolvers so chambered.

[Heavy lead]

I'm not familiar with this model, however I shoot a lot of wadcutters out of a S&W 14 38 special. I used to shoot Speer or Remington HBWC which I believe are more or less pure lead. I now shoot 2 parts pure to one part WW. I have recently aquired new mould a Lyman 358495 mould that I have not shot any from yet (hopefully this weekend) that I have been given guidance on this sight to only lube the first groove, which is what I have done. When I shoot I will give a report. I size my boolits to 358. If you would like to try some, I'd be glad to send you some to try.

[9.3X62AL]

Fry--

Both of my British service 38/200s (Webley-Enfield and S&W) have throats measuring .362"-.363". Common diameter runs .360"-.363". Cases are fatter than 38 Special/357 Magnum, too--.386"-.387" instead of .379"-.380".

I use a 9mm Makarov sizer and expander for my cases, then seat the fat boolits with the 9mm Mak seater without the taper crimp involved in the process. The fat .363" boolits won't fit in the 38 S&W seater die (from an RCBS Cowboy set). Once the boolit is seated to proper length in the case, the roll crimp ring on the 38 S&W seater die can place a good crimp on the boolit's crimp groove without boolit interference.

There are some threads on this caliber on this site--do a search for more detailed info than the short summary I've posted here.

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/3B773CE97D573A2/standard.jpg

..........The slugs I use in my 2 Victory Models and Iver Johnson (with the exception of the 200 grainer :-)).

From LEFT Lyman 358430/195gr, Lyman 35863/150gr WC, Lee Custom GB 100gr WC, Lee Custom GB 146gr RN. The last boolit, loaded. A factory Colt "New Police" (We're NOT putting S&W on OUR cases!) which is just the 38 S&W with a FN boolit, and the ubiquitous 38 Special case.

All the above boolits are cast of pure lead and shoot with better then acceptable accuracy, and do not lead. Due to the wide weight differences they print to different POA's. The 146gr RN is a factory duplication, and the 150gr WC prints close.

Note the OAL of the loaded WC and the 38 Special case. In a revolver like the Victory Model which IS used with the 38 Special you can load the 38 S&W to 38 Special pressure using 38 Special load data IF you have the same case volumn as in the 38 Special loads. In this instance the Lyman manual shows this WC loaded flush in the Special case for an OAL of 1.150".

With this boolit in the 38 S&W and crimped into the BOTTOM lube groove, you get so close to 1.150" as to make no never mind, so 38 Special load data for this situation works just fine.

.................Buckshot

[Fry]

Got my S&W victory today@ Not slugged, however it does have RAF marked on the side and has a 6in barrel. Mint shape besides some minor bluing.

I'm guessing RAF = Royal Air Force? Pics available if need be. On the cylinder, there's a crown and it says BAP

On the barrel it says Smith & Wesson and the crown with BAP again and says .38".767" and below it says 3 1/2 tons.

On the left side just above the rear part of the trigger guard, it has crossed swords and says H on the left, 3 on the bottom and B on the right.

Anyone know much about these?

[Fry]

Update on description:

Came into a S&W .38 S&W revolver today. It has a 6 inch barrel and plain walnut grips.

On the barrel, on the right side it says .38 S&W CTG with a funky arrow like thing pointing at it from each side of the phrase

On top it says Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass USA. Below that phrase is 'patented feb 6.06.sept14.09.dec29.14

On the left of the barrel it says SMITH & WESSON and then near the cylinder it has a crown with B A P (the a looks a little slanted to the left, like N without the last upward stroke on the N) and also has .38".767". Just below the .38 it says 3 1/2 tons.

On the top there is nothing about US Property. There are other miscellaneous crowns with BAP all over the revolver including on the cylinder.

On the left side above the trigger guard are 2 crossed swords pointing down and H 3 B in each groove. Sorta like in X (in the left part of the X, bottom part and right part. top part is clear)

On the right side, the S&W crest is worn a little, but it has MADE IN THE USA below the cylinder and has Three markings below it looking like /|\ and below that it says RAF

I was told it was a victory model, but the serial has no V, leading me to think otherwise. 301XX is on the cylinder arm, same S/N on the receiver (can't see either when cylinder is closed). However, intersting, on th ebottom of the barrel, the S/N is 696XXX which leads me to believe this is not the original barrel, yet it's markings coincide with the rest of the revolver.

It is infact chambered for .38 S&W, not .38 SPL, but I have not slugged the bore to find actual dimensions.

On, on the hammer, along it's 'spine', it says US REG PAT OFF, all together.


Could someone please help me identify what I have here? It would be GREATLY appreciated!

[MtGun44]

I'd imagine that the marking that you typed as /|\ is the British
'broad arrow' (leading edges of the arrow are around 120 degrees
apart) military mark. Kinda like our flaming bomb mark the is on about
all of our WW2 firearms and equipment.

Take heed of Buckshot's post, he is very knowledgeable and has
worked with your model.

IIRC, the V in the SN was for the USN .38 Spl pistols, and I think that
the "correct" use of the Victory Model term is for these Navy pistols.

Bill

[Fry]

Are there any resources online that I could search, to determine a little more information given my serial number... until I get a letter back from S&W?

Oh and for those who have had historian letters done, how long did you have to wait?

[Buckshot]

..............For the rest of those British markings and such you might over at:http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/

They're on top of that stuff.

................Buckshot

[Fry]

Talking to them as we speak, actually. Thanks for the reference. Also managed to get my mitts on a LEE custom made mold dropping 200gr .363 bullets, 6 cav. Now, to find some affordable brass...

I took apart the revolver, it looked mint. It had great internals too but what a MESS! Looked like some surface rust but no pitting on some of the parts. Stripped every single part out and cleaned it up. Also noticed more markings down under the 'wood'. K to indicate the frame type but a few more on the opposite side.

[Buckshot]

.............I bought Starline brass as it was the only 38 S&W available when I was looking.

.............Buckshot