[Trepang]

Be sure to get a letter from the Smith & Wesson archives which may tell you where your pistol was issued during WW2. I keep forgetting to letter mine, but it was likely a DSC gun and may have an interesting history of its own.

Good idea - Thanks
I assume I can do that via their website?

 

[Trepang]

Letter Process

Many collectors enjoy having “factory letters” for their collectible Smith & Wesson firearms. The Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation offers two such letters. Letter of Authenticity (formerly the “Factory Letter”) The “Letter of Authenticity” used to be called the “factory letter” when Smith &...

swhistoricalfoundation.com

Thank you

 

[Trepang]

I managed to find a copy on eBay of the December 2020 issue of the American Rifleman that has a great article on these Victory revolvers. I don't keep the old copies and in this case I wish I had.

I make up a folder of whatever documents I have or can find on each MilSurp I have in my collection and I really wanted this issue for the folder - That article is what got me interested in the Victory models in the first place.

Next, I will cough up the $100 for a S&W research letter.

 

[Trepang]

I didn't mean to imply that the letter would indicate what serviceman it was issued to. However being a Navy gun there's a good chance it'll say which Navy installation it was shipped to and at what date, which is still pretty useful info.

No I understand ... Just what unit it went to would be worth the $$

 

[Trepang]

Finally got it home from the FFL after my 7-day wait.
It cleaned up nice.
Very happy with it.
The scratch I put on it is hardly noticeable after a Lucas Oil CLP wipe down; no Turnbull restoration after all.
This maybe my new favorite MilSurp.