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Smith & Wesson Victory Model

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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Smith & Wesson Victory Model - a modified and parkerized version of the Smith & Wesson Model 10 - this is a British "Lend Lease" version chambered in .38 S&W
Smith & Wesson Victory Model with a 4" barrel - .38 Special

The Smith & Wesson Victory Model was born from yet another request by the U.S. Military (during war time) to supplement their issued sidearms with quickly tooled up civilian handguns. From 1940 - 1942 , before the United States entered WWII, the company sold Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolvers (parkerized and chambered for .38 S&W or 38/200) to both British and British Commonwealth forces (e.g. Australia, Canada, New Zealand). Beginning in 1942, Smith & Wesson placed a "V" in the serial number prefix for "Victory" against the Axis powers and renamed the M&P the Victory Model. When their own supplies of M1911 pistols were stretched, the U.S. Army adopted the Smith & Wesson Victory Model for their own troops.

The failure of the Smith & Wesson Light Rifle M1940 put Smith & Wesson in a difficult situation. The company had been advanced $1,000,000 from the British (approximately $21,000,000 in 2022) and the British wanted the money refunded, but S&W had spent it developing the rifle as well as on other expenses. The company offered the British the equivalent of one million dollars' worth of revolvers instead. Desperate for handguns the British readily accepted and the result was the Smith & Wesson Victory Model in 38/200 caliber. Author Charles Pate in his seminal work U.S. Handguns of World War II writes that S&W produced the 38/200 M&P exclusively from March 1940 to February 1941 when the factory's production capacity was expanded, and the company was able to return to manufacturing 38 Special revolvers as well.

The revolver was given plain wooden grips, a parkerized 'gray' finish, and was chambered for .38 Special. It never replaced the M1911 as the primary side arm of frontline units, but it saw plenty of service as the handgun of secondary or support units. It also saw use with civilian users such as defense plant guards and U.S. Postal Police. It was especially popular with aviators and military dog handlers. Regulations prohibited carry of the M1911 pistol with a live round in the chamber, but one can't drop a dog's leash or fly an aircraft hands-free while one cycles the slide to load a cartridge. Army helicopter pilots continued to use the Victory model until the early 1960s.

After the war, Victory models were given to the German police forces when they were reconstructed during the Allied occupation of Germany. Occasionally, Victory models with "Bavarian Rural Police" and "Bavarian Municipal Police" will surface on the collector market. There is even a (unconfirmed) report that U.S. National Park Service rangers were still being issued Victory models as late as the late 1980s. There are reports that that the British continued to use the revolvers into the 1960s and the Australians into the 1980s.

Specifications

(1942 - 1945)

  • Type: Revolver
  • Caliber: .38 S&W, .38 Special
  • Barrel length(s): 2 in (5.1 cm), 4 in (10.2 cm), 5 in (12.7 cm), 6 in (15.2 cm)
  • Capacity: 6-round cylinder
  • Fire Modes: SA/DA

Film

Title Actor Character Notes Date
They Were Expendable Russell Simpson 'Dad' Knowland 1945
Restless Youth (Trevozhnaya molodost) Yuri Lavrov Zenon Pecheritsa 1955
Pavel Korchagin Vasiliy Lanovoy Pavel Korchagin 1956
Operation Amsterdam Tony Britton Maj. Dillon 1959
Dutch officers
Treasure of Silver Lake Herbert Lom Cornel Brinkley 1962
Bandits
The Puzzle of the Red Orchid (Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee) Christopher Lee Captain Allerman 1962
Adrian Hoven Inspector Weston
Pinkas Braun Edwin Tanner
Eddi Arent Parker
Edgar Wenzel Babyface
Scotland Yard plainclothes detectives, gangsters
Dr. Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard Walter Rilla Professor Pohland 1963
Klaus Kinski Inspector Joe Wright
Lemonade Joe Oldrich Lukes Sheriff 1964
None But the Brave Clint Walker Capt. Dennis Bourke 1965
The Sons of Great Bear (Die Söhne der großen Bärin) Jirí Vrstála Fred "Red Fox" Clark 1966
Rolf Römer Tobias
Hans Hardt-Hardtloff Maj. Smith
Rolf Ripperger Jok
Mercenaries and settlers
How I Won the War Michael Crawford Lt. Earnest Goodbody 1967
Sorrel Flower (Fleur d'oseille) Amidou Francis 1967
Let Them Rest Lou Castel "Requiescant" 1967
Attilio Severini The stagecoach driver
The Southern Star George Segal Dan Rockland 1968
Michel Constantin Jose
Sylvain Levignac Louis
Guy Delorme Michael
With Clean Hands (Cu mainile curate) Sergiu Nicolaescu Tudor Miclovan 1972
Romanian police
The Godfather Richard Bright Al Neri 1972
The Last Cartridge (Ultimul cartus) Ilarion Ciobanu Mihai Roman 1973
Jean Constantin Floacă
Criminals
A Police Commissioner Accuses (Un comisar acuza) Sergiu Nicolaescu Tudor Moldovan 1974
Iron Guard legionnaires
Borsalino and Co. Alain Delon Roch Siffredi 1974
Adolfo Lastretti Luciano
Lionel Vitrant Fernand
Siffredi and Volpone henchmen
Street People (Gli esecutori) A mobster 1976
Revenge (Revansa) Sergiu Nicolaescu Tudor Moldovan 1978
The Duel (Duelul) Sergiu Nicolaescu Tudor Moldovan 1981
Harry and the Hendersons homeowner snub-nose conversion 1987
The Commander Duclaud's henchman 1988
Killer's Wedge (Sposob ubiystva) Aleksandr Milyutin Det. Meyer Meyer 1993
Female Agents Maquisards 2008
Day of the Falcon (Or noir) Tahar Rahim Prince Auda 2011
Riz Ahmed Ali
Nasib's officers, Auda´s men
Hotel Lux Valery Grishko Josef Stalin 2011
Jürgen Vogel Siggi Meyer
A Dark Truth Devon Bostick Renaldo 2012
Killing Kennedy Will Rothhaar Lee Harvey Oswald snub-nose 2013
Old Henry Max Arciniega Stilwell 2021

Television

Title Actor Character Notes / Episode Date
Born by Revolution: Assault (Rozhdyonnaya revolyutsiey: Napadenie) Evgeniy Zharikov Nikolay Kondratyev 1974
Born by Revolution: On Fire (Rozhdyonnaya revolyutsiey: V ogne) Evgeniy Zharikov Nikolay Kondratyev 1974
Born by Revolution: We Will Help You (Rozhdyonnaya revolyutsiey: My pomozhem tebe) Evgeniy Zharikov Nikolay Kondratyev 1975
Baa Baa Black Sheep Jeff McKay Lt. Don French Mother of Pearl K-Frame Grips 1976 - 1978
Bergerac Derek Farr Laurence Mitchell "Portrait of Yesterday" (S01E06) 1981
Terence Alexander Charlie Hungerford "Last Chance for a Loser" (S01E07)
Bergerac Jolyon Baker DC Barry Goddard "The Last Interview" (S04E01) 1985
Wounded Stones (Ranenyye kamni) Stepan Starchikov Anton 1988
Around the World in 80 Days A British Army officer 1989
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Neal Swettenham Edgar Lawson "They Do It with Mirrors" 1991
Mail Call 2002 - 2009
King Solomon's Mines Morne Visser Petre 2004
Midsomer Murders James Richard Marshall Young Peter Fossett "Death in the Slow Lane" (S14E1) 2010
Boardwalk Empire Jack Huston Richard Harrow 2010-Present
Lewis Mark Aiken Donald Voss "The Gift of Promise" (S05E04) 2011
Supernatural - Season 6 Peter Ciuffa H.P. Lovecraft "Let It Bleed" (S06E21) 2011
Supernatural - Season 7 Nicholas Lea Eliot Ness "Time After Time" (S07E12) 2012
Peaky Blinders - Season 2 various characters anachronistic 2014
Father Brown - Season 5 Benjamin Fisher Raymond Worrall "The Eagle and the Daw" (S05E06) 2017
Eldorado KaDeWe Joel Basman Harry Jandorf Ep. 01 and 06 2021
Martin Bruchmann Harry's Friend Ep. 06
A German soldier Ep. 01


Video Games

Title Appears as Mods Notes Date
Driver: Parallel Lines 2006


See Also

  • Smith & Wesson - A list of all firearms manufactured by Smith & Wesson.

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