ncblksmth1 Posted July 29, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 29, 2014 I have a victory pistol that has been cut down to a 2" snub nose. Whoever did it used the original barrel and did an excellent job of putting the front sight on. There is no lower lug for the ejector rod. My question is : Did and or how often did military armorers shorten the barrels on the S&W's to make it a snub nose for the air crews? Thanks in advance Bob Coyner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwill Posted July 29, 2014 Share #2 Posted July 29, 2014 Bob, Our moderator is the expert on all things Victory but I can tell you that in all likelihood you have one cut down well after WWII and not by the military. They did replace some 4" barrels with 2" barrels on some revolvers after WWII--mainly Colt Commandos--but a Victory would still have the locking under-lug if done by an arsenal or the factory. Guns like yours are very common--often done on repatriated British guns. Is yours chambered for .38 S&W or .38 Special? Sometimes the .38 S&W guns have the cylinders reamed out to accept .38 Special but the bore is larger on the British revolvers. Also, after the war, air crews were furnished with a variety of handguns, including 2" Aircrewman revolvers and 2" Model 10's but I'm not aware of any program to cut down or replace the barrels on 4" revolvers for air crew. Regards, Kevin Williams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_mi Posted August 9, 2014 Share #3 Posted August 9, 2014 +1 on it being done post-war. I remember seeing many ads in 1950s-1960s gun magazines for snub-nosed revolvers of every sort -- all created from surplus military stuff. My fave was the snub-nosed Webley for $29.95 shipped direct to your home (pre-1968, of course). Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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