Talk:Smith & Wesson Victory Model

How does the .38 S&W compare to the .38 Special? I know it is less powerful but not how much less. -Anonymous

In terms of the ammo commercially available today, very poorly. The only ammo I can ever find (for my Enfield No.2s, Webley .38 Mk.IV and S&W Military & Police and Pre-Victory) is Remington 148 grain lead round nose that's loaded very light. The thing about .38 S&W is it was originally introduced in 1876 for the S&W Baby Russian, and it was used in a whole series of fairly weak and cheap pocket top break revolvers. Because of that, in the US the ammo you find is loaded light because the ammo companies are worried about it being chambered in these guns. But when the British adopted it as a service round, it was originally loaded with a 200 grain "manstopper" (basically a wadcutter) bullet, and then a 178 grain conical FMJ, both loaded to higher pressure then current ammo. I still wouldn't say it was as potent as a .38 Special, but definately better than current commercial loads. Nyles

Question

Can .38 Special be used in .38 S&W chambered revolvers? --Ardtanker14 23:39, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

I have read that some of the older model .38 S&W revolvers will allow the loading of a .38 Special round, but because .38 Special has a much higher pressure, firing it would be detrimental to both the firearm and the shooter. 38 S&W cannot be loaded into a weapon chambered for 38 Special because the S&W round has a larger case diameter. --Ruzhyo 01:43, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

• .38 Special rounds won't fit into a .38 S&W chamber, as the .38 Special is a significantly longer cartridge. You'll sometimes see British-contract .38 S&W revolvers converted to .38 Special by reaming out the chambers, but because it's a smaller diameter bullet they don't shoot very well. - Nyles

Victory Conversion

38-200 "Victory" model. Converted post-WWII to snubnose configuration.Work was not done by Smith & Wesson.

The actual Smith & Wesson Victory Model reportedly owned and used by Lee Harvey Oswald, as found at JFK Files.