Yep...that was one of the rubber ones with the matching serial numbers. I copied the documents for the seller as a favor. I do NOT have anything to do with Bond Collectibes anymore...not for many years. He is WAY - WAY to high on his prices and I have found just as good items on the market...one just needs to seek them out and negotiate accordingly.
Stembridge was a good arms dealer in many respect...for me, they kept ALL their records for this Bond gun. I would not have purchased it otherwise (w/o docs).
When Geoffrey Boothroyd first communicated with Ian Fleming complaining about the .25 Beretta, he initially recommended two replacements for Bond to carry. For concealment the Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight and for long range work the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. Fleming was initially quite taken with the Centennial Airweight, and even attempted to purchase one when he visited New York.
When the novel "Dr. No" was finally published, Fleming disregarded Boothroyd's suggestion of a .357 Magnum, adding the Walther PPK as Bond's primary pistol with the Centennial as a back-up gun.
In it's day the Berns-Martin Triple Draw holster was considered the fastest holster extent. Boothroyd recommended it for the Centennial, Fleming ended up having Bond holster the PPK in the Triple Draw, a bit difficult since the triple draw was designed for revolvers and won't hold a PPK.
The Centennial is the Bond gun that didn't quite make it .... sad too, because it was a revolver that was well ahead of it's time!!!
One of my favorite Bond movie scenes is when 'M' makes Bond trade in his .25 Beretta. I bought a .25 Beretta years ago, my wife likes it due to it's not too large, and as for the relatively small caliber ammo - well here in America one can buy 'exploding-tip' .25 ammo, which the last 5 rounds in my Beretta's clip are 'exploding-tip'. Note that my weapon is for self-defense as well as the enjoyment of owning a 'Bond' item.
I lived in Austria and tried to buy a 7.65 cal PPK but as a foreigner there were too many regulations to go through with the Vienna police, and besides I was under the impression the U.S. 1968 Gun Control Act prohibits the import of European-spec PPKs as they are too small?
By all means get the SCSW, its like the bible for S&W fans. And yes that's where I got the information.
The catalog writers just looked at the number on Boothroyd's revolver and stopped there, a tiny bit of research would have made their scribbles a bit more accurate.
But heck, the provenance was correct so the real details were less important, so no real foul on their part.
Recreating the Boothroyd Special could be done with any pre-WW2 M&P, thousands were turned out in the 1920's and 1930's that were essentially identical.
Question is, would you start with a K200, and ream it out to .38 special as GB did, or start with a .38 special? After all GB made his revolver up because he couldn't import a Combat Masterpiece or a Centennial Airweight from the USA.
These days the K200's are probably pretty collectable. Can't recall ever seeing alot of them, even in "the good old days".
"The British Victory Model
In 1941, the British Isles witnessed the evil sweeping through Europe. With the Brits facing the Nazi blitzkrieg alone, Smith & Wesson stepped forward to supply the Limeys with the sidearms necessary to fight back. Between October 1941 and May 1945 over 570,000 of these military issue revolvers were shipped all over the globe on a "lend-lease" program to the British Empire.
Commonly called "British Victories" by some, the revolvers shipped to our future allies are more properly referred to as Smith & Wesson Model K-200 or .38/200 British Service Revolvers. Like the Victory Models later issued to American troops, the K-200 was a Model of 1905 with a rougher, sandblast blue finish, although early models received a polished or brushed blue finish. Most sported plain walnut grips, but some early K-200s had checkered grips. Unlike the US version, the K-200 had a five inch barrel, and was chambered in .38 S&W, a shorter cartridge, slightly larger in diameter than the ubiquitous .38 special. On the butt was a pivoting lanyard ring. In addition to being stamped "US Property" on the top strap, the British Service Revolvers have British proof marks as well as the occasional proof marks of other countries. Some even had "Not Made In England" stamped into their frames, in spite of a corresponding "Made In USA" rollmark from Smith & Wesson.
After the war, Great Britain disarmed, and many of the revolvers were returned to the United States as surplus over the years. Sadly, quite a few of them were converted to .38 special by reaming out the chambers. Alas, the chambers were too large in diameter for the .38 special, and ruptured shell casings were commonplace on firing them after this conversion.
In addition to the rechambering, some were butchered even further, receiving new ramped front sights on chopped barrels, and a chrome finish to make them more attractive to the US market. The returning K-200s were sold for between $25 and $35. Today, unmolested examples in Very Good to Excellent condition often command prices between $375 and $500. Original accessories can drive the price up a bit more.
I still hope to find a K-200 in unmolested form, as well as a pimped up, chopped and chromed version for a fair price. Somehow, I think I had better buy while the buying is good. "
Now, That takes care of the British model.
As for the US model, read on.
"The Crushed Victory
Ever since I read of the destroyed Victory Models in John Henwood's book, I have wanted one. These were often sold at gunshows with the spurious story that they were run over by a tank. It seems a lot of tanks were running over Victory Models in WWII! The truth is, these revolvers were destroyed by our own government. The contract between the US government and Smith & Wesson for the Victory Model revolvers specified that the government would not sell the guns as surplus when the war was over. This protected Smith & Wesson from struggling in a gun market flooded with their own revolvers, as had happened after WWI with the M1917.
Thus, as excess Victory Models were removed from service, most were destroyed rather than sold. Comparatively few Victory Models reached the general public as functional guns. Government agents oversaw the destruction of most of these arms. An ordnance officer was required to be present as a steam powered hammer crushed each of these perfectly serviceable revolvers in three places; on the barrel, the cylinder, and the triggerguard. The remains were then sold as scrap metal.
Several enterprising firms purchased the scrap in bulk, and resold them as gun parts. The crushed Victory Models were usually priced under ten dollars each in 1980, and even included the grips, and lanyard loop. Either would cost over ten bucks today."
Xavier happens to be interested in British Victories and has a crushed model.
It was just by coincidence I came across this post as I'm sort of playing catchup. I came across the article on Xaviers and, well, I thought could shed a little light on the topic.
Comments
Stembridge was a good arms dealer in many respect...for me, they kept ALL their records for this Bond gun. I would not have purchased it otherwise (w/o docs).
One of my favorite Bond movie scenes is when 'M' makes Bond trade in his .25 Beretta. I bought a .25 Beretta years ago, my wife likes it due to it's not too large, and as for the relatively small caliber ammo - well here in America one can buy 'exploding-tip' .25 ammo, which the last 5 rounds in my Beretta's clip are 'exploding-tip'. Note that my weapon is for self-defense as well as the enjoyment of owning a 'Bond' item.
I lived in Austria and tried to buy a 7.65 cal PPK but as a foreigner there were too many regulations to go through with the Vienna police, and besides I was under the impression the U.S. 1968 Gun Control Act prohibits the import of European-spec PPKs as they are too small?
to all you folks with real bond gadgets, you lucky lucky bar stewards!
Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
www.cancerresearchuk.org
At the expense of reviving an old thread, to help answer a question, old boy, I belive I can shed a little light on this topic. I'll quote from Xaviers gunblog
http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/Smith%20and%20Wesson%20Victory%20Models
"The British Victory Model
In 1941, the British Isles witnessed the evil sweeping through Europe. With the Brits facing the Nazi blitzkrieg alone, Smith & Wesson stepped forward to supply the Limeys with the sidearms necessary to fight back. Between October 1941 and May 1945 over 570,000 of these military issue revolvers were shipped all over the globe on a "lend-lease" program to the British Empire.
Commonly called "British Victories" by some, the revolvers shipped to our future allies are more properly referred to as Smith & Wesson Model K-200 or .38/200 British Service Revolvers. Like the Victory Models later issued to American troops, the K-200 was a Model of 1905 with a rougher, sandblast blue finish, although early models received a polished or brushed blue finish. Most sported plain walnut grips, but some early K-200s had checkered grips. Unlike the US version, the K-200 had a five inch barrel, and was chambered in .38 S&W, a shorter cartridge, slightly larger in diameter than the ubiquitous .38 special. On the butt was a pivoting lanyard ring. In addition to being stamped "US Property" on the top strap, the British Service Revolvers have British proof marks as well as the occasional proof marks of other countries. Some even had "Not Made In England" stamped into their frames, in spite of a corresponding "Made In USA" rollmark from Smith & Wesson.
After the war, Great Britain disarmed, and many of the revolvers were returned to the United States as surplus over the years. Sadly, quite a few of them were converted to .38 special by reaming out the chambers. Alas, the chambers were too large in diameter for the .38 special, and ruptured shell casings were commonplace on firing them after this conversion.
In addition to the rechambering, some were butchered even further, receiving new ramped front sights on chopped barrels, and a chrome finish to make them more attractive to the US market. The returning K-200s were sold for between $25 and $35. Today, unmolested examples in Very Good to Excellent condition often command prices between $375 and $500. Original accessories can drive the price up a bit more.
I still hope to find a K-200 in unmolested form, as well as a pimped up, chopped and chromed version for a fair price. Somehow, I think I had better buy while the buying is good. "
Now, That takes care of the British model.
As for the US model, read on.
"The Crushed Victory
Ever since I read of the destroyed Victory Models in John Henwood's book, I have wanted one. These were often sold at gunshows with the spurious story that they were run over by a tank. It seems a lot of tanks were running over Victory Models in WWII! The truth is, these revolvers were destroyed by our own government. The contract between the US government and Smith & Wesson for the Victory Model revolvers specified that the government would not sell the guns as surplus when the war was over. This protected Smith & Wesson from struggling in a gun market flooded with their own revolvers, as had happened after WWI with the M1917.
Thus, as excess Victory Models were removed from service, most were destroyed rather than sold. Comparatively few Victory Models reached the general public as functional guns. Government agents oversaw the destruction of most of these arms. An ordnance officer was required to be present as a steam powered hammer crushed each of these perfectly serviceable revolvers in three places; on the barrel, the cylinder, and the triggerguard. The remains were then sold as scrap metal.
Several enterprising firms purchased the scrap in bulk, and resold them as gun parts. The crushed Victory Models were usually priced under ten dollars each in 1980, and even included the grips, and lanyard loop. Either would cost over ten bucks today."
Xavier happens to be interested in British Victories and has a crushed model.
It was just by coincidence I came across this post as I'm sort of playing catchup. I came across the article on Xaviers and, well, I thought could shed a little light on the topic.
Hope that resolves something.
0013
hear hear!
If guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns, as we in the UK found out.