Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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The outbreak of the war found the British also lacking in handguns, so they quickly turned to the United States for help. This came in the form of the Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolver. The British had originally contracted Smith & Wesson to produce a lightweight 9mm semi-automatic rifle. The gun proved to be unreliable and the idea and the rifles were scrapped. To make up for the money that had been advanced to Smith & Wesson, a deal was struck to provide the British with Military & Police revolvers at the rate of $20 each.

In March, 1940 Smith & Wesson began producing Military & Police revolvers chambered in .38 S&W, and these were so marked on the right side of the barrel. Other than the caliber, these guns were mechanically identical to the .38 Smith & Wesson Special guns that were already being turned out. Soon the entire factory was dedicated to the production of revolvers that were to be shipped to England. By December of 1940, 112,584 Military & Police revolvers chambered in .38 S&W had been manufactured and sent overseas as part of the Lend-Lease program. While these guns have the look of the Smith & Wesson Victory model revolvers with their lanyard rings and plain finish, they lack the V and SV serial number prefixes that did not start until April of 1942 at serial number 1,000,000. These earlier Lend-Lease revolvers were marked with “UNITED STATES PROPERTY” and “U.S. PROPERTY” on the top strap with ordnance markings on the butt.