Survival Gun Picture History

Survival guns is not just about those we may use to survive but also those which do survive. Revolvers are old school, they have been around in their current form well over 100 years and there is a reason for that, they work.
Now I know other guns work as well but over all the revolver is the ultimate user-friendly weapon. There is no safety, they don't misfeed or jamb and in the case of a misfire you simply keep pulling the trigger (double action) till it does fire and the biggest drawback is the ammo capacity which in my opinion is not as critical as some would have you believe.
Now all this has been stated before but after writing the piece on the Victory Revolver I did a little research and came up with some interesting history and information which I will share. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.




During WW2 thousands of  Victory Revolvers were sent to Commonwealth countries in a Lend-Lease program, here is a picture of some of them being unwrapped and inventoried in England during the war.

Here is an American General pinning an award on a Australian soldier with a Victory Revolver holstered on his side. It is sporting after market pearl handles.

This is an Australian soldier guarding a Korean prisoner with one of these S&W revolvers.












This is an interesting picture, an Australian combat engineer assisting American forces in Vietnam with tunnel clearing operations. He is armed with a Smith & Wesson fitted with a suppressor. Now I understand this is an exercise in futility but my guess is if you could just harness a portion of the blast it could save you hearing in a tunnel. It does appear he is wearing ear plugs as well. Could this also be one of the first tricked out handguns with flashlight attached.





Here is an American 'Tunnel Rat' in Vietnam also armed with one of these revolvers.

Here is two pilots in Vietnam. The one on the right is carrying a Victory Revolver in a shoulder holster while the one on the left is carrying either a newer model 10 (Military and Police) or a Victory fitted with newer grips. The model 10 and the Victory are basically the same weapon with the model 10 being only a little better polished.

This VF-11 pilot is armed with a Victory revolver. the butt is visible in the lower right of the picture with a lanyard attached it also appears to be sporting stag handled grips.

WW2 pilots going over mission plans. The pilot right of center with Victory Revolver.

This is an interesting picture from the TV series 'Black Sheep Squadron'
The handguns on the right and left are 1911's while the center is a pearl handled Victory revolver.

George Bush carried a Victory Revolver on his combat missions during WW2 (left) and had it with him when he was shot down in the Pacific during the war, you can see the rescue sub right of photo.

After the ocean rescue he gave the revolver to another officer to safe-keep and lost track of it till it was returned by the officers family upon his death in 1983 Bush is shown here inspecting it before donating it to the Constitutional Museum in Philadelphia.

The gun is show below. It is Serial # V361858  and is in remarkable condition especially considering it survived a ocean rescue. The serial number dates it as mid 1943 manufacture.

George Bush Victory Revolver, Serial # V361858