Smith & Wesson contract

[reese williams]

I believe some of the S&W revolvers in .455 purchased by the British government were made available to officers for private purchase. Does anyone know how these particular pistols were marked? Did they get the usual acceptance stamps then the opposed broad arrow mark for sold-out-of -service?

[Joolz]

The way I understand it, after the 1917 ban on private sales of service revolvers, they would have gone straight into government stores and been given the usual acceptance marks, Then. if an officer wanted to buy one for himself, he would have to buy it from the government stores, when it would be marked as SOS and become his private property, to do with as he pleased. Without the SOS mark, it would, presumably, have to be returned to stores once he was done with it.

Here's a 2nd model S&W with an SOS mark (you can just make it out), belonging to a 2nd Lt in the RGA, which he came back with and kept after being invalided out.