With the serial number starting with a "V", you probably have a S&W Victory model, made at the start of WWII.
manufactured by s&w for british government (lend lease program) for WWII then sold for surplus and converted by cogswell and harrison for sale to us market, most coverted to 38 special. shoud be operated with extreemly light 38 special loads and will ballon case heads will not be very accurate
First, I think you mean register. In MOST of the US, there is no requirement to register ordinary firearms. Now, about the serial number- it is unlawful to REMOVE a serial number, or to possess a gun that has had the SN removed. However, there are guns that do not HAVE a serial number, and they are legal. Rifles and shotguns made prior to 1968 were not required to have serial number. Those guns are listed as NSN- No Serial Number- on paperwork that asks for a serial number.
shift register application
You will need to supply the serial numbers to your shotguns to get the age of your browning shotguns correctly.
NO
SN's not required before 1968
Serial numbers were not required on rifles and shotguns until 1968.
First Flip-Flop in the register
First, in MOST of the US, there is no requirement for registration of ordinary rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Second, while in the US it is illegal to REMOVE a serial number, or to possess a gun that has had the serial number removed or made unreadable- not all guns HAD a serial number. Prior to the 1968 Gun Control Act, no Federal law required that rifles or shotguns have a serial number, and there are large numbers of those guns that have never had a serial number- and possession of those is perfectly legal. For recordkeeping on those guns, the serial number is recorded as NSN- No Serial Number. I collect older 22 rifles, and have about 30 that were made prior to 1968. Only 2 of the 30 have serial numbers.
Most do, some don't.
Not until required by law in 1969.