You may be 100% correct about the info Mr. Jinks provides. I've never sent him a letter personally. I was under the impression he could provide the build date, or a very close approximation of it, but maybe it's only the shipping date that's available. I own 40+ old S&W revolvers (all but 2 of them snubbies...I know, I know ), and "approximate" has always been good enough for me. Even with all those guns, I'm really not much of an 'expert' .