Originally Posted by malph

The 952 "no dash" billboard guns where all 5". The long slides came along around the time Smith went with the 952-2 versions. The 952 "no dashes" were all blued steel with no grip safety. The 952-1s added the grip safety and did away with the large "billboard" lettering on the slide. The 952-2 went to stainless steel rather than the blued steel of the 952 and 952-1. With the 952-2, Smith came out with a number of variations including the longslide, heavier slide with matted finish, two tone, ...