AWESOME Combat Magnum...Richard...YOU ARE THE MAN and I bow down in your presence.

Mike , If we agree that "Ship dates" trump serial numbers Jim Jordans serial K-260001 is actually not the "Earliest" Combat Magnum as according to my records one other gun left the factory a little bit earlier.

IIRC S&W reserved a five thousand serial number run from K-260,001 up for the very first Combat Magnums, except for a few VIP guns the early guns seem to begin shipping in April , May and June 1956 and of course not in serial order.

The first 1500 or so are unique in that they have the older 6 groove tangs, (A very neat feature for OCD nuts like me).
Somewhere around K-2616xx there is a change from the old 6 groove tang to the new "10 Groove" tang (which BTW matches the barrel rib grooves).
[IMG][/IMG]

Combat Magnum K-261043 (above) is about 1000 digits higher than Richards but shipped exactly 2 weeks later .

As an interesting aside while the Combat Magnum was the first K Magnum frame to appear it was also the first K frame without an upper sideplate screw....
In other words (unlike its big brother the Pre Model 29) No five screw Combat Magnums exist.

While most of the first 5000 in my records shipped in 1956 some trickled out as late as April 1957 (early nickel guns even as late as May 1958).

The next batch seems to appear around K-317xxx sometime in mid 1958.
Have a Non Model marked Combat Magnum Serial K-317946 that shipped in May 1958.

The earliest Model marked 19 I have in my records is a low K-3180xx gun that shipped September 1958.

Thanks for sharing Richard that one is a real beauty, makes me wanna have a few done.
Best regards
Brad