I have a Model 2 S&W Serial #6858. Just wondering if Smith has existing records on shipments as to where this revolver was originally sent. Also the right palm grip has a factory stamped serial no. matching that of the revolver, and the letters -l s S - carved it. The other grip has the name Jiavair scratched into it. Also the barrel, frame, and cylinder have the no.84 stamped on them. Any help or direction is appreciated.

You can send for a historical letter by filling out a request and mailing it to the S&W Historical Foundation. I believe that you click on "downloads" above and on the left you should find a link to the letter request form.

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James Redfield
LM #497

The manufacturing year of your revolver should be relativealy easy to determine. There were 77,155 made from 1861 to 1874. With the advent of the Civil War being the same year as the introduction of the Model 2, sales were brisk for the next 4 years. There were around 40,000 shipped by the end of the Civil War (May 1865). It took about 10 years to sell an additional 38,000 Model 2 revolvers. Your gun fits into the 1862 ship date and is confirmed by Neal & Jinks book, stating that the manufacture of Model 2s in 1862 ended with serial number 10,511.

We would love to see some images of the revolver.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

The "84" stamp is the assembly code and if you look close, it is probably "B 4" The parts were disassembled after fitting to be blued ( or nickeled, etc ) and the assembly code allowed fitted parts to be reassembled correctly. The factory historical letter will show the distributor to which the gun was shipped, as S&W did not ship to individuals at that time. There's always a good chance that a Civil War era Model 2 eventually went to a soldier or sailor, but w/o some marking on the gun, such as the individuals name or family provenance, it's a difficult task to tie a gun to such an owner. Ed.