I was reading my 3rd Edition Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson and it says the earliest reported 1917 Brazilian was serial number 16974X. I have one that is serial number 16714X. I know S&W almost never did anything sequentially (perish the thought!!), but I was just curious....do I have the earliest reported 1917 Brazilian? Not that it makes the gun any more valuable, but its a great "fun fact" in the gun shop. Anyone want to weigh in?

Welcome to the Forum.

Serial numbers aren't absolute. At the time the SCSW 3rd was published, that was probably accurate. Lower numbered guns turn up all of the time.

Plus, the first Brazilians were sold in 1937, using new made frames. After WW II, S&W found a bunch of WW I vintage 1917 frames and built more revolvers for Brazil. These will generally have lower SNs.

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All the model 1937s shipped to Brazil before WWII had the then current flat top frames with square notch sights. A large portion, maybe a majority, of the model 1937s shipped in 1946 utilized left over WWI round top frames with U notch sights.

Because their’s is lower than the lowest reported in the SCSW or the factory history letter included with 1937s distributed by Navy Arms, many members have asked if their WWI framed 1937 has the lowest serial number. The forum administrator, Handejector, recently posted about one with a five digit s/n, 8xxxx IIRC.

A more interesting tid-bit would be if you could document your 1937 was used by the Brazilian expeditionary force sent to help the allies in WWII.

All great info. Thanks!!

I have one with serial number 165xxx.

S&W did not keep the greatest records on these. As the story has been told on this Forum, S&W did not even know they had these frames and parts until they were discovered during some major house cleaning after WWII ended. Keeping track of inventory was apparently never their strong suit. So any serial number information available from the factory for the 1946 shipment is probably none too accurate.

I'm sure the author gave the best information he had at the time the book was published. Over time, new information becomes available.

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Only the actual factory records of the Brazilian SNs shipped during the late 1930s could answer the question.