Does anyone have any idea why S&W decided to use the floating J in 1971-72? Why interrupt the series for a couple years, then in 1973 go back to a standard sequence?
As far as I can tell, the company did not do this with any other set of numbers. On the D series, for example, they waited until they had used up all the D numbers and then started putting single digits in front of the letter, in a logical progression. This "floating" letter business is only in the J frame series. I just find this extremely odd and wonder if anyone knows why.
Jack