I picked up a nice 29-2 today and didn't notice anything odd till I got home. The N prefix seems like an afterthought which is whatever. Well then I was looking at the 29-2 stamp and it was odd also. If you look hard at it, it would appear that it was stamped 27-? and overstamped 29-2. I may be completely delusional on that though.

Has
Target Hammer
Smooth Target Trigger
Target Grips
4" barrel

Not too unusual. They were hand stamped, sometimes not too straight and sometimes the hammer bounced. Probably a Monday or Friday gun.

Have you guys ever noticed that it is very seldom if ever that someone answers one of these questions by starting out "I used to work at S&W". Either they don't get online or S&W must swear them to secrecy.

It is not like an automobile factory with moving assembly lines and robot welders. It is really just a big machine shop with lots of stuff still done by hand, especially in the 29-2 time period and before. They may bobble a serial number now and then, but the way they polish those things and the way the sideplates fit (usually) are works of art as far as I'm concerned. I'm writing this while I drool on my 640 Pro Series.