I while back I bought, and sold, a model 19. It was a 4" blued gun in a blue box. No dash. It has a round but frame. I read that a few were made for one of the US service branches, I thought it was Navy but not sure. More were made for the civilian market. Any idea of how many? Shotgunner

I believe the RB model 19s were made for the ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) but were in the -2 range, with yellow front sight inserts. Many were later sent to the FBI.

If not one of those, it would be a mystery - there were no standard production RB model 19s until the 2.5" -2. I suspect a frame alteration if was a "no-dash".

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Too add...... IIRC those 4" round butts dated to the mid-60s......-2 were introduced in 1961-67/68

If it's a NIS gun then it will be stamped "NIS" for Naval Investigative Service which is what it was called in the mid/late 1960s. The FBI acquired them for issue to the field office SWAT members. I bought a 2.5" Model 19 from one of the SAs who was on SWAT and was issued a 4" NIS gun. They were a really nice pointing gun.
While not common it wasn't unusual for someone to take a 2.5" RB Model 19s and swap on a 4". Those are easy to spot by looking at the rear sight as the 4" had a shorter length rear sight. A 2.5" on the left, 4" on the right.

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183rd FBINA

It might have been a dash 2, but it was in a blue box and the end label was for a 4" gun with a round but. Shotgunner