Welcome to the forum!
Since you likely still have others to sell, here's a guide to where the serial #s are stamped depending on what vintage the gun is:
SERIAL # LOCATIONS & Assembly #s:
We owe the Russians a vote of thanks; having been the 1st to require multi-serial # locations on their S&W #3 contract revolvers.
Here are the 6 or 7 (Triple Lock models only) pre war fixed sight frame serial # locations which are also the locations remaining after WW II thru ~1956 to look for (not including the 3 stamped serial # locations for pre war and early post war Transitional models with pre war target sights, see below):
NOTE: Always use optical magnification including a flashlight when looking at or for serial numbers to observe the information accurately.
Observing a serial # for accuracy or even existence, especially on penciled stocks, requires an attitude that it is there!
1. Grip frame butt* (prefixed by a letter(s) following WWII) - or forestrap* on I frames/single shots with grips that cover the butt
2. Barrel - bottom of barrel or in extractor shroud
3. Yoke - on rear face** (except the .32 Model 1896) only visible thru a chamber with a flashlight
4. Extractor star – backside (which is actually the side facing the muzzle).
5. Cylinder - rear face
6. Right stock only*** - on back, scratched or penciled depending on vintage and stock material, stamped after 1929, (except most post war target grips because individual fitting not required.)
7. Mid-lock cam plate, backside with cyl open – “Triple Locks” only, in any caliber (up to all 5 digits).
*NOTE: The one TRUE place you can be sure of reading the original serial number for all Hand Ejectors of any vintage with stamped numbers, (which includes any letter(s) prefixed #s after WW II,) is the BUTT of the gun, (or front grip strap on non-round stocked .22/32 Kit guns and Targets, .32 & .38 S&W Regulation Police pre Model of 1953 I frames, the .32 Transitional Targets from 1957, and single shots).
Pre war, post war butt serial # orientation:
Pre war serial #s on the butt read with barrel to the right and are centered, or offset if produced with a lanyard swivel (factory installed swivels are drilled with a jig and always 1/10” forward of center). Post war #s read with barrel to the left and are all offset to the rear.
Photo courtesy of kryten67
There’s an exception of course since M&P K frames were made all thru the war, the actual change transition period began in 1942 for the M&P series from right reading to left reading at the end of the original M&P serial range #1,000,000. After WW II the serial # reads with barrel to the left and is offset to the rear (except for serial numbers on the fore strap thru 1957).
Factory installed swivels after initial production or sent back to the factory for a swivel were drilled thru the centered pre war # which is re-stamped on left side of grip frame. Factory installed swivels after initial production on new guns in inventory will not always 'letter' especially if 'thrown in' for free.
NOTE: When an order came thru for a revolver with a lanyard swivel, certain barrel length, target sights, target grips, etc., and there were no assembled revolvers of that configuration as ordered, in inventory: a revolver(s) that matched the order as close as possible was pulled, drilled for a swivel & installed, barrel changed, target sights, or target grips added. Metal parts were numbered to the gun, but not target sights and not usually changed stocks.
** s/n on Rear face of yoke:
Photo by CptCurl
*** Stamped since 1857, stock #s, apparently exclusively on right panel only, changed to penciled #s c. 1900 and back to stamped #s in 1929. Scratched, penciled or stamped on hard rubber and premium stocks; numbering discontinued ~ late 1970s. Pre war penciled S/Ns are in the top half of the stock near the backstrap and read with the stock oriented with the back edge down. Post war numbering switched to lower right half of grip; earliest observed ~1960.
Sometimes a photo is needed to “see” the penciled #. “Seeing” the penciled serial number is made much easier using the Gimps Threshold tool:
8.52. Threshold
Photos here:
SMITH & WESSON DA 45 MODEL 1917 COMMERCIAL
Pre war fixed sighted guns have serial #s in 6* locations, target** models as many as 9. Triple Locks have 7 including the mid lock cam plate, therefore 10 locations on TL Target models.
*Post War continued the 6 fixed sight locations thru ~1956, and 9 s/n locations on early Post War Transitional target models with pre war target sights only, thru 1957, but dropped the 3 target sight locations post war on the new Micro-click sighted models, which were no longer specifically fitted to the top strap.
**Target models will have the serial number (or assembly # on very early 1900s guns) as shown:
1. front sight blade, must be removed to see it
2. under rear sight, must be removed to see it
3. rear sight blade, must be removed to see it
If the s/n is more than 4 digits, the front and rear sight blades can have a partial s/n. All three parts must be removed to observe the #s. Non-numbered front and rear sight blades have typically been replaced, in most observations.
We owe the Russians a vote of thanks; having been the 1st to require multi-serial # locations on their S&W #3 contract revolvers.
TARGET SIGHT NUMBERING:
Photo by Mike Priwer
Photo by Mike Priwer
NOTE: The Factory commonly pulled a new gun from the vault for a special order...target sights, nickel finish, etc., and therefore the order was special handled and may or may not have serial #s on added target sights, optional target stocks, etc.
Also if a gun was sent back to the factory for the installation of target sights, and would once again be special handled in the Service Dept, it also may or may not have the serial # stamped on the sight parts. But in this case it would have a rework date on the left side grip frame and usually a star following the butt serial #.
If no S/N on sights and no rework date/star, the sights were ordered as parts and installed by an aftermarket gunsmith.
DECREASING SERIAL # LOCATIONS:
The number of serial # locations or if a Model/dash # is stamped on a particular S&W Hand Ejector has more to do with where it was in the production/assembly stages then when change orders were issued, therefore as we've learned to expect with S&W, there are great variances and exceptions galore.
Officially, on May 1, 1957 S&W eliminated the Soft Fitting Operation: So it generally corresponds with the model number stamping order June 12, 1957. It was no longer necessary to routinely stamp the serial number on the barrel, cylinder & yoke arm rear surface and show up unstamped over a transition period. So guns in process or in inventory as of 5/1/57 can still have more than 3 and up to 6 locations, and guns shipped after this time may have some of the former number locations because assembly was done over time and as inventory from the old process was used up.
The 6 serial # locations were down to only 3 left on the majority of models (but not all) from c. late 1957 to 1959 which are:
1. Grip frame butt (prefixed by a letter(s) following WWII)
2. Extractor star - backside
3. Right stock – backside (except most post war target grips because individual fitting not required.)
ASSEMBLY (factory work) #s:
These multi-digit numbers of 3 to 5 digits, are on the yoke at the hinge, in the ‘yoke cut’ on frame opposite the yoke near the hinge (usually accompanied with the inspector’s letter or # code stamp of approval, but not always), and inside of the sideplate, for the pre war and early post war period thru ~early 1958.
After 1957 model #s were assigned and stamped on the frame in the yoke cut. The serial # was soon after added in the ‘yoke cut’ as well and the assembly # moved to the left side of the grip frame parallel to the butt. Once the gun is shipped, the only use for the assembly # is to confirm the three parts it's stamped on, are original. These are still in use to this day.
More currently beginning in the 1980s we see non-matching multi-digit numbers parallel to the butt left or right side, and inside the side plate. “They are just assembly numbers. They are not important numbers in my opinion.” Roy
MODEL NUMBER STAMPING:
began eventually, sometimes months after being ordered June 12, 1957, but the serial number was not yet stamped in the ‘yoke cut’ of the frame.
YOKE CUT STAMPING of the assembly (work) # vs. serial #:
changes after Model # stamping got more confusing. When Model Number stamping began some months to a year after being ordered June 12, 1957, the serial number was not yet stamped in the frame ‘yoke cut’ on the frame side of the yoke hinge. But in the l958-1959 time period as the use of target grips became more common and if the revolver was ordered with or was standard with target stocks which covered the butt serial #, the serial number is stamped in the yoke cut of the frame. The assembly number would have also been in this area, as it was stamped on the gun long before the revolver was serial numbered.
But when the serial # was stamped on the frame in the 'yoke cut', except on the smaller frames at first where it just didn't fit well, the frame assembly # from the 'yoke cut' was moved to the left side of the grip frame. The 3 assembly # locations became the yoke, left side of grip frame (later the right side), and backside of side plate. However, the post 1959-60 yoke cut serial # placement on the later guns is the reason for many pre 1957 guns to be incorrectly registered by the useless assembly # on the frame in the yoke cut.
Therefore by about the end of 1959, serial # locations went up to 4:
1. Grip frame butt (prefixed by a letter(s) following WWII)
2. Frame in yoke cut
3. Extractor star until ~ 1980 when the new extractor star shape was introduced.
4. Back of right stock, until ~ 1979 when no longer hand fitted, (except most post war target grips because individual fitting not required).
EXTRACTOR STAR Serial #:
“…were numbered from the early Hand Ejector models through about 1980. They were numbered because the ratchet lugs had been fitted to each particular gun’s lockwork, and it would be separated from the gun at some points of finishing. This is true for blue, nickel, and stainless guns.
"I've observed a lot more since I made that statement. Oddly, I have often observed all original 4 Screw K and N frames with numbered cylinders when none of the other parts were numbered, including the extractor.
“Obviously, something had changed in the fitting and/or finishing sequence for a short time that did not require numbering the extractor.
“Apparently, that sequence was changed again, and we arrive at the long used process of serial numbers on the frame and extractor only.” Regards, Lee Jarrett
Once the new shaped extractor star is introduced apparently beginning c. early 1980’s, and completed on all models by c. mid 1990s, it seems to have been coincident with deleting serial # stamping. Only the butt and yoke cut stamping locations remain to this day. But again with exceptions like anything S&W, as we some later introductions with laser engraved serial #s in new locations.
STOCK #s:
stamped since 1857, changed to penciled #s c. 1900 and back to stamped #s in 1929. Post War c. 1960 #s changed from vertically high up on grip, to low and parallel to butt (sometimes 2 lines). The stock # and hand fitting were dropped c. mid to late 1970s due to a more accurate stock making technique. Premium stocks may just have a letter stamp indicating frame size, i.e., ‘I’ for I frame, etc.
Therefore today there are only two serial # stamped locations on most revolvers:
1. Grip frame butt
2. Frame in yoke cut
LASER ENGRAVED SERIAL NUMBERS:
once introduced, the last two locations continue on the bottom of the butt and in the yoke cut. But there are exceptions, like below the cylinder, left side of frame below the cyl window and may or may not be on the butt.
The reason for the triple alpha-numeric serial number system is that S&W ran out of serial numbers that they had been using up to the 1980 and need a serial number series that had enough number possibilities to keep them going for many years. The first guns in the triple alpha four numeric series was the L frame revolvers starting AAA0001 in 1980. The rest of the models were slowly phased in from 1980 to approximately 1983.
Model 36-1 Question (new to forum)
Linear Mode
