Hi all,

While out of town I came across this S&W model 60 that has a Hi Polish finish with correct numbered box & instructions. After checking the S&W Standard Catalog, it indicated there were a run of these models around 1966 however, mine is 5 digits higher but has the case hardened trigger and hammer.

If anyone has any addition information about the # produced or correct date please let me know.

Many thanks,

Sandy Jacobs
SWCA 1509

__________________
"Have Gun - Will Travel"

Hi all,

While out of town I came across this S&W model 60 that has a Hi Polish finish with correct numbered box & instructions. After checking the S&W Standard Catalog, it indicated there were a run of these models around 1966 however, mine is 5 digits higher but has the case hardened trigger and hammer.

If anyone has any addition information about the # produced or correct date please let me know.

Many thanks,

Sandy Jacobs
SWCA 1509

__________________
"Have Gun - Will Travel"

The book says 409802-410698 were high polish. Could be the real thing and maybe someone just swapped out the hammer and trigger, but for what god knows why.

rburg should be along with the answer.

__________________
Dick

I am holding in my hand Model 60 Serial #475371 purchased in June of 1967. It has a satin finish with case hardened hammer and trigger and diamond grips. According to Roy Jinks, it should have a polished frame, barrel and cylinder. I believe it is one of the first to come out of the factory with satin finish. Yours should definitely have a stainless hammer and trigger. After the first few hundred pieces were sold, the factory realized that the stainless hammer and trigger could not be sufficient heat treated to make them hard enough for prolonged use. This is when they switched to the case hardened hammer and trigger at around serial #475001. I would say that the original owner of your piece sent it back to the factory and had the hammer and trigger changed over. A factory letter may or may not tell you what hammer and trigger were originally fitted to the piece. My intuition tells me it would not but would tell you it was polished stainless finish with magna grips. I am thinking you manufacture date is late 1965 or early 1966.

Sandy,it looks like yours was made in 1965,
your ser.# 409809 is 9 numbers early then mine.
My ser.# on mdl.60 is 409818.Also NIB.
Dick

Dick,

Does yours have the stainless hammer and trigger or the case hardened. I really expect Serial #'s that low should have stainless hammer and trigger.

>>>>>>>>>>.
Yes mine does have the stainless hammer & trigger.

Originally, a big selling feature of the Model 60 was that, every single part, except the walnut grips, was made of stainless steel. In fact, even the grip screw escutcheon and nut, the grip screw, and the S&W monograms and backing washers were made of stainless. When the factory had to go back to case hardened carbon steel hammer and trigger, it was no longer true that all parts were of stainless. However, the fine grain and case hardened surface of these parts made them fairly rust resistant, so the "little white lie" did not seem to matter too much.

$85.00 was a lot of money back then: No Stimulus or Bailouts!

I removed the left grip panel to look for any date codes and this is what I found:

09911 or upside down 11660 which, if it had a . or * would lead me to believe that it was sent back to S&W in 11 of 1966 for some service work.

Looks like a factory letter is in order. Mine is a shooter and has been fired. As I do not want to ruin a Collector piece, are there any numbers on quantities produced. I am just getting my Yahoo account squared away so We can ask Roy if he can spread some light on these pieces.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Regards,
Sandy Jacobs
SWCA 1509

__________________
"Have Gun - Will Travel"

The first run was Serial #401754 to 401792 and these were basically for samples including those shown at the IACP Convention. The next run was Serial #409802 to 410698 and this would be considered the first "production run." Thus #409809 was made early in that run. As I noted earlier, I believe your piece originally had the stainless hammer and trigger which proved to be less than durable in use. I have no doubt that it was sent back to the factory to have the case hardened hammer and trigger installed. In that sense, it is "original." Looks like you have the original box which even has the "stainless steel" logo which the early Model 60 boxes carried. Even though this piece has been fired, it is of high collector value. I believe you are talking about $1,500 or higher. Personally, I would make it a "safe queen" or sell it for its true value and buy a somewhat newer Model 60 for a shooter.

Hey IBSandy
Roy will give you the same info as MaineProbation has in reguards to serial numbers. I believe your answer is in the fact the guns was returned to the factory. The problem with a stainless steel hammer and trigger is in the sears. SS is a soft metal therefore S&W found the sears did not wear well in use. You gun probably developed push off so the owner sent it back and the factory replaced the hammer and trigger with a case hardened set! A factory letter will give you info on how the gun was shipped and to whom, no info on the return!
jcelect

Sandy: That's a great find! By serial number, your gun should be the 47th Model 60 ever made....but since S&W didn't always do things in s/n order, there's no way to be sure without factory documentation. (My avatar is the 37th, one of the initial batch of 39. Those early high-polish Model 60's are beautiful!)

In conversations with other collectors, I heard the same thing that MaineProbation and jcelect mentioned above--some early M60's were returned to the factory for replacement of the problematic solid stainless hammer and trigger. That's very likely what happened with yours. I once owned another early version, just a few digits higher than yours or vrichard's, and it also had the case-hardened hammer and trigger instead of the expected stainless parts.

Hi all,

I appreciate all of the information and feedback. Unfortunately, Safe Queens are out for me as all of my guns are shooters. As much as I would like to keep it, I think that it will go up for auction as I have 2 other model 60's to use for shooters.

Many thanks,

Sandy Jacobs
SWCA 1509

__________________
"Have Gun - Will Travel"

OK, how'd this thread escape me?

I've got 410014, part of that same run of guns. Mine's got an easy number to remember. But its got what appears to be a flash chromed hammer and trigger. I have no way of figuring out what took place back then. I personally would prefer to have the original pieces, but only because I have little or now intentions of ever shooting it. I did give away my R112,000s gun to one of my son's. It was the carry gun of a very good friend (now deceased), and when the son was very young, we were all inseparable. In fact, my youngest made a play for the gun about 2 weeks ago. He wasn't born at the time we were all so close, so he failed in his bid. The early gun looked all the world like it had the later hammer and trigger.

Makes me wonder if S&W didn't just use the parts they were putting on current production guns, and maybe mine was late having trouble so it was late being returned for fixing.

__________________
Dick Burg

Dick,

Are you sure it's flash chromed and not stainless? The early stainless hammer and trigger look very much like the later flash chromed parts.

I have no idea how to tell. Maybe I should try using a magnet, but thats not conclusive. A little while ago I had a big set of forceps in my desk, stuck to a magnetic screwdriver. Clearly marked were the words "stainless" and "Pakistan."

__________________
Dick Burg

Sounds about right!

Someone will correct me if I am wrong but I believe all the martensitic and precipitation-hardening stainless are magnetic, so your magnet will not help. It would not make sense to make hammers and triggers out of the austenitic alloys.

Dick,

The stainless alloys used in the Model 60 were all magnetic to a degree. They are almost all 400 series with a good deal of iron and some carbon. In general, the non-magnetic stainless alloys, such as the 300 series, do not have the strength and hardness of the 400 series. This usually leaves the 300 series for applications like tanks, sinks, bowls, etc. The very early Model 60's (polished with stainless hammers and triggers) did not have the hammers and triggers highly polished like the frame, cylinder and barrel. They look rather similar to the later flash chromed parts. The flash chrome finish is more of a gray-silver and the stainless closer in color to the frame. I suppose the best way to tell without a hardness test is to compare the color of your hammer and trigger to a post-1967 Model 60.