Need help from the experts please. I have a 627PC with a production code of 170089 and a s/n of RJM0308 that I would like to date as well as find any other info available. I was told that it was a special run but I don't have much faith in the source.

The PC codes are very random, your best bet is to call S&W customer service and they can tell you the exact ship date. Some of the first 627 pre-locks were 6" slabside barrels, there were only 200 of them. Basicly all PC guns are special runs.

If you have the original box, there is a 4 digit number on the end label,that is the date of manufacture.

In the 1996 Lew Horton commissioned S&W to produce the first 8 shot 357 magnum revolver. This revolver debuted at the 1997 SHOT Show. Only 300 were to ever be produced. They were serial numbered RJM0001-RJM0300. These revolvers were all sold out by the spring of 1997.

I had originally wanted to get serial number 357 for myself when I saw the revolver. Since the run was only going to be of 300 and never to be done again, I had LH ship me serial number 27. It is in the top left of this 8 shot group photo. I changed out the original factory supplied grips for some Hogues and put a set of tritium night sights on it.


This particular Distributor Exclusive offering sold so fast that Lew Horton decided to do a second run of 300 pieces. They were serial numbered RJM0301-RJM0600. These were manufactured in the fall of 1997. LH called me and asked if I still wanted number 357. I told them yes. It is in the top right of the above group photo. Number 357 remains in factory original configuration.

Your revolver is the 8th gun made in the second run of 8 shot, 357 magnum revolvers. Look at that 4 digit number on your end label. It will start with a 7. That is the year of manufacture. The next 3 digits are the date of manufacture in Julian format. You can find a Julian to Gregorian calender converter on the internet to give you the exact date.

The 8 shot 357 Magnum Revolver design was so popular that S&W decided to make it a cataloged item. This configuration has been available from the factory ever since them.

The RJM serial number prefix would indeed be the original slender slabbed 5" gun. Here is the product flyer for that gun, and a pic of a much earlier gun shipped in Dec 1998.




This gun is wearing Spegel Boot Plus grips:

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.............SmithNut

Smithnut,

The Product Profile you provided appears to show a hammer mounted firing pin? Was this a prototype or was the performance center still using the hammer mounted pins in 1997?

Just curious,
-R

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vim vi repellere licet

Repellere,
That pic is of the prototype gun and has caused a lot of curiousity amongst us that are interested in these guns. The whereabouts are currently unknown to me, but the gun was sold at auction a few years back by an advanced collector - I have no idea of how he purchased it from the factory originally.
None of the production guns, to my knowledge, had the hammer mounted firing pin.

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.............SmithNut

Thanks to all for the input, I really appreciate the data on my 627PC.