Quote:
Originally Posted by LongviewReloader
I just acquired a 686-3 and on the wood grip there is a date stamp of March 5, 1990. Also some small stickers on the left side near the base of the butt. One is white with 34 and the other is yellow with 4 on it. I have 3 other 686's and none had these. Any ideas what they mean. Does the march 5, 1990 correspond to the date the gun was made?
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The date stamped on the grip will be ballpark, but remember they could have been switched out sometime in its life. Still, Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson 3rd edition shows production of the -3 starting in 1988, with the -4 starting in 1993, so they fall right in that range. Provide the first 3-4 digits of the serial number and we can narrow it down quite a bit more. In January 1988, serial numbers started at AYE-AYM, plus AYY. The last prefix listed in 1992 is BFV, for September.
SCSW says "These are approximate serial number start dates."