When S&W introduces a gun it has a model number. The model number is not followed by a "dash". Once the gun receives an improvement it gets the "dash" treatment The way I understand it is that -1 is the first improvement/upgrade, -2 is the second and so on. Does S&W say what the improvement/upgrade is? My Model 29 is a -3, but I have no idea what the improvements are since the first Model 29 are.

Wikipedia will have a list enter the model number also archived threads bottom of S&W forum page

The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson by Supica and Nahas is a nice big book that has a lot of answers to all sorts of questions. It is also reasonable priced. We are on the 4th edition and it is several years old, but still has a lot of information.
The difference between the dash 2 and dash 3, is the elimination of the pinned barrel and the recessed cylinders were removed from the dash 3 guns.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Yes This is the 629 for example.

Engineering and production changes: • 629 1979 Introduction at N748564 – 1981
1981 Introduce 4” and 8-3/8” barrels •
629-1 1982 Eliminate cylinder counterbore and pinned barrel. Slight change in cylinder length to 1.69” •
629-1 1986-87 8,000 manufactured. with round butt and 3” barrel, distributed by Lew Horton and S&W •
629-2 1988 New yoke retention system/ Radius stud package/ floating hand, integral scope mounts available on 8-3/8” barrels • 629-2E 1989 Endurance Package, Transitional changes, hardened yoke/frame •
629-3 1989 Longer stop notch, bolt block added, fixed hand •
629-4 1993 Change rear sight leaf, drill and tap frame, change extractor, Hogue grips introduced - 1996 Round butt Production only/ shipments in blue plastic 1997 Change The umbpiece/master trigger locks shipped •
629-5 1997-01 Change frame design to eliminate cylinder stop stud - eliminate serrated tangs/change to MIM hammer with floating firing pin/ change to MIM trigger/change internal lockwork •
629-6 2001 Introduce Internal Key Lock System •
629-7 2005 New Two Piece barrel design•
629-8 2006 Slabside Barrel and Fluted barrel (Performance Center)

You are correct (OP) that each series change will have something changed, deleted, or added to the particular model.

However, the changes are related to a year and not the specific series number. One of the major changes that happened through the years, that collectors especially look for, is the pinned barrel on all models and recessed chambers on the cylinder of magnum revolvers that was deleted in 1982. The particular dash number of this change is different for different model guns and that relates to how long that model has been in production, partly.

For instance, a Model 19, the .357 Magnum Combat Magnum, lost the pinned and recessed features with the dash 5. That gun has been in production since 1957. Its stainless steel twin, the Model 66, lost its pinned and recessed features with the dash 2. The M66 wasn't produced until 1971, but the P&R features on both guns disappeared the same year. Some dash-series last a short time; the M27-1 and M28-1 was only a year in production, but the M27-2 and M28-2 were produced for over 20 years. The production numbers of a particular dash number have a bearing on the collector value, as well as the dash number itself.

Buying the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson is a must for any fan of the guns they made/make. It's not much more than 20 rounds of .44 Magnum ammo.

As with most things Smith & Wesson, nothing is cast in stone.

The .38 Chiefs Special, launched in 1950 is a prime example.

S&W Historian, Dr. Roy Jinks' book, History of Smith & Wesson, walks us through a number of "engineering changes" in the Chiefs Specials through the 1950s that he admits in most models would have resulted in a "dash" change if there had been model numbers at that time.

The addition of model numbers in 1958 caused the .38 Chiefs Special Model 36. There were other engineering changes to the Chiefs, but no dashes until 1966, and that was an unusual one compared to other S&W revolvers.

S&W began shipping the Model 36-1 in the late summer or fall of 1966. It designates a 3" Heavy Barrel. S&W concurrently continued to call 2" and 3" lightweight barreled Chiefs the Model 36 through 1975, when the 36-1 3" Heavy Barrel became the only 3", and the Model 36 continued on in only a 2" offering.

In about 1982 when barrels stopped being pinned, there was no dash change to either of the Chiefs Specials.

Finally in 1988 S&W changed the 36 to a 36-2, and the 36-1 became the 36-3. Through the next decade there were a number of other engineering alterations, along with the resulting dash number changes, up through Model 36-9.

The designation Model 36-10 came out in 2001 with an internal lock. It's still cooking along with that name.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

At one of those big gun stores that sells shirts and canoes I heard the "gun counter guy" tell a customer the the -2 was a two inch barrel, -3 was a three inch barrel and a -4 was a four inch barrel......'s

Just the guy I want helping me, or someone I know.

Regarding the Model 29...the Model 29-1 changed to extractor rod and stem from a right-hand to a left-hand thread to reduce the chance the extractor rod would loosen from recoil; the Model 29-2 has an improved cylinder stop that eliminated the cylinder stop plunger screw and resulted in a 3-screw frame (done because the hole for the screw in front of the trigger guard would get plugged with material during the bluing process); the Model 29-3 eliminated the barrel pin and counterboring of the charge holes in the cylinder. Some consider these changes improvements while some do not.

Bill

I'm not aware of any revisions solely for the deletion of the barrel pin. We all tend to glom it together with the deletion of the counterbored charge holes, but that's not quite correct. There are lots of non-magnums that continued to be produced under the previous revision number after the barrel pin was deleted e.g. 14-4, 17-4.

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Psalm 27:2