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Old 04-03-2019, 05:56 AM
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Question Fill me in on letters please...

Can anybody tell me what the difference is between a "Factory" letter and a "History" letter?

Also what is the turn around time? I mailed in my letter request on March 5th and have not heard anything.

Will a factory letter tell me what countries its been through or is that something for the history letter?
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Old 04-03-2019, 07:11 AM
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Yours oughta show up any day now. If it's available in the records, you'll learn the date it shipped, where it shipped, what the original invoice price was, maybe how many other like pistols were in the shipment, and the original configuration within which it was shipped. There will also be some background information about the history of that particular model.

My understanding of the historical foundation records is that additional information may be available for the years contained in the records that they have organized, but you need the factory letter first so they can tell if it's available. Others will be along with more specific information about the latter search.

As for your question about which countries it's been through, that many times can be discerned by the various proof marks stamped on the pistol. Throw that question and a good description out on the correct subforum, with good clear pictures, and you might have an answer pretty quickly . . .
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Old 04-03-2019, 08:24 AM
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A factory or letter of authenticity will tell you when and where your S&W firearm was shipped from the factory (nothing beyond that) and what the original configuration of your firearm was (barrel length, finish, stocks, etc.). A foundation or history letter is used to transmit copies of documents associated with your firearm. The number and type of documents available from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation varies depending on the age and model of your firearm. For example, a Registered .357 Magnum shipped in the mid to late 1930s will usually have three to five documents available, whereas, a "modern" revolver shipped in the 50s or 60s will only have the invoice. You never know what is available until a search is performed. The records digitized and indexed by the S&WHF cover the years 1920 to mid-1966.

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Old 04-03-2019, 08:50 AM
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Thank you guys, that clears things up for me. I'll keep my eyes open for the mail and try to figure out the proof marks.
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Old 04-03-2019, 09:30 AM
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A recent post from one of the SWHF Historians states the current wait time for a letter is 8 weeks. Posting photos of the proof marks here will probably get you an answer regarding their origin.
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Old 04-06-2019, 12:49 PM
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Daniel, I just got one after five weeks. Very good turn time. I check to see if the check cleared. Im in South Florida, and USPS is notoriously slow.
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Old 04-06-2019, 10:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gmborkovic View Post
Daniel, I just got one after five weeks. Very good turn time. I check to see if the check cleared. Im in South Florida, and USPS is notoriously slow.
Been four weeks and the check cleared so won't be long.
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Old 04-09-2019, 04:35 PM
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Letters of Authenticity (old factory letter) take from 8-12 weeks normally. Historical Letters normally take 2-5 weeks as the volume for these is much less.
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Old 04-25-2019, 07:11 AM
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On March 5th I mailed in two requests. On April 17th I got them both. So 5 weeks? Not bad
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