Has anyone ever come across a third gen SW slide with no stamping or laser markings?

More info please......

When S&W moved to laser lettering on the slides of 3rd Gen pistols, it was only the TSW series at first and the non-TSW guns followed a number of years later. On the laser marked guns, the lettering can be removed with no trace depending on how hard you scrub it and what chemicals you use.

The older 3rd Gens and all 1st & 2nd Gen pistols are literally stamped in to the metal and you would need to remove the metal surface to make the stamping go away.

But a TSW gun or the very last 3rd Gens... lettering could be polished completely off of them.

Found a “NOS” stripped slide with a “blemish” on the left side. Pics don’t show any stampings or laser markings. Just seemed odd to me that one would leave the factory without them.
Was there another company that made replacement slides for SW?

Thanks Sevens, saw your post after I responded.

If it is a "blemished" slide that is also "NOS", then it could be a "reject" in that it did not pass inspection and was scrapped.

If the failed inspection occurred before the "marking" (laser or roll), then it could have been "scrapped" before it was marked.

That does not necessarily mean the part is unsafe.

It could have been scrapped for cosmetic reasons.

Like any other part, new or used, inspect it carefully and determine suitability.

John

Yup ^^ and it could also be that parts left the facility in sometimes non-authoriized means! As in “lunchbox” guns and parts. That was likely more prevalent many decades ago rather than in the 90’s and 2000’s, but likely still has happened.

I also bet that these days, a similar thing happens in a slightly different way. I bet that piles of rejected large parts get gathered and marked for destruction and that someone tasked with that destruction does not follow through. I’ve a number of times seen dealers at gun shows with marked slides in a large collection and all are some level of being finished/complete and there is no obvious explanation of why these are available for sale.

As for aftermarket slides, I can’t say that I am aware of any. I know that there were aftermarket frames available for 39’s and 52’s, but that goes back to the 1980’s and they are fairly scarce.