In the 1960's several of my buddies worked at a local GM Plant.
They worked on the assembly line. Every year they would order a new car. When it came down the line they would load it up with options and special features. GM executive's would also take advantage of their position to make alterations to the "special order" car. I have seen Cadillac colors on Pontiacs and an Oldsmobile that had been in the paint shot twice and had a drop dead black paint job. None of the "build sheets" on these cars indicated nothing about these "extras" or in some case "hand fitting"

I have seen Ruger's that were "employee guns" that were non-standard and with outstanding fit/finish/wood. I would have never know about this until I traded for a stack of Ruger Collector Magazines. Ruger's I had passed up for years as being fake were indeed the "Real Deal"

My question is how do you tell an employee S&W firearm, when documentation says something else?